Grease. (Film Only Review.)
The Plot.
----------------
As a summer holiday romance comes to an end, Australian exchange student Sandy and Rock and Roll greased back Danny say there fond farewells. Suddenly things change for both when Sandy does not return to Australia as planned and ... Read review
Music / Performing Arts, Comedy - Director: Trevor Nunn, Geoffrey Posner - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, Parental Guidance - Starring: Duncan Preston, Celia Imrie, Julie Walters, Victoria Wood, Jim Broadbent
Advantages: Entertaining to most generations Disadvantages: some of the singing voices
...fame from her performance in Grease as I think she drives even the sanest person batty with her character portrayal. Rizzo (Stockard Channing) on the other hand does give us a good performance and makes her character come alive however why they had to spoil it by making her try and sing a song for us I don't know. Yes, Stockard Channing can act and give a good performance, but she cannot sing for toffees.
The Director Randal Kleiser ... ...extremely well and gives us a film that even now holds a good deal of entertainment for all ages really. His directing qualities have since been able to entertain us with other great films under his direction such as Flight of the Navigator, White Fang, Blue Lagoon and Shadow of Doubt.
It surprises me that even at the ripe old age of 28 now this film still has appeal to all ages and as a member of the youth that grew up around this ... more
Grease. (Film Only Review.) =======================
The Plot. ---------------- As a summer holiday romance comes to an end, Australian exchange student Sandy and Rock and Roll greased back Danny say there fond farewells. Suddenly things change for both when Sandy does not return to Australia as planned and ends up attending the same High School as Danny and discovers a different side to him in this 1978 film tribute to the Musical.
Storyline. -------------------- Danny Zuko (John Travolta) is a greased back hair rocker who falls for a sweet Australian girl Sandy Olsson (Olivia Newton-John) during a summer holiday romance which sadly has to come to an end when at the end of the summer break Sandy is due to return to Australia with her parents. They say there farewells and Danny returns to his school with stories about the summer romance. Things have changed for Sandy though as she has discovered she will not be returning to Australia as planned and ends up attending High School in America instead with her Cousin Frenchy (Didi Conn).
Things soon take a twist when Frenchy introduced Sandy to her gang of friends 'The Pink Ladies' and Sandy begins to tell them of her summer romance. Rizzo (Sharon Channing) is quick to tell Sandy there is no such thing as a sweet guy and wants to know this Romeo's name. Sandy reveals it is Danny Zuko who unknown to her actually attends the same High School as they are in.
The plan is set and the couple reunited, but not all goes according to plan when Sandy finds out that Danny has a different side to him when in front of his friends 'The T Birds'. Will the couple manage to rekindle there holiday romance and overcome there image issues. That you will have to watch and find out.
My Opinion. --------------------- I know this film is now showing a great age but that does not change the fact that even know I do enjoy watching it. John Travolta is shot into the halls of stardom after he performed in this film and it is understandable to see why when you consider his versatility as an actor these days and his dancing skills as well as acting in this performance. He brings a strange and yet loveable uniqueness to the character Danny Zuko which in my opinion is very enjoyable.
Olivia Newton-John made her first American film debut in this role as Sandy Olsson and I have to say although she does make the character come alive and believable you can see why she never managed to stretch her film career much further after this performance. She makes her character convincible but yet it still seems lacking in some way, but I feel that is down to her acting abilities.
The T Bird character Doody (Barry Pearl), Putzie (Kelly Ward) and Sonny (Michael Tucci), all play there characters to the full managing to make them both convincing and humorous to watch. The performance of Kenickie (Jeff Conaway) is also very entertaining as he portrays one of the main T Bird members who is a hard man with a loving side.
The Pink Ladies Marty Maraschino (Dinah Manoff) and Jan (Jamie Donnelly) give good character performances and make there roles both fun and entertaining, but I have to say Frenchy (Didi Conn) does drive me mad. She screeches out her lines in a horrible voice, which is enough to crack glass, and makes it fully understandable why she never made any fame from her performance in Grease as I think she drives even the sanest person batty with her character portrayal. Rizzo (Stockard Channing) on the other hand does give us a good performance and makes her character come alive however why they had to spoil it by making her try and sing a song for us I don't know. Yes, Stockard Channing can act and give a good performance, but she cannot sing for toffees.
The Director Randal Kleiser managed to direct all the cast into producing there performance extremely well and gives us a film that even now holds a good deal of entertainment for all ages really. His directing qualities have since been able to entertain us with other great films under his direction such as Flight of the Navigator, White Fang, Blue Lagoon and Shadow of Doubt.
It surprises me that even at the ripe old age of 28 now this film still has appeal to all ages and as a member of the youth that grew up around this film I must confess even now it still holds a great deal of entertainment value in my opinion. Ok we all get a little sick of it after a while, but somehow I still find myself glued to the screen when my daughter wishes to watch it.
Technical Information. ======================== Cast. ------ John Travolta Danny Zuko Olivia Newton-John Sandy Olsson Barry Pearl Doody Didi Conn Frenchy Dinah Manoff Marty Marschino Jamie Donnelly Jan Jeff Conaway Kenickie Stockard Channing Betty Rizzo Kelly Ward Putzie Michael Tucci Sonny Sid Caesar Coach Calhoun
Director Randal Kleiser Certificate PG Year 1978 Widescreen 2.35:1 Anamorphic Languages English - Dolby Digital (5.1) ,German Subtitles English, English for the hard of hearing, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Icelandic, Czech, Polish, Bulgarian, Greek, Arabic, Hungarian, Turkish, Romanian, Danish Duration 1 hour and 45 minutes (approx)
Advantages: Decent storyline, decent acting, nice songs Disadvantages: A bit cheesy really!
Before I start this review I will let you know now that I love this film and have loved it since I first saw it when I was just a child. I saw the DVD on sale at £5 and had to buy it as I remembered the fun I used to have singing along to my record (yes record) of the soundtrack of the film. I was that bad that I wore the first record out and my mum had to buy me a second one - and I knew all of the words! You can get this on Amazon for as little ... ...so my advice as always is to shop around before you buy.
**The Film**
Set in the summer of 1958, Danny Zuko (John Travolta) and Sandy Olsson (Olivia Newton-John) meet whilst on holiday and fall in love. This is to be short-lived as Sandy is to return to Australia with her parents and Danny is to go back to school in the States. However, it turns out that Sandy's parents stay on in America and Sandy starts the new school year at Rydell High School.
...
bonsi6337 20.03.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Grease (DVD)
Advantages: Excellent film, John Travolta Disadvantages: None
...it on DVD since then. Grease is an excellent film and i liked the acting of John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. The songs on the film are great they get you singing along so easily and the words are easy to sing.
The film is about Danny Zuko (John Travolta) and Sandy Olsson (Olivia Newton-John), who is on holiday, fall in love Sandy has to say goodbye as she has to go back home to Australia but doesn't realise she's staying. Sandy starts Rydell ... ...Caesar
My Opinion
Grease is an excellent film and is still enjoyed by people today. The cast in grease are great John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John were a great choice to play the leading parts. John Travolta was quite good looking in this film and played Danny Zuko brilliantly. This is one of the best films around and i recommend people to watch this if they have never seen this before. ...
giantpanda21 02.05.2007 (28.04.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Grease (DVD)
I first saw this in the cinema, way back when...........................
A quick synopsis, boy (Danny) meets girl (Sandy) at the beach♥. Girl goes back to Australia, boy stays in the States. Boy is now a senior in High School and part of the "T-Birds" gang (Danny, Kenickie, Futzie, Doody & Sonny). They only date "The Pink Ladies" (Rizzo, Frenchy, Marty & Jan) One of the Pink Ladies (Frenchy) has a cousin from Australia who is joining the High ... ..."cheerleader" type, he is a "greaser". The two do not mix! She starts dating a football player, Danny gets jealous. Rizzo (Danny's ex) starts dating Kenickie. She constantly tries to make Danny jealous, but when she realises that he really likes Sandy, she winds him up about her being with a football player.
The National Bandstand TV show are to broadcast live from the school, so Danny and Sandy team up to dance together, but it doesn't go according ...
lisaismad 19.04.2006 (20.04.2006)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Grease (DVD)
...The first time i watch Grease i loved it. Every friend that comes to my house doesn't leave with out seeing it. I ride at a barn so i have a ton of friends. They really don't like old movies. They really didn't want to watch it but i made them and Guess what they loved. Everytime they come over thay watch it. There are some things that a 7year old might not understand but they would still love the music. It has even been a tradison to watch it on ... ...it. So i have alot of my school friends who i get to watch it with them when it is there first time. It is so much fun to show new people the movie. I swear i have watched it more than 50 times and i am still not borad with it. i hope to inerduce this movie to more people. I also love the second one. i would diffentlly reccomened this movie two anyone. ...
5616599 10.01.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Grease (DVD)
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Reviews which might be of interest for "Grease (DVD)"
Advantages: Better quality pictures Disadvantages: The soundtrack is over dubbed
of us that where brought up with Grease can still remember all the songs, and the great thing about the DVD is that you get a song book so now you can get the right words to the songs that for the last 25 years you probably (if you are like myself) have been singing wrong.
There is a down side to the DVD and that is the soundtrack. It sounds as if the makers have dubbed the original soundtrack with one that has been enhanced to Dolby Digital and when a song starts playing you can really notice the change. I also found that in places the music didn't seem to match exactly what they were singing. It is a distraction when watching the film but not so much that it spoils the film entirely.
There are not many extras on this DVD. All you get is an Interview with Cast and Filmmakers and the Original Theatrical Trailer. It would have been ...
y66jan 27.10.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Grease (DVD)
Advantages: top tunes, songbook to singalonga Disadvantages: not enough extras on dvd
This film came out in 1978, when I was a wee young thing and I remember my mum took my friend and I to see it, even though I was 8! 26 years on I still love it so when Grease came out on dvd at the end of last year it was top of my birthday list!
The film stars Australian singer Olivia Newton-John, in her debut role and a young and thinner John Travolta! It?s set in Rydell High School in the 1950s and boasts an impressive cast such as Frankie Avalon as the Teen Angel.
Travolta plays Danny Zuko, leader of the T-Birds. Danny and his friends are the ?cool? guys of the school, wearers of leather jackets and picking on Eugene who is the geek. He meets Sandy (Olivia) at the beach and they enjoy an innocent romance. When summer ends, he thinks she?s gone back to Australia but is later reunited with her at Rydell where things aren ...
kirstymack80 25.08.2003 (16.03.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Grease (DVD)
Advantages: It'll stay in your mind and on your lips Disadvantages: Does'nt stick to your hips
After having one of the worst days ever, Im not talking bad hair here, I decided I was in need of Comfort food and the ultimate pick-me-up, Grease.
I was barely a twinkle in my fathers eye when grease was first released in 1978 (I was born in 1979) and now on it's release on DVD 25 years on it's still my number 1. Its aged even better than Olivia and john themselves. A timeless, feel good film, Grease is still the word!
The story is set around The Pink Ladies, think lipstick, fags and "hickies" and The T Birds, think The Fonze. In a stereotypical 1950's highschool, naive newcomer Sandy (Newton John) discovers herself with the help of the Pink Ladies, hooking up with the man of her dreams, the main man Danny (Travolta) of the T Birds at the end in a raunchy, "what dreams are made of" style ending. They go together like "a wham bomp ...
ellisanais 23.11.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Grease (DVD)
Musicals & Music Films - Musicals & Other Music Films
Classification
Parental Guidance
Production Year
1977
Running Time
1 hour 45 minutes
Plot
This film adaptation of GREASE is the zippy smash hit translation from the Broadway musical tribute to the fabulous 1950s. As a new school year begins, wholesome Australian exchange student Sandy (pop star Olivia Newton-John) and duck-tailed, leather-jacket-clad Danny (John Travolta) parlay their summertime romance into an on-and-off attraction that may or may not cross clique lines. Sandy seriously cramps Danny's style, so he dumps her. In response, Sandy begins dating a wholesome athlete, but, as a hedge, she also joins the gum-chewin', tough-talkin' clique known as the Pink Ladies. The popular soundtrack includes 'You're the One That I Want', 'Hopelessly Devoted to You', 'Summer Nights', and the title tune.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT; TECHNICOLOR DIST. SERVICES
Interview With Cast and Filmmakers, Original Theatrical Trailer
Aspect Ratio
2.35 Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround English
Professional reviews
Review
"...A life that is all its own....Loaded with the kind of talent and exuberance you don't often find very far from a musical stage..." (New York Times, p.C10, 16/06/1978)
"...It's a gum-snapping slice of cinema that's impossible to watch without smiling..." (Premiere, p.29, 01/04/1998)
"...Zesty choreography and very excellent new plus revived music....Newton-John registers very impressively..." (Variety, 07/06/1978)
DVD Description
This film adaptation of GREASE is the zippy smash hit translation from the Broadway musical tribute to the fabulous 1950s. As a new school year begins, wholesome Australian exchange student Sandy (pop star Olivia Newton-John) and duck-tailed, leather-jacket-clad Danny (John Travolta) parlay their summertime romance into an on-and-off attraction that may or may not cross clique lines. Sandy seriously cramps Danny's style, so he dumps her. In response, Sandy begins dating a wholesome athlete, but, as a hedge, she also joins the gum-chewin', tough-talkin' clique known as the Pink Ladies. The popular soundtrack includes 'You're the One That I Want', 'Hopelessly Devoted to You', 'Summer Nights', and the title tune.
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