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Grease (Widescreen Edition)

Grease (Widescreen Edition)

List Price: $14.99
Your Price: $11.24
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: irritating . . .
Review: Considered one of the greatest musicals out there, this film adaptation of the smash hit play, "Grease", has today become a classic. But not for me. While the songs are exciting and fit for a party, their old-fashioned, 50's style of tune makes them real annoying! Well, what's the story. I must say that it's nothing, except the story of two teenagers, whose life stories their senior high school are told through rock 'n' roll music. Actors are mediocre, John Travolta stunk. So if you enjoy musicals, this one's for you. But, if you are easily annoyed, watch something else.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good Musical
Review: Grease is one of the top grossing musicals of all time based on the longest running Broadway musical (before CATS) of the same name. This musical does a good job of capuring high school life in the late 50s early 60s. There are many top songs such as "Hopelessly devoted to you", "Greased lightning" and the title tune. The only draw back, as noted by many film critics, is that it shows the yielding to peer pressure is the only way to be popular. Other than that this is a good musical. There are many cameo appearances by Hollywood legends such as Eve Arden and Sid Ceasar. The rock group Sha Na Na played the band during the dance.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Grease is the WORD!!!
Review: If you're looking for good, clean, high-spirited fun, GREASE is the ticket. Steve Krantz, who now spends most of his time producing the works of his wife, Judith, originally had the rights for this film and intended to do it as a cartoon (he'd once been partners with Ralph Bakshi). When he could find no one to agree with his concept (a wise choice on the part of the studios), he let the project go, and it was picked up by Carr, who made a deal with Stigwood. The die was cast, and the Broadway play is probably still running somewhere.

The movie is a fine rendition of the play and reaped huge rewards at the box office, perhaps the highest grosses accorded any film musical. The story takes place in the 1950s, which have become a nostalgic period. Travolta and Newton-John make a great impression as two kids who attend Rydell High. The story is a look at the trials and tribulations of young love; the plot turns are not really important. There are the usual misunderstandings, the satire of the teachers, a car race between rivals, and several production numbers. Travolta is one of those cool dudes who must stay aloof from the travails of his contemporaries. Newton-John loves him dearly and wants their summer romance to continue once they go to school together.

Everyone in the picture had been out of high school for 5-10 years when the the movie was made, but disbelief was suspended in favor of fantasy. Lots of attention was paid to details, and it shows in every frame. The clothes, the manner of speech, the hair styles, the musical arrangements were all on the nose--to the point of caricature.

There are several extended "cameos" by various stars; Arden reprises her "Our Miss Brooks" role, but this time she is a principal. Caesar is a fine coach; and even ageless Blondell comes on for a fast, funny bit. Many people made their first appearances in GREASE. It was Kleiser's premier screen-directing effort. He had already done a good job directing Travolta in a TV film called "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble," the true story of a young man with a rare disease who could not leave the bubble he lived in or he would die. (Travolta fell in love with the woman who played his mother, Diana Hyland, and they stayed together until her early death of cancer while she was still in her thirties.) Channing had already appeared in THE FORTUNE, in which she was dwarfed by her costars. In GREASE she was able to step up and stand out. Conn, who starred in the mawkish YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE, proves that she is a one-note actress with a whiny voice. (She married screen composer David Shire, former husband of Talia Shire, sister of Francis Ford Coppola.) Byrnes, who was a heartbreaker in the 1950s, makes a small appearance. He is good and should be doing more. Travolta was never better, and his film career went straight downhill from here as he starred in a host of garbage pictures that made very little money.

Composer Charles Fox ("Happy Days", many TV shows, and a host of movies, including FOUL PLAY) was supposed to do the score for the film, but he and producer Carr didn't see eye to eye, so Louis St. Louis was brought in, and his barely credited contribution was excellent. Newton-John is adorably virginal, and just about all the secondary parts are well cast. This is a first-rate spoof of a fifth-rate genre (BEACH PARTY, BEACH BLANKET BINGO, DON'T KNOCK THE ROCK, etc.); you just can't hate anything this energetic and happy.

Songs include "Grease," "Summer Nights," Best Song Oscar nominee "Hopelessly Devoted to You," "You're the One That I Want," "Sandy," "Beauty-School Dropout," "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee," "Greased Lightnin'," "It's Raining on Prom Night," "Alone at a Drive-In Movie," "Blue Moon," "Rock 'n' Roll Is Here to Stay," "Those Magic Changes," "Hound Dog," "Born to Hand-Jive," "Tears on My Pillow," "Mooning," "Freddy My Love," "Rock 'n' Roll Party Queen," "There Are Worse Things I Could Do," "We Go Together," "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing."

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "Conventionality belongs to yesterday"
Review: Grease is everything a musical film should be. It is a visual and aural feast that has captured the imaginations of audiences for over 25 years. Everything is larger than life and the action occurs amidst a riot of 1950s colour. Who cares if the cast is largely composed of 30-somethings playing teenagers? The key to Grease's success is not realism, but the enormous amount of infectious energy exuded by the cast.

This zest for life is particularly apparent in the lively and eminently sing-able chorus song-and-dance numbers. The tunes of retro party favourites such as 'Greased Lightning' and 'You're The One That I Want' will probably be familiar to many viewers, but lesser known songs, including the short and sarcastic 'Look At Me I'm Sandra Dee' and 'Beauty School Drop-Out' (with Frankie Avalon in the role of guardian angel) are also fun toe-tappers.

Musicals work best when, like Grease, they concentrate on the music rather than the plot; however, the story here is completely adequate. Sandy and Danny had a summer fling at the beach, but at school Danny has an image to uphold - which Sandy doesn't really fit - so their senior year at Rydell High is spent in a daze of "will-they-won't-they" teenage angst.

John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John set the screen alight as Danny and Sandy; there are some fabulous character roles in the "Pink Ladies" and "T-Birds" school cliques, and some very funny cameos - particularly the pairing of Principal McGee and Blanche the office lady. There are sexual innuendoes aplenty if you look hard enough, and despite the fact that the movie is set half a century ago, the viewer is led to conclude that teenagers have been, and will always be, teenagers.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Grease was enjoyed by a 27 year old Black Guy...Classic
Review: You know it's hard to fathom why any african american could see this movie as a classic. I mean for real, I can't relate to the 5o's and 60's like that and i don't like Rock-n-Roll...or do I..man, the music on this movie was great. Jonh Travolta was great which is to be expected. The song 'Hopelessly Devoted" was so deep to me. I truly enjoyed the end of the movie and the song that they played.."Always Be Together"...we did that joint at my highschool back in 1993. yeah, Grease was a tight love story with a little humor...i gues i can relate...

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Grecian Formula
Review: I suppose the buying audience for this film is people who have already seen it. Being so, advice on film quality is really more important that a review of the movie, so let me say, that the DVD sound is not improved over the videotape, other than the general DVD over video quality one expects. Don't let the hype about redigitized or whatever hook you.

Also, understand the difference between full-screen and wide-screen. Full-screen means it will fill your entire TV screen. Since movies are broader left to right than TV screens "full-screen" movies have been "panned & scanned." In other words, You see just part of the screen at once. "Wide-screen" means the whole picture is shown, with black lines at top and bottom.

Most people have a preference for one or the other. It's important to remember in the big choreography numbers that the panned & scanned versions are showing just half of the dancing. So be aware of what you're getting, especially if tou're buying used.

Now you can read my review of the content.

The ages of the actors in this film is obvious, and I personally found this really distracting. In a stage production, you can get away with casting 28-year olds as teenagers-- you can even get away with casting short adults as children sometimes. But this doesn't work in movies. --especially in a disturbing close-up of Olivia Newton-John's back teeth, as she milks one last "Su-uuuuu-mer Lo-ooooo-ve!" for all it's worth, but nevermind.

The actors were so obviously ten years too old to be in high school, that this added an unintentional extra layer to the film; it this really a fantasy of adults going back ten years to fix things in the past? This time Danny offers to drive, and Greased Lightning wins? This time Sandy finds the kishkas to change? This time Rizzo's not pregnant? Time Frenchy goes back to school? The overabundance of happy endings and the magic car in the closing shot left me wondering.

And Sandy at the end of the film? Sure, it might be time to shed the poodle skirts and pastel sweaters, but does she have to look like a 42nd & Broadway hooker? Isn't there a happy medium? And is "learn to smoke and dress like a slut in order to get the guy you want" really such a great message for the sweetness & light movie of 1978?

Well, anyway. sellers have lots of cheap used copies, the price of which is probably worth Stockard Channing's performance. Olivia Newton-John is a singer who can't act, and most of the rest of the cast is actors who sing passably. Stockard Channing is the only really substantial actor in the film (she's won some awards for her work on stage), and she's the only performer who comes through with a genuine character as opposed to a type-- although that may not be a fair criticism, since the script has a cartoon quality that suggests two-dimensional, broad, melodramatic types. Channing is also the only performer hired primarily for her acting who also can belt out a song.

My two stars are for her.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Real Kick-[Tail] Musical!
Review: This movie is awesome. Completely enjoyable by all members of the family. (It's my 8-year-old's favorite movie.) We love to sing along to the songs. Highly recommended!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Five-Star Film; But DVD Could Be Better
Review: If you're in your 30s, as I am, this is probably one of the first films you saw as a kid without your parents. That sense of independence which a lot of us former Gen-Xers associate with this film means it will always have a special place in our hearts.
Watching the film at an older age, you still can't help but be pulled in by its energy. For if the title song says, "Grease is the word," a better word to describe this film is energy. You really feel all the excitement of these characters in their high school senior year.
Olivia Newton-John, who appeared to have lost all her acting talent after this film, is very convincing as Sandy. Travolta plays his part very well, too, helping to create the memorable chemistry between the two main characters. Jeff Conaway, Stockard Channing, Didi Conn, Sid Caesar, Alice Ghostley, Eve Arden, all give memorable turns as well.
The gripe is, Paramount could have done a better job with this video. First of all, while they restored the Gulf & Western logo at the beginning of "Saturday Night Fever," it's not included here. And the special feature is a few years old. Considering this is not a bargain-priced DVD, the studio needs to do more to justify the higher price of this item.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: grease fan
Review: sounds great on DVD. Add to your collection.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Grease is STILL the word!
Review: I LOVE THIS FILM! I've had to suffer many years watching Grease in it's horrendous pan and scan VHS format. When I first took a look at the widescreen dvd version I was blown away. I was seeing actors in scenes that weren't there before! It looked absolutely beautiful, it was breathtaking. It sounds great, looks great, and IS just spectacular still 24 years later. My only problem with this release is a few special features. We get a featurette with most of the actors talking about the film and a trailer but that's about it. I was hoping for some deleted scenes or outtakes and a commentary. I did love the booklet with all the song lyrics, that was so cool. Overall I am happy with this dvd mainly because it was so long in the waiting and it just looks so well done and everytime I view I remember why it such an important piece of the 1970s.


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