Urban Cowboy

"Hard Hat Days And Honky-Tonk Nights."

1980 2h 12m EN

👍

6.5

SOLID

★6.5TMDB · 279

DramaRomanceWestern

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

After moving to Pasadena, Texas, country boy Bud Davis starts hanging around a bar called Gilley's, where he falls in love with Sissy, a cowgirl who believes the sexes are equal. They eventually marry, but their relationship is turbulent due to Bud's traditional view of gender roles. Jealousy over his rival leads to their separation, but Bud attempts to win Sissy back by triumphing at Gilley's mechanical bull-riding competition.

“Hard Hat Days And Honky-Tonk Nights.”

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Cast

John Travolta
Bud Davis
Debra Winger
Sissy
Scott Glenn
Wes
Madolyn Smith Osborne
Pam
Barry Corbin
Uncle Bob
Brooke Alderson
Aunt Corene
Cooper Huckabee
Marshall
James Gammon
Steve Strange

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: James Bridges
Writers: James Bridges, Aaron Latham, Aaron Latham
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 5.3× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

ERA

Did you know

46 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by James Bridges, shot by Reynaldo Villalobos. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor David Rawlins shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

John Travolta and Debra Winger and Scott Glenn carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Hard Hat Days And Honky-Tonk Nights.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0081696 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

James Bridges directs. Reynaldo Villalobos behind the camera. David Rawlins cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 5.3× over at the box office.
246 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by James Bridges, shot by Reynaldo Villalobos. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Editor David Rawlins shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5John Travolta and Debra Winger and Scott Glenn carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Hard Hat Days And Honky-Tonk Nights.".
7IMDB entry: tt0081696 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 26 themes, including "adultery", "country music", "texas", "houston, texas".

The technical file

Cinematography: Reynaldo Villalobos
Editing: David Rawlins
Production design: Stephen B. Grimes
Costume design: Gloria Gresham
Makeup / hair: Frank Griffin
Stunt coordinator: Chris Howell
Runtime: 132 min · 2h 12m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $10,000,000
Box office: $53,300,000
Return: 533% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Urban Cowboy (1980)

Also by

James Bridges

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

JPV8522020-06-15
★ 6/10
Some unintentionally funny (I think anyway) and melodramatic moments and even as someone who isn't a fan of honky-tonk music, that wasn't bad. However, it is fairly long and could've been cut down by a good 20-25 minutes, also, and I'm not PC (far from it), there were some cringe moments, making most of these characters pretty unlikable. 3.0/5
CinemaSerf2024-11-24
★ 6/10
Country boy "Bud" (John Travolta) finds himself in the bright lights of Houston where he encounters "Sissy" (Debra Winger) and like grease lightening, they find themselves married. He's a grafter and works hard at a nearby oil refinery, but he also plays hard too - and that quite swiftly drives his new wife into the arms (and fists) of "Hightower" (Scott Glenn) in just about as acrimonious a fashion as you can imagine. "Bud" also tries to move on, befriending "Pam" (Madelyn Smith Osborne) but in his heart, well we just know what he really wants. Then their local bar installs a rodeo horse and with $5000 at stake (or steak), "Bud" decides to have a go at raising the cash and winning back his gal. This sets the scene for quite an head-to-head between the two men, with "Hightower" determined to have the cash, regardless of just how the tournament turns out. It's all watchable enough, this, but I couldn't help thinking that Travolta was just a too under-powered for this role. He has the swagger but not the style nor charisma and when it comes to it, Winger isn't really very impressive either as her character lurches from the feisty to the pathetic somewhat implausibly. For me, the best thing about the whole film is Charlie Daniels's ultimate toe-tapper "Devil Went Down to Georgia", but the rest of the soundtrack works well as a musical template for this otherwise all rather predictable and seriously over-stretched drama.