In the late 1970s, entrepreneur Steve Rubell opened the super hip discotheque Studio 54, a club which attracted New York’s creme de la creme. This included celebrities, rich folk and just downright attractive people. A feature-length film was made chronicling the club’s success and the people who worked there including Rubell. 54 features an ensemble cast and documents a time in American culture that was flashy, sensual and just plain fun.

54 tells the story of Shane O’Shea (Ryan Phillippe), a handsome young man from New Jersey who goes to Studio 54 one night only to be discovered by Steve Rubell (Mike Myers). Once inside, Shane is introduced to sexual adventures and eventually, a bartending job. We the audience then get a behind-the-scenes looks at one of America’s hottest clubs.

Released in 1998, 54 is a decent film although it feels all too familiar and the acting isn’t all that great.54 has a strong Martin Scorsese influence with drugs, sex and partying occurring in the many of the scenes. Mike Myers steals the show as the peculiar druggie Rubell and Salma Hayek is beautiful as always in this film. Unfortunately, these two actors are the only elements of 54 that truly stand out. Everything else is tired and predictable. The film is now out on Blu-ray but honestly, the picture quality looks like a DVD. View if you want to be mildly entertained because a night out at a club this is not.

Blu-ray Bonus Features

The bonus features for 54 aren’t all that great. There is a music video for the song If You Could Read My Mind which was used in the film and there are some trailers.