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There aren’t many films from the 70s that
you don’t sit and watch and have as much fun spotting all the
‘dated elements’ of the production, as you do watching the
film, but Grease is
indeed such a film. It holds up really well. The dialogue is snappy,
the performances are wonderful (Olivia Newton-John was never better
– unfortunately for her) and the songs still get your legs, and
everything else for that matter, Elvis-style wobblin’.
Based on the play of the same name, the Randal
Kleiser-directed film – needless to say, since everybody’s
seen it more times than the full moon – sees the school rebel
(John Travolta) falling in love with a young woman over Summer break,
with a wide-eyed innocent (Olivia Newton-John) who he later discovers
has just enrolled in his high school. Typically – boys being
boys, cools being cools – the cocky Sandy snubs the object of his
affection… but not for too long.
Possibly the best musical ever made – a point likely to be argued by the Astaire/Day/Rogers/Kelly fans – Grease is one of those feel-good films you can pop in the DVD player any old time and be guaranteed to smile for a couple of hours.
If there’s any reason there’s another re-issue of Grease
so soon its because the last version of the film looked dreadful
– it was grainy, colours were off, and the soundtrack
didn’t pack as much punch as our home theatres would’ve
liked it to. This new version, on the other hand, is brilliant. It is
sharp, well coloured, and the sound will have the walls shaking it is
so damn good. I dare say this is the best Grease has ever looked.
Time to update your copy of Grease, me thinks.
EXTRAS
Extras-wise (in addition to the funky ‘T-Birds Jacket’ sleeve that the
DVD comes in) there’s quite a few goodies on here: Kleiser introduces
the film as well as provides an interesting audio commentary, a
‘sing-a-long’feature (encompassing eleven of the songs featured in the
movie), and a new documentary – replacing the short and sweet ‘Grease
Yearbook’ featurette that was on the original disc – in which the cast
and crew (Travolta, Newton-John and Stockard Channing’s interviews were
recorded about thirty years back) talk fondly about their experiences
making the movie. Rounding out the impressive package is a vintage TV
promo, footage from the DVD launch party, a quick sequence of Livvy and
John at a press conference, and 11 alternate scenes from the movie –
with optional commentary from Kleiser.
Conclusion:
Movie 90% Extras: 80%
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