54

1998 "You've never been anywhere until you've been here."
5.9| 1h33m| R| en| More Info
Released: 28 August 1998 Released
Producted By: Miramax
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Shane, a Jersey boy with big dreams, crosses the river in hopes of finding a more exciting life at Studio 54. When Steve Rubell, the mastermind behind the infamous disco, plucks Shane from the sea of faces clamoring to get inside his club, Shane not only gets his foot in the door, but lands a coveted job behind the bar – and a front-row seat at the most legendary party on the planet.

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Reviews

Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece
Actuakers One of my all time favorites.
AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Martin Bradley A look down the cast list of Mark Christopher's "54" might provide a few surprises. Yes, before he decided he wanted to be the King of the World Donald Trump turned up as a patron as did Michael York, Sheryl Crow, Cindy Crawford, Heidi Klum, Art Garfunkel and Peter Bogdanovitch but I wouldn't waste my time trying to pick them out of the darkness. The film is a 'biography' of New York's famous Studio 54 as seen through the eyes of hot young busboy Ryan Phillippe, (he spends most of the film with his shirt off). Michael Myers is Steve Rubell, the club's manager and the cast also includes Salma Hayek, Neve Campbell and "Welcome to the Dollhouse's" Dawn Wiener herself, Heather Matarazzo. It's not much of a movie; it's mostly like a sex obsessed music video but the music's great which makes up for a lot and it does capture the hedonistic, drug-fuelled atmosphere of the place while Myers is surprisingly good, Still, maybe you would be better off buying the double cd instead.
mark.waltz This is "Goodfellas" meets "Valley of the Dolls", a deliciously trashy example of the dark side of night life that is legendary even today. Oh, the many ghosts I've felt walking through the doors of the former disco, now a legitimate Broadway theater that transitioned from nightclub to stage with the classic German expression of decadence, "Cabaret". Nightclubs still have a strict door policy like this, but 54 made it famous, even if it wasn't the first. This thrives on the disco beat of the late '70s/early '80s, tossing in obvious corruption from behind the scenes from a manager who was ingenious in many ways but idiotic and careless in a ton of others. "I've been to a marvelous party", Noel Coward wrote, but as his muse, Elaine Stritch, admitted, some of those marvelous parties really weren't so marvelous.It's a fantasy land that makes reality tedious, and for bar-back turned successful bartender Ryan Phillipe, that marvelous party turns out to be the key to the door to his possible destruction, turning him from a basically decent kid from Jersey City to an absolute phony. As for Michael Meyers' Steve Rubell, well, I don't like to speak ill of the dead, but he was as sleazy as they come, never realizing the self destruction his doomed success has him headed towards.I have to call this a guilty pleasure, a fun bad movie, and a reminder of my own party days which in many respects, as a whole, were not really marvelous. Ellen Albertini Dow, one of the cutest of little old ladies, is unforgettably lovable as Disco Dotty, a fictionalized version of a real character, and all she's missing is the cat and the birdcage to be a dancin' granny with a Tweety bird. The narration by Philippe gives this a pedestrian feel, with a feeling of nostalgia that lasts as long as the club stays open, but the feeling of sleaze has the same impact as a Sunday morning hangover. I may not be able to read minds, but I do know the difference between classic art and a framed poster that ends up in the trash after its owner realizes its true value. But for those of us who were there for lights and beat, this is a nice memory that soon is as forgotten as one of those cheap book store posters.
MatthewInSydney The studio executives who ruined the first release version of this film in 1998 have a lot to answer for, but the director has had the last word and proved he was right all along, with the new Director's Cut (which I saw at the Sydney Film Festival tonight), which is an ENTIRELY different and improved experience. From now on, I don't think there should be any reason for anyone to watch the original release version again, the improvement is that dramatic. The one aspect that may irritate some viewers is that a few of the 'new' scenes have slightly lower image & sound quality than the rest of the film, as they obviously weren't able to find perfect quality footage for every restored scene, and the editing between some scenes doesn't always feel entirely smooth. And some weaknesses in the film still remain - such as Ryan Philippe, who is a bit limp despite being more than pretty enough for the role. But in so many other ways this is a far far better film, taking a film I'd only have rated maybe a 4 in the past, to at least a 7 now. About 40% of the film feels entirely changed, all for the better. There's a lot more life to the nights at the club, now that they've been able to put back the sex & drugs the studio removed (no movie about 1980-era disco makes any sense once you remove them). The parties are wild and bisexual and very disco. And the whole direction of the drama has been altered, now that the dull studio-imposed romance with Neve Campbell has been removed. Neve is still there in a small role, but the film now focuses on Ryan's love triangle with Salma Hayek & Breckin Meyer instead, which is far more interesting. Everyone who worked on the film should be happy with the Director's Cut, which proves they were making something pretty decent (until the studio stuffed it up).
bkoganbing Once upon a time in the not too distant past a man named Steve Rubell who to look at in this film and in real life was not all that much decided to create a playground where only the elite could participate. Two criteria decided who was among the elite, power and beauty. Rubell courted the powerful and selected only the beautiful. He created Studio 54 on West 54 Street in Manhattan and people would beg to be admitted. I was actually in the place once, not on charm, beauty, or personality mind you, but for a political fundraiser when it was rented out.One who got in on sheer beauty in this film was New Jersey kid Ryan Phillippe and it is through his eyes that the story of 54 unfolds. And we see Mike Myers as Steve Rubell who reveled in the company of the powerful and beautiful, indulged in all the vices, and stole from his own business like the wise guys in Goodfellas used to rob the cargo shipments at JFK Airport like it was an ATM. Missing from the story is his partner Ian Schrager, still very much with us, still very much a power player. It's for that reason he is missing, but it renders 54 inaccurate from the start.Phillippe has no problem using his looks and body to get all the sex he wants and to advance himself and establish. It's the main lesson he learns from Myers. What he sees as an ultimate goal in life, is something in the end he rejects.Myers is fascinating and repellent at the same time. You've got to wonder why people would curry favors from this man, but in point of fact it happened. You know where he's headed and 54 makes you want to see him fall, at the same time you wish you could be part of the 54 scene.Selma Hayek and Breckin Mayer play a couple who work at 54, a married couple who take Phillippe in. The hedonist atmosphere puts a strain on their marriage like few others are tested. Also Neve Campbell, a soap actress who is from New Jersey like Phillippe is also an ambitious woman who teaches Phillippe a thing or two. They all register well.In the end though 54 is in the joint custody of both Ryan Phillippe and Mike Myers. This was Phillippe's breakthrough part and Myers is not in this role a part of Wayne's World or Austin Powers. No this is the story of a self indulgent man who had a heady ride and a tremendous fall.