BLU-RAY REVIEW / SDR SCREENSHOTS
“Saturday Night” goes live in 40 minutes, and the cast, including Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt), Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith), and Dan Aykroyd (Dylan O’Brien), gets a little crazy as they head to the eighth-floor studio. (2&3) The dress rehearsal for Weekend Update, SNL creator and producer Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LeBelle) and the crew applaud the first joke about a new 10-cent stamp.
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“SATURDAY NIGHT”
Blu-ray; 2024, R for profanity, sexual references, drug use, brief nudity; Digital copy via Amazon Video, Apple TV, Fandango Home, Movies Anywhere, YouTube
Best extra: Making-of documentary
AS A BOOMER who fell in love with “Saturday Night Live” from its debut 50 years ago, I almost felt like I knew each member of the cast.
So my first reaction to writer/director Jason Reitman’s conception of what might have transpired the night of that debut was something akin to outrage. How did he expect those of us who spent those early years with our pals John, Dan, Gilda, Laraine, Garrett, Jane and Chevy (et.al.) to accept these unknown young actors portraying them? But after a few minutes, in spite of myself, I began getting comfortable with the very clever concept, and the spot-on performances – and sat back and enjoyed experiencing the frantic 90 minutes, as Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) manages to corral his big cast of comedic newcomers, so that they’re camera-and-live-audience-ready, for what was then something completely different – and completely revolutionary.
Each actor playing a cast member nails it: Cory Michael Smith (Chevy Chase); Dylan O’Brien (Dan Aykroyd); Lamorne Morris (Garrett Morris, no relation); Emily Fairn (Laraine Newman); Ella Hunt (Gilda Radner); Matt Wood (John Belushi); and Kim Matula (Jane Curtin). Some of the guests on that now-legendary night are also expertly personified: Tommy Dewey as Michael O’Donoghue; Nicholas Braun doing double duty as Andy Kaufman and Jim Henson; Taylor Gray as Al Franken; Mcabe Gregg as Tom Davis; Nicholas Podany as Billy Crystal; Jon Batiste as Billy Preston; Naomi McPherson as Janis Ian; Matthew Rhys as George Carlin … and then there’s Rachel Sennott as Rosie Shuster; Cooper Hoffman (Philip Seymour’s son) as Dick Eberson; J.K. Simmons as Milton Berle; Willem Dafoe as David Tebet; Paul Rust as Paul Shaffer, etc. Yes, there are flaws in this film, but it’s impossible not to get caught up in the crazy rhythm of excitement and manic rush that takes place before the curtain goes up – and just as impossible not to feel a genuine thrill when it does.
VIDEO
Reitman and lifelong friend and cinematographer Eric Steelberg (“Up in the Air,” “Juno”) wanted to capture the feel and mood of 1970s filmmaking. They decided upon old-school Super 16 film format with Arriflex cameras, loaded with Kodak 200T film stock, to get that gritty documentary style. Everything was filmed in sequential order with a constantly moving camera and long takes, including a choreographed 3 ½-minute opening single shot, as the smaller camera maneuvers throughout NBC’s Studio 8H, capturing the chaos, and every beat before SNL goes live.
Everything was scanned and mastered in TRUE 4K, with astonishing results for the smaller negative. This produced a nice wash of natural film grain and they kept the smallest pieces of dirt for a complete organic look. Colors are well saturated, with a warm palette, and the clarity is just down a notch from the traditional 35mm.
Steelberg says he has worked with Reitman for 30 years, and for “Saturday Night,” they “wanted something that breathed like film; a document from 1975.”
AUDIO
The six-channel DTS-HD soundtrack is active throughout, with a recorded live organic score from musician Jon Batiste (“Soul”), who also plays SNL’s first guest performer, Billy Preston. Positioned front and center, the rapid-fire dialogue is never lost.
EXTRAS
The fine bunch of bonus features on the Blu-ray and digital include a commentary by Reitman; featurettes on production design, character studies, the music, and some behind-the-scenes footage.
“The Making of the Movie of the Show That Almost Never Made it,” is chockfull of interesting interviews and background information. Reitman notes a motivation for making the movie: “I’ve always been fascinated by the moment that genius comes into the universe.” He liked the “idea of opening night,” in this case the night of October 11, 1975. “It was fun making a 90-minute movie that you get to shoot in order: Day One was Scene One … You get to meet all the characters on the eighth floor, which required a careful choreography … It was Herculean from a production point of view.” He wanted “audiences to feel the magic and have respect for the people who created this show.”
“Every generation has a relationship with ‘Saturday Night Live.’”
Gabriel LaBelle (Michaels) says he loved the excitement of a “script that was non-stop … 90 minutes of real time.” Cory Michael Smith (Chase) appreciated the “cacophony of events and mayhem” that the script dictated: “Symphony on a page.” Ella Hunt (Radner) appreciated getting “to dive into these icons as people.” She thought Reitman had “captured an uncontrollable alive-ness.” Matt Wood (Belushi) believed that Reitman and co-producer/writer Gil Keran “got the vibes and energy of the era, which were chaotic, manic, sweet and funny.”
Dylan O’Brien (Aykroyd) says the actors didn’t want to imitate the cast of the SNL, “but to represent them.” Lamorne Morris (Garrett Morris) relates his feeling of “responsibility to play a character who’s still alive, who can criticize” the performance. “You want to do them right!” Emily Fain (Newman) says working on the film “felt almost like a play.” Rachel Sennott (Shuster) notes that, in the film, “everyone gets their shining moment.” Batiste says he wanted the musical themes to represent “the building of a show on the verge of falling apart.” He “wanted a motley crew of instruments and genres.” Costume designer Danny Glicker says “these people were really not ready for prime time! … It was the ultimate dream for a costume designer.” Reitman credits Glicker for dressing “every actor as though he’s the lead.”
Reitman discusses the ending of the movie and how, during rehearsals, he would yell “Cut!” right before Smith (Chase) makes his iconic announcement, to inevitable groans from the cast. But for the final take, when he lets Smith say the words, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night,” the “cast and crew went wild!”
— Peggy Earle
Bonus: The first SNL show is available on Peacocktv.com without a paid subscription, but you’ll need to create an account.
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