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Based on the 1972 stage show and adding several new numbers, Grease is at heart a rites-of-passage movie with plenty of feel-good moments and a euphoric buzz. "You're the One That I Want", "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and "Summer Nights" became the soundtrack for a generation of high-school students on the cusp of adulthood. Today, it looks like a pastiche of those 1950s Connie Francis rock & roll beach films. But the steady stream of double entendres and knowing body language render it more accessible to the less innocent late 1970s. It's overwhelming nostalgia for anyone in the vicinity of 40.
On the DVD: The 25th anniversary special edition of Grease rolls back the years: the 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation transports you instantly back to fifth-form heaven in the local fleapit. The Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound ensures that the songs--ever the staple of MOR radio--complete the nostalgia trip with real zip. The main extra is a short series of fond reminiscences from the actors and director Randal Kleiser, actually filmed for the 20th anniversary. --Piers Ford
This "new" DVD version is truly remarkable. The picture is sharper (which - thankfully - gives much needed improvement to the opening "cartoon" segment), and the soundtrack has been digitally remastered giving it a much clearer sound. I have seen the digitally remastered VHS version of "Grease", but it's pale in comparison to the DVD.
... Read more ›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.
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