Grease – Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray Reviews, Film, Reviews

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Grease was released in 1978 or to make matters seem a little worse for some of you: one year before I was born. Still it is a film that has long been one of my favorites and will be for many years to come. That may come as a surprise to many of you that know how the horror genre is what really gets me going, but the bigger surprise to those of you that don’t know the film is that I really love a musical. There are not many musicals that have been good enough for me to sit all the way through and besides Grease, the list includes The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, Sweeney Todd, and Moulin Rouge. While this first paragraph may be full of surprises, I’m going to save the biggest one for much later in my review.

Danny and Sandy have the perfect relationship over the course of a summer but it is short-lived because she has to return back to Australia with her family before school starts. Little did either of them know though that plans would change and the fall semester would see them both attending Rydell High School and back with each other. Their picture perfect love isn’t easily rekindled because Danny has a reputation to uphold with his gang, the T-Birds as Sandy finds refuge with the popular girl gang, the Pink Ladies. Eventually though, love finds a way and they go through the trials and tribulations of high school with their friends, arch enemies, dance contests, sports, and a whole lot of singing and dancing.

Everyone needs to have seen Grease by now and if you havent then you have you no choice but to go buy this Blu-ray right now. It is by far one of the best musicals ever and is just really so much fun as a film period. There is a great story being told here of young love finding its way through the mud and the muck so that two kids can be together and know what it is like to be truly happy. The story is made even better by the incredible actors in this film that were showing their amazing talents even before they were truly in their prime. John Travolta. Olivia Newton-John. Stockard Channing. Let’s not forget Jeff Conaway either, and this was long before his descent down Crazy Lane before taking a turn onto Addict Road.

The heart of Grease is not the story line, the great actors, or even the end result when it’s all said and done. It is the music and the wonderful songs that you’ll find yourself singing along with very quickly. By the time you watch the film maybe for the second or third time; you’ll know every single word to “Beauty School Dropout” and “We Go Together.” Every single song sets the mood perfectly for the scene which you’re watching and gets you prepared for whatever is about to come next. There is one song though that I could do without and it is when Sandy is sitting by the kiddie pool and singing “Hopelessly Devoted To You.” The song just flat out sucks and the scene is boring.

It is high time I reveal my biggest surprise to all of you and a few that know me are already aware of this frightening fact about me. Grease will always be a film that can be watched over and over again, this is true. It is also true that I can recite every single line in it and sing the songs perfectly because they are just that cool. But ladies and gentlemen, it’s time you know that my score for Grease can’t be a perfect rating because the superior film is the one that followed Grease 2. Yes, I like it much better than the first and think it is the better of the two. No, I really can’t give you an exact reason as to why because the songs are awesome throughout both. And while Grease may have better actors and actresses, the story of Grease 2 is a bit deeper and more mysterious.

Oh yeah, I like the song “Charades.” Like a lot!

All the fun comes at you in a 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen format and while it is not necessarily the ideal film to check out for all of Blu-ray’s capabilities; it still looks great. Wonderfully enough you cannot tell that it is a thirty year old film because it has been touched up nicely and everything comes through bright and crisp.

The film is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and it is good but nowhere near what you would expect from Blu-ray. The dialogue can be heard perfectly while the music surrounds the room nicely, but it’s not overwhelmingly better then the DVD version of Grease that I own.

Audio Commentary – Director Randal Kleiser and Choreographer Patricia Birch sit together for this track that is not over the top exciting but still fun to listen to. They touch a lot on the technical aspects of the film and Birch throws a lot of information out on how it was working with the entire cast on the dance numbers.

Director Introduction – Kleiser gives a quick rundown of the film. (0:24)

Rydell Sing-Along – Jump to any song you wish and listen to it or sing along with the lyrics on screen.

Alternate/Deleted Scenes – There are eleven extra or lengthened scenes here which aren’t the greatest and were cut for a reason but still fun to watch.

Grease On DVD Launch Party – All of the cast comes together again for a reunion of sorts and belts out a few songs as they introduce the DVD to the world. Unfortunately, Newton-John sang “Hopelessly Devoted” making me not as thrilled about this featurette as I should be. (15:00)

Grease Memories From John And Olivia – This is nothing more than a very short featurette with Travolta and Newton-John sharing a little bit of a flashback from their time shooting the film. The footage is taken from the DVD Launch Party and isn’t really worth its own special feature slot. (3:00)

The Moves Behind The Music – A lot of the dance numbers are shown in a bit of a different view, but nothing too much here. (8:00)

Thunder Roadsters – This feature takes a look at the cars used in the film. Again, nothing of great interest. (5:00)

The Time, The Place, The Motion: Remembering Grease – Kind of disguised as a “behind the scenes” featurette, this special feature shows some footage from on the set mixed in with interviews with cast and crew. (22:00)

Grease Day Interviews – These two interviews are broken up into two separate features, but they are both pretty much the same thing. One is with Travolta and Allan Carr while the other is with Newton-John and Robert Stigwood. (2:00 each)

Theatrical Trailer

Photo Galleries


Time to be a bit torn on whether you should purchase this Blu-ray disc version of Grease or not. Ok, let’s get a few things out the way to better help your decision. If you own the “Rockin’ Rydell” DVD copy of Grease, then you may want to think about this one because the only difference here is the advanced audio (somewhat) and video. If the first release DVD is the only copy you own then you’re going to want to go ahead and pick this one up. Nothing has really changed from the last DVD release of Grease and this version so it’s totally your call on how many copies of the film you want sitting in your collection. But overall it is a great and fun musical that comes with a big old lackluster collection of special features. It’ll still always be the “one that I want” though.

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Paramount presents Grease. Directed by: Randal Kleiser. Starring: John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, and many more. Written by: Bronte Woodard, Allan Carr, Jim Jacobs, Warren Casey, Kenneth Waissman, & Maxine Fox. Running time: 110 minutes. Rating: PG. Released on DVD: May 5, 2009. Available at Amazon.com