Home :: DVD :: Musicals & Performing Arts :: Musicals  

Ballet & Dance
Biography
Broadway
Classical
Documentary
General
Instructional
Jazz
Musicals

Opera
World Music
Grease (Widescreen Edition)

Grease (Widescreen Edition)

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

<< 1 .. 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 .. 23 >>

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Short of wonderful
Review: Well.... we all know the story. There have been specials on E! and VH1 as well as the original show from 1978 "Grease Day USA." BUT, what happened on this much awaited DVD? The menus are silent and motionless and the only extras are an edited version of what VH1 showed as well as the original trailer, which by the way, show two scenes on the beach that were deleted from the movie itself. I was hoping for a commentary, behind the scenes footage, deleted scenes.... But Paramount is not a fan based company. They just deliver products to be consumed and not enjoyed or treasured. HOWEVER, that said, the transfer is okay, falling just slightly below the laserdisc that was released earlier and with the same extras. The widescreen is great to have. And the sound is.... good, although the stereo separation is weak. I'd just wish for more. This being the first of a slew of releases from ..., I'm more likely to rent rather than buy the other releases.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Musical for The Ages - Finally on DVD
Review: As far as film musicals are concerned, nothing comes close to "Grease" in terms of appealing to a mass audience of all ages, races, and generations. Though set in the fifties, "Grease" remains deeply entrenched in the seventies, as it defined that freewheeling decade's carefree attitude and innocence while drawing inspiration from the Elvis era. Still the top-grossing movie musical of all time, "Grease" works as a coming-of-age film we can all relate to - it sings (great songs from the Broadway classic plus chart-topping classics from the Bee Gees and Olivia Newton-John's longtime collaborator, John Farrar), it dances (Rydel High's Gym Dance), zips ("the chicks'll cream for Greased Lightning") and celebrates youth and friendship.

Twenty five years after its first theatrical release, the movie still feels and sounds fresh even through its nostalgia, thanks to star-making performances from Travolta, Newton-John and Stockard Channing, to its clever wordplay and its irreverent look at high school - when everything and anything is possible. It's a movie that gets better with repeat viewings, as audiences associate seeing it with a singular moment in time. Cameo appearances from golden greats like Frankie Avalon ("Beauty School Dropout"), Sid Ceasar and Edd Byrnes are comic gems.

The now-world-famous cast is hard to beat ... Didi Conn and Stockard Channing are excellent as Frenchy (THE beauty school dud) and Rizzo (the tough girl with a soft spot), while Eve Arden (Our Miss Brooks) gets the supporting role of a lifetime. Dody Goodman as her daffy assistant is a hoot, but the film belongs to the music and the performances of its two principles. Olivia Newton-John is a sublime choice for Sandy. Though requiring re-tooling from the original stage show, her character's Aussie born lass is a perfect combination of girl-next-door sweetness and (later on) I-Am-Woman-hear-me-roar guts. Perhaps no transformation has been so effectively cut in a movie as ONJ's good girl gone wild. Besides setting off fashion trends and the lycra industry, Sandy's evolution reminds today's teens that you can be hip AND nice. That's a testament to the singer-actress' presence in this film and her ongoing legend. Travolta is also sublime as Danny, a mix of cocky swagger and silly-boy charm that's never malicious...just young. His Danny plays both sides of the teen-angst fence, whether telling his version of "Summer Nights" to the boys, or sweetly professing his love for "Sandy" at the drive-in (drive-ins are set for a comeback if this DVD finds itself into everyone's home!) After 25 years and countless viewings, Olivia and Travolta make beautiful music together!

Guaranteed a winner in any home, "Grease" gets better with repeat viewings and remains accessible, fun and genuine. As a backdrop for baby boomers' high school years and our memories of all thats happened since..."Grease" remains the word! Thrilled to have this out on DVD!!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: screen vs. stage
Review: I really do like this movie. I've seen it several times and the 5.1 stereo sound is more than wonderful. The acting is very very good and the talent from every actor is exceptional and i'm a big fan of everyone in this really great musical.But,,,,,the stage production is 100 times better. For some reason the movie just went "to" Hollywood and it didn't have to. The Broadway version captured everything that it needed and all these extras were not really needed in the movie. Just once i wish Hollywood would take course 101 in "Theatre." Maybe we could get better directors, better producers. Again the film is great but if you have a chance to ever see the Broadway version do yourself a favor. Then write me back and tell me what you thought. I know you'll be more than impressed. At least Michael Douglas from "Chorus Line" isn't in this. Never-the-less this DVD is still worth the price.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great movie for those just starting a DVD collection !
Review: I am not into movie musicals, but this is one of my favorite movies.

This movie is great becuase its a simple and fun movie to watch. You know it by heart, and can sing along to it. I will definately be buying this DVD, especially since I have only seen the movie in TV pan/scan... I never got to see the rerelease in the theaters. I am so glad that its going to be the 2.35 widescreen. Please do not buy the Full Screen version, it just won't be the same.

I really like the songs, both in English and the Spanish versions that came out for the Mexican version of it with Timbiriche a few years ago. I actually saw that version in the theater ! Its called " Vaselina " in spanish. Look it up on the web, there is a whole album with most of the songs.

As for reviewer Robert A DelMedico (...rendition of a killer play), I doubt if anybody would disagree with him that the high schoolers looked too old. But thats always a problem with kids/teens in any movie. But he is looking at it from the point of the play. Most people see the film as seperate from the play. They should not be judged against each other.

I do agree with him about the missing songs/scenes. When I saw the play in Spanish ( Vaselina ), some of the songs that he mentions missing where the most prominent in the play. But that might have also been due to which were easier to translate.

Buy this one ! But get the widescreen edition. And don't buy Grease 2. Not very good.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Grease VHS
Review: I purchased two a the "Grease" movies for my granddaughters, they were very pleased. Thank you

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Grease is the BEST!
Review: Anyone that has not seen this movie is CRAZY!! It's the best movie I have ever seen. I am only 17 years old and have loved it since I was 3. When I was little I wouldn't go to bed until I had seen Grease. I still try to watch it as much as I can. John Travolta looks great in this movie! It's so fun to sing and dance to! It's a true classic!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Grease...Slips Through The Cracks!!
Review: GREASE is the word? I don't think so! One of the most overrated (yet profitable) movie musicals ever made. The plot and script are thin, the direction is VERY bad, the characters look way too old for their parts (high schoolers?), and while some of the musical numbers and songs are memorable (SUMMER NIGHTS & GREASE LIGHTNING), they too are terribly directed. Notice the singing of the characters in the film are all out of synch when anyone is performing. John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John play the leads of two love struck high schoolers (Danny and Sandy) who have previously met at the beach during summer vacation. They fall in love, but when summer ends they part ways thinking they'll meet intermittantly because Sandy is vacationing from Austraila. However, when school begins, she unexpectedly stays in the states and begins school where Danny goes. When they meet again Danny can't show his true feelings to her. Also, he takes on his alter ego, opposite of the romantic beach boy, because he is part of a greaser gang (The T-Birds). It wouldn't be "Cool" to be love with a "Sandra Dee" type... that is, a girl who doesn't "put out". (The guys think they are a bunch of toughs, but in reality are a bunch of wimps in disguise i.e. Micheal Tucci as Sonny.) Then there is the Pink Ladies, the mirrored opposite sex equivalent of the "T-Birds" who are equally puzzling because you have two cool chicks (Stockard Channing as Rizzo and Dinah Manoff as Marty) and the rest seemingly act like Sandy (most notable.. Didi Conn as Frenchie). The rest of the story deals with Danny trying to win back Sandy when he realises he wants to be with her despite of what the other greasers think and still maintain his tough greaser image. So, he tries out for different sports to be a jock to impress her etc...Also, here are minor subplots such as the T-Birds competing against another gang (or car club). The film scores only because of the supporting cast and cameos with the likes of the late Eve Arden as Principal McGee, Sid Ceasar as Coach Calhoun, Alice Ghostly, Frankie Avalon, Sha Na Na, Ed Byrnes, and the late Joan Blondell. Movie gets worse with each subsequent screenings because the main characters are all mean spirited and annoying (especially Jeff Conaway as Kenickie). Note: look for Michael Biehn (TERMINATOR, TOMBSTONE) as one of Lorenzo Lamas' (Tom the Jock) athletic buddies.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wonderful, fun movie
Review: ... The songs are catchy and you'll find yourself singing along in no time. Grease is for anyone of any age.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Grease is STILL the word!
Review: I went to see the 20th anniversary of Grease when it hit the theatres. I enjoyed it thoroughly, love at first sight! OK, confession time: it was also the first time I'd seen it. Yes, a Gen-X'er like me not seeing Grease is like a Gen-Y'er not seeing American Pie. However, blame my parents for banning much popular culture during my formative years.

The opening scenes of Danny and Sandy carousing and clowning around on the beach ends appropriately, when Danny tells Sandy, "Of course not, it's only the beginning," and then come those crazy animated credits and Frankie Valli singing the immortal title track.

There's Danny Zucco and the T-Birds, his inseparable best friend Kenickie, and the "three stooges," Sonny, Doody, and Putzie. Sandy is befriended by Frenchie, whose compatriots, the Pink Ladies, are Marty, Jan, and the sarcastic Rizzo. Basically, we see this story from their point of view. After all, they are the more interesting characters and make no effort to conform, remaining in their clique groups.

It's more than just Danny and Sandy finding each other's true selves at school, but that of the T-Birds and Pink Ladies, who discover that things aren't always cut in black and white, but have a way of working out in the end. All the actors make their characters come alive, love or not love them so much. And everyone has a favorite few characters that they grow up liking with each viewing. Mine are Danny, Sandy, Coach Calhoun, and Frenchie.

What are the highlights and familiar scenes at high school? Bonfire night, going to Lover's Lane, hanging out at the diner, the big dance, the drive-in, graduation carnival, it's all here, a 1950's time capsule that was made in 1978. Well, some of these might be passe, but of the traditions that still exist, I was alienated in all these things during my three year sentence. Maybe because this movie makes it so ideal and magical, and that it's set in 1959.

Of the adults, hats off to Eve Arden, the strict but benevolent school principle, except she plays Miss McGee, not Miss Brooks. And Sid Caesar makes Coach Calhoun a really well-rounded character--patient, kind, helpful, and full of spirit.

One interesting subliminal message I noticed from go was the animated cartoons playing at the drive-in screen while Danny is singing "Sandy." As he's winding up his song, notice the antics of the hot dog and the hot dog bun.

Outdated themes: the 50's cars, gas guzzlers and now a threat to the environment, the fashions of course, but also actors in their mid-to-late twenties playing high schoolers. Heck, Stockard Channing (Rizzo) was in her thirties in 1978!

There's magic in this movie as well. As soon as Frenchy wishes she had a guardian angel a la Tammy And The Bachelor, Frankie Avalon appears and the Frosty Palace comes lit with the "Beauty School Dropout" number. And the "Greased Lightning" fantasy number, where Kenickie's beat-up car is transformed into a hot rod with slick paint job, chrome wheels, white-wall tires, and, the most important item of all (ha ha), furry dice, shows Travolta really enjoying himself.

Of the musical numbers, "Summer Nights," "Greased Lightning," all of the prom songs, and the celebratory "We Go Together" are unforgettable wonders, but the cherry on the icing is the "Born To Hand Jive" number, where the dance floor comes alive, topping the "Rock 'N' Roll Is Here To Stay" number in energy.

This is definitely the last great musical to come out of Hollywood, and remember, Grease is STILL the word!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Goodbye to Sandra Dee
Review: As the movie opens, Olivia Newton-John and John Travola are teenagers saying goodbye after a summer romance. When school starts, however, he ignores her to appear cool to his pals and we follow their hi-jinks through their senior year. There are many terrific musical numbers by Olivia and Travola, who epitomize James Dean-era teens. She is very talented and versitile, playing two different kinds of girls in the film.The last scene showing Olivia's transformation from innocent lamb to hot babe in a knockout black outfit is the best. Talented stars, rock and roll, and a little romance add up to a great movie musical.


<< 1 .. 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 .. 23 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates