Uriah43 "Bud" (John Travolta) is a young man who leaves his home in West Texas to try to find a job at an oil refinery in Houston. One of the first things he does is go to a famous nightclub known as Gilley's where he meets a young woman named "Sissy" (Debra Winger) and they fall for each other immediately. They soon get married and just about every night they go back to Gilley's to have a good time. Then one night the management of the nightclub puts in a mechanical bull and their lives are changed forever. Now if this plot sounds a bit corny that's because it really is. But it manages to capture the flavor of that particular area during that particular time due in large part because of the country music which was so popular back then. No doubt, there are probably plenty of viewers who won't care for this film as it is clearly dated to a specific time in America--and I fully understand that. Be that as it may, it brought back some good memories and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

tieman64 James Bridges directs "Urban Cowboy", an attempt to cash in on John Badham's "Saturday Night Fever". Both films star John Travolta, though here he trades bell-bottoms, disco balls and dance floors for cowboy hats, mechanical bulls, pickup trucks and square dancing.For some reason, 1980s Hollywood saw a boom in films which romanticised blue-collar work. Here Travolta and his gang spend their days working hard with hardhats at oil refineries, before spending their well-earned nights dancing at local clubs or riding mechanical bulls. Travolta's love interest in the film is Sissy, played by Debra Winger, who "wants to be independent", much to the chagrin of Travolta who "doesn't think gals should behave that way". Sissy thus defiantly "rides a mechanical bull" in a "sexy manner" which "attracts men" and "makes Travolta angry". The couple then fight, break up and get back together. Much of the film consists of men spouting macho wisdom ("a man don't back down when things get tough"), proving their masculinity by riding mechanical bulls, dancing like cowboys or beating up women. Like many of the "urban cowboy flicks" of this era (see Eastwood's "Bronco Billy"), our cowboy hero thus spends most of his time, not beating Indians, but battering and attempting to tame uppity women. Interestingly, Travolta's a "cowboy" only when at his town's Western-themed dance halls and bars. Outside these establishments he's just a regular, blue collar worker. His masculinity is thus solely defined by what happens on the dance floor. When Sissy (her name a slur) encroaches on this, Travolta gets hilariously mad. Very literally, the film is about cowboys who, having lost their mythical Wild West to big oil companies, mega-corporations and stifling 9 to 5 routines, sublimate their resentment by battering and besting each other on mechanical bulls. When women start riding the bulls, the already fragile egos of these guys goes berserk.While there's ample material here for a look at working class frustrations and the dying of subcultures, the film misses the point of its own story and completely ignores the causes of all its flying fists...namely those big factories and the logic of the almighty dollar. For this whole 1980s, romanticized blue-collar movement done better in under 4 minutes, listen to Lennon's "Working Class Hero" a couple times.5/10 – Good ambiance and decor undermined by dumb plot. Worth one viewing.

Nathan McDonald Urban Cowboy is about Bud Davis ala John Travolta and Sissy aka Debra Winger. Two southerners who meet up and share a night of passion in the infamous Gilles bar.Bud is an old fashioned blue collar working man. Bud was obviously raised with a set of ideals much older than himself. Bud is a nice guy, but a little cocky and hard headed and he does believe men to be stronger of the two sexes. It seems to bother him to no end when his girlfriend ''Later Wife'' Sissy does things that ''only a man should do'' like drive his truck and ride that mechanical bull at Gilles. This set of ideals eventually pushes Sissy away and into the arms of another man...Wes Hightower ''Scott Glenn'' Wes is a muscled up ex convict who acts as a third party to the love triangle between Bud and Sissy. One night while not in the best of mood Bud picks a fight with Wes, Bud being quite drunk takes a quick beating in the parking lot of Gilles, Later Wes injures Bud even further when the two of them get into a peeing match with the mechanical bull ''Which Wes is controlling''. Wes is also working on a scheme in which he plans to rob Gillies.Eventually things work out for the better...Bud and Sissy re-unite after Bud apologizes for his behavior, only to realize moments into their conversation that Sissy has been subjected to physical abuse from Wes...Bud loses his cool and attacks Wes inside of Gillies, This time Fueled by pure rage Bud beats up Wes pretty badly. Wes had been hiding the recently stolen cash from Gillies. Bud exposes this when he attacks him.Overall its a good movie worth watching 9/10

sdquinn2-1 This movie has it all, action, fighting, dancing, bull riding, music, pretty girls. This movie is an authenic look at middle America. Believe me, I was there in 1980. Lots of oil money, lots of women, and lots of honky tonks. Too bad they are all gone now. The movie is essentially just another boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back, but it is redeemed by the actors and the music. There is absolutely no movie with any better music that this movie, and that includes American Graffiti. It is a movie I watch over and over again and never get tired of it. Every time I watch it, I am young again, and it is time to go out honky tonking. The only reason I only gave it a 9 is because you cannot rate a movie zero, I do not feel you should rate one 10.