I can think of no other actor who reinvented himself quite so spectacularly as John Travolta did. The thing is, I was never a huge fan of his work growing up. I had been aware of films like Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Grease (1978), but they didn’t really appeal to me at the time. The only Travolta features I can remember being somewhat excited about, were Look Who’s Talking (1989) and its sequel – the third film not particularly – but maybe my enthusiasm for those pics had more to do with my hero Bruce Willis’ voice-over work.
During the early Nineties however, everything changed. I have said in my No. Bad. Films. mission statement that it took me a while to appreciate the game-changing brilliance of Pulp Fiction (1994). One element of the film I did immediately lose my mind over however, was the uncannily cool performance by Travolta. I had never considered the actor I knew primarily as a singer and dancer as a logical fit for a slightly shady character in a Crime film, but then again, I am not Quentin Tarantino.
Tarantino of course had a huge hand in Travolta’s comeback, but it would be too easy to attribute the actor’s resurgence entirely to the iconoclastic director. Let’s not forget that Tarantino had originally wanted Michael Madsen – who played a Vega in Reservoir Dogs (1992) – for the part of Vincent Vega, and only went with Travolta when Madsen proved unavailable. It was probably meant to be, because Travolta takes to PF like French fries to ketchup – or mayonnaise, depending on which country you are in.
Watching the actor perform in Tarantino’s masterpiece, it is truly like he never played anything but heavies. The way Travolta takes to the role of Vincent Vega makes you scratch your head and wonder why no other director ever saw the potential of the former heartthrob in the Crime genre. Vega is not just another run-of-the-mill screen gangster though, and that is exactly where Tarantino’s genius comes into play.
The combination of Travolta’s Grease and Saturday-Night-Fever-infused swagger and Tarantino’s uncanny instinct for revamping long-forgotten trends, makes PF unquestionably one of the most important films of the 21st century. Aside from its completely original style, structure and characters, PF made me open up to films and music I had little to no interest for earlier. I never knew I would love Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together or SNF so much until I saw Tarantino’s masterpiece.
This, of course, is the beauty of films – it makes you reconsider and appreciate previously dismissed material. SNF in its turn ignited in me a deep passion for The Bee Gees, and so on and so fort. I have said it before and I will say it again – time is the only critic that matters.
After the earth-trembling success of PF, Travolta suddenly found himself to be the hottest actor in town. He quickly followed up his Tarantino-instilled coolness with a string of blockbusters the likes of which had been eluding him for many years. Everybody of course knows and loves the high-profile outings like Get Shorty (1995) and Face/Off (1997), but as is tradition for the No. Bad. Films. philosophy, I am eager to discuss the lesser-celebrated titles.
First of all, the film that planted the seed for Travolta’s deliciously despicable F/O villain – Broken Arrow (1996). This hugely entertaining Action film first combined the actor with the legendary John Woo, who had already reinvigorated Jean Claude Van Damme’s career three years earlier with the stupendously exciting shoot-em-up Hard Target (1993). Doubling down on his Pulp-Fiction-instigated bad guy streak, Travolta stars in BA as the morally challenged Vic Deakins, a Stealth pilot hell-bent on stealing a nuclear warhead and selling it to the highest bidder. Fortunately, his co-pilot played by Christian Slater is there to thwart Deakins’ evil shenanigans.
It sounds like the plot of a Nineties Steven Seagal film – in fact, it is quite similar to the premises of the excellent Under Siege films released in 1992 and 1995 – but BA is brought to a level just slightly above these flicks because of the match made in heaven that is Woo-Travolta. It is very tempting to think that John Woo saw PF and thought: “You know what? That Travolta kid would make an excellent baddie!” The even more exciting truth however, is that Travolta was given the option to play either lead and chose to play Deakins – and not only that, he decided to go as big as possible with the part.
The result is up there with Alan Rickman in Die Hard (1988), Gary Oldman in Léon (1994) and Denzel Washington in Training Day (2001). All of them bad men who do unspeakable things, but they just look and sound so great doing it… As the saying goes – The Devil is really attractive.
I’ve recently re-watched BA on Blu-ray, and while the action and dialogue still excites me, the transfer to a higher standard has not been kind in every frame. This is the problem with High Definition – it is very unforgiving and exposes imperfections that were invisible on VHS and even DVD. The light of the dawn can be cruel.
Exactly ten years after GS, Travolta agreed to star in its sequel – Be Cool (2005). The original’s director, Barry Sonnenfeld, couldn’t fit the follow-up into his schedule, so helming duties were passed to rising star F. Gary Gray. Granted – Gray is not an idiosyncratic “artiste” like Sonnenfeld. He cut his teeth on many, many breezy R ‘n’ B music videos, and eventually graduated to feature films with solid popcorn-fare like A Man Apart (2003) and The Italian Job (2003). In my opinion though, Gray’s lighthearted approach is exactly what the long-awaited sequel to GS needed to still make sense a full decade down the line.
And Travolta is so great in it. Not only is it an obviously very happy reunion with a character he clearly adores, BC also sees the actor rekindle the PF fire with old pals Uma Thurman and Harvey Keitel.
Look, I am not going to plead a case for Battlefield Earth (2000), that would be extremely disingenuous. But I will say this – that film has a huge following, and not only in the scientology community. It would make my heart so happy to read a passionate defense of this much-maligned film. To anyone out there who feels destined to do so – you are most welcome.
A tragically underlit masterpiece with a far more subdued performance by Travolta, is the legal Drama A Civil Action (1998). Although it was made two years before the similarly themed Erin Brockovich (2000), Travolta’s film never received anywhere near the same admiration and accolades as the environmental-issues saga that won Julia Roberts her only Oscar to date. I think EB is a phenomenal film, I really do. It is a poignant, heartbreaking true story brought to the screen with great care by director Steven Soderbergh and a sublime cast. The film I find myself re-watching at least once every year however, is Brockovich’s slightly older and gloomier genre-sibling ACA – and a large part of that attraction has to do with Travolta’s Oscar-worthy performance.
Mark Twain wrote a long letter because he didn’t have time to write a short one – I am not great at being brief either. I could go on for some time and tell you how much I enjoyed re-watching The General’s Daughter (1999) recently, many years after I first saw it on the big screen. It also occurred to me that this excellent legal thriller would make a fantastic double bill with the equally superb A Few Good Men (1992). However, vertically programming films is a subject I am eager to devote an entire blog to at some point in the future.
I had the pleasure of meeting JT a couple of years ago when I acquired Chuck Russell’s crowd-pleasing Action-Thriller I Am Wrath (2016) at the Toronto International Film Festival. The Hollywood Legend took the time to snap a quick selfie with this devoted fan from The Netherlands. Forever aware of the camera though, he was still in the process of fixing his hair…
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Twitter (X): Robin Logjes | The Screen Addict