Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Wuchak RELEASED IN 1980 and directed by James Bridges, "Urban Cowboy" is a drama starring John Travolta as mid-Texas young man who moves to Houston to work at the oil refineries. In his spare time he goes to the local Country bar where he meets babes (Debra Winger & Madolyn Smith) and rides the mechanical bull. Scott Glenn plays his rival while Barry Corbin & Brooke Alderson appear as his amiable uncle and aunt.It's overlong by at least 20 minutes and the alcohol-obsession & bed-hopping shenanigans get tedious, but I like the docudrama style. The film takes its time and successfully puts you in the C&W subculture. The plot's predictable, showing the best & worst in human behavior, yet leaves you with a good feeling. There's a likable simplicity and honesty to the people, despite their less savory sides (i.e. the alcohol/cigs & bed-hopping). The movie scores well on the female front, mostly of the tight jeans & t-shirt variety (naturally), fronted by Winger with her girl-next-door cuteness and followed by Smith with her drop-dead-gorgeous ambiance. Connie Hanson appears as the striking redhead. The final act features the Charlie Daniels Band and you can't go wrong with them.THE MOVIE RUNS 132 minutes and was shot in the Houston area of Texas (Dear Park, Pasadena & Huntsville) and Pico Rivera, California (Mobile home park). WRITERS: Bridges & Aaron Latham wrote the script based on Aaron Latham's story.GRADE: B/B- (6.5/10)

tcmay-1 I saw it when it came out in 1980, and then several times since then on cable or satellite. A great soundtrack, a pretty good story, and some good performances by Scott Glenn and the others. I'd not liked John Travolta much before (Kotter, Grease, etc.) so this was the first role I thought was "substantial." The Western theme (mixed with Houston astronauts, high tech oil rigs) was appropriate for the 1980s, where Texas was well into the high-tech revolution and yet where "cowboy regalia" was part of the culture.Again, the soundtrack was great. --Tim May, California

Manth_Sigdaw Hey anyone out there like me? I grew up in Houston during the 80s and 90s but I have never, ever seen this movie all the way through. So I don't have a full review of this film since I haven't completely seen it, but I caught half of it recently on the Country Music Channel and I wanted to review the zeitgeist or vibe this movie represents, especially in relation to Houston. Plus over the years, I always had to put up with out of town visitors that would come visit me in Houston expecting a little small metro area and the fun times we all had were at a local bar/tavern with a freakin' mechanical bull.Actually I moved to Houston from the Midwest when I was 6 years old in 1982, so this movie came out when I was still living up the north but I consider myself a Houstonian. So yeah I can't say if Houston was actually like this movie in 1980, but I can tell you I was in Houston in 1982 and while H-town was more country in the early 80s compared to the late 80s and 90s and after, it still was over exaggerated. I've seen parts of it here and there, and Debra Winger and that other brunette are hot, but this just wasn't my type of movie other then the setting was in Houston the city I mainly grew up in.I always avoided this movie, even as a little kid b/c I knew the national perception of Houston was that we were a honky tonk town and that EVERYONE was some damn mechanical bull riding wannabee cowboy. I recently caught half of the movie (still haven't seen it all the way through) and I heard them call the characters "kickers". So that's where that term comes from!!! When I was a kid in the 80s and in high school in the 90s, there was always a clique of country/redneck types that wore cowboy outfits and they would call themselves "kickers". I had friends in Dallas who would tell me in Dallas they would call themselves "ropers". I like the name "kickers" better myself. Although you could definitely pick up an underlying racist/white trash element to these people, usually they didn't blast it. They weren't going to yell out racial slurs or beat up on anyone who wasn't white, but you could easily pick up the racial discord and big government resentment within these folks. The kickers I knew as a kid (and their parents) tended to be "honorable bigots" if you knew what I mean. They were bigots who had their own honor code, like sort of a more modern version of the "I ain't got nothing' against them, as long as they stay where they supposed to be". Overall, they were actually nice people despite this hee-haw honorable country bigot mentality.I think I might just finally get the Blu-ray/DVD or just order this movie on Netflix and see it all the way through, H-town stereotypes and all.

david-sarkies This is a fairly old movie and we see a very young John Travolta here. Throughout the movie everybody speaks with a very annoying Texan accent and at first it is very hard to understand what is being said. This made me want to turn it off within the first few minutes. After a bit I got used to it, but the movie was long, boring, and generally unexciting. It was about a young cowboy, Bud, that goes to the city (Huston) to find work and save up to buy land in the country. He meets a young lady named Sissy (Debra Winger) and marries her. He has a fight, they go after different partners. Hers is a criminal, his is a rich girl, and they finally get back after he stops the criminal from robbing the local bar.Bud was a real jerk. He was a self centered arrogant man who did not care about his wife. He marries her on a whim and goes for a divorce almost a week after they are married. He is jealous if she even glances at another man and basically does not respect her. This is another thing that rubbed me up about this movie.What this movie seems to look at is the urbanisation of America. The cowboy, traditionally the symbol of the outdoor life, has now swept into the cities as work is no longer needed in the country. The cowboys traditionally drove cattle across the plains to the railroads, but that is no longer necessary so they flock to the city to find work in the factories, yet they still retain their ways. They flock to one bar and here it is a cesspit of testosterone. They wear their huge hats and speak in their grating accents. They ride the mechanical bulls, another symbol of urbanisation, and punch mechanical boxing bags. The music that is played throughout the movie is all country and western, yet this has filtered into certain cities where the cowboys now dwell.This was not a great movie at all. I must admit that it would appeal to a certain personality, and mine is not that. Instead I was waiting for it to finish so I could do better things. Why did I watch it through? Because I hardly ever turn off movies. I like to watch most through. Only the most vile will I turn off.