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’t as easy for them with the intervention of his friends, and the Pink Ladies, fronted by Rizzo (Stockard Channing).
Danny acts Mr Cool and uninterested in Sandy, so she goes out with someone else to make him jealous. This works as Danny is soon vying for her attention. He even joins the track team to impress her, much to the amusement of the rest of the
school. Throughout the film misunderstandings occur that seem to keep Sandy and Danny apart, will they ever find true lurve?!
From the cartoon start and first shot of Zuko with his back to the audience, puffing on a cigarette, this is one movie that has me hooked and smiling from the beginning. The songs are great, from the fast tracks like Summer Nights and Greased Lightnin’ to the ballads such as Hopelessly Devoted To You. You’ll be singing!
Performances
John Travolta is excellent, one minute as the swaggering Zuko with the ready quips, the next minute wanting to do the right thing by Sandy, but always seeming to get it wrong!
Olivia Newton-John plays the naïve new girl brilliantly, wanting to be part of the Pink Ladies but never being quite cool enough for the in crowd – til the end!
My thoughts
This film is a classic, one of my all time favourites. I love all the songs and, while the storyline isn’t particularly strong, it will still hold your attention because the music makes this film. You feel as if you’re part of the High School, going through everything with the characters. You feel Sandy’s frustration with Danny, wanting to fit in and yet you delight at Rizzo’s bitchy rendition of ‘Sandra Dee’ which is blatantly insulting Sandy. However, Sandy comes back to surprise everyone at the end with one of the best makeovers in cinematic history!
The songs were always the strongest part of this film – Summer Nights and You’re The One That I Want both number one singles over here in the UK when I was younger. I still remember seeing those songs from the film on TOTP and what a thrill it was before the days of video (!) to be able to watch our heroes singing the songs we loved. Travolta was plastered all over my wall at the time and I had a Grease badge that was my pride and joy!
Notable mention goes to Stockard Channing for her fab portrayal of hard lady Betty Rizzo, the coolest lady at Rydell. Rizzo and Kenickie were always the top couple in this film to me! And her song ‘There are worse things I could do’ shows that as well as act, the lady can sing too!
I received the dvd that came encased in a pink cover and featured a songbook (which, for the record, KM does not need as she knows this film back to front!). I received it as a gift a couple of years ago and it cost £16.99 from Sainsbury's as it had only recently come out.
The songs included with words are Summer Nights, Look At Me I’m Sandra Dee, Hopelessly Devoted To You, Greased Lightnin’, Beauty School Dropout, Sandy, There Are Worse Things I Could Do, Look At Me (reprise), You’re The One That I Want and We Go Together. Each page features a small photo from the scene in the film that the song was featured.
Extras
1) Theatrical trailer – bit disappointed in this, I know it’s 20 plus years old but it’s very disjointed, so if you’ve never seen the film it’s a bit difficult to know just what it’s about! It seems as if they’ve just tried to fit in as many snippets of the songs as they can.
2) Special 20th anniversary interviews – I loved this! Interviews with ONJ and JT plus the rest of the cast talking about the film in amongst clips, also talking about bits they changed to make the scenes work better.
It also showed scenes from the premiere and after show party which I’ve never seen before. Great! This part of the dvd lasted nearly 17 minutes and I really enjoyed seeing the cast as they look now and talking about the gossip behind the scenes!
Other info
PG viewing, some scenes unsuitable for young children Subtitles 106 mins approx
Final thought
5 stars from me, I can’t really fault this as a film. Only gripe is maybe we could’ve had some deleted scenes or funny bits that went wrong. However, this is a real feel good movie which the cast obviously enjoyed making and it really shows. If you haven’t seen it, have a look for yourself. If, like me, you’ve seen it countless times, then play it again and sing it! You know you want to!
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
Greasewas a phenomenal hit with its target teenage audience when it was released in 1977. ... more
The songs dominated the pop charts and brought heady success for its lead actors, John Travolta (Danny) and Olivia Newton-John (Sandy) despite the fact that--as w...
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Greasewas a phenomenal hit with its target teenage audience when it was released in 1977. ... more
The songs dominated the pop charts and brought heady success for its lead actors, John Travolta (Danny) and Olivia Newton-John (Sandy) despite the fact that--as w...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
John Travolta solidified his position as the most versatile and magnetic screen presence ... more
of the decade in this film version of the smash hit play Grease. Recording star Olivia Newton-John made her American film debut as Sandy, Travolta's naive love int...
![Grease [DVD] [1978]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78529728.jpg "Grease [DVD] [1978]")
Aug 25th, 2003
(Mar 16th, 2004)
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