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Grease (Rockin' Rydell Edition) [Blu-ray]
Grease
Rockin' Rydell Edition
Actors: Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta, Stockard Channing, Jeff Conaway, Didi Conn
Director: Randal Kleiser
Genres: Comedy, Musicals & Performing Arts
PG     2009     1hr 50min

Genre: Musicals Rating: PG Release Date: 5-MAY-2009 Media Type: Blu-Ray

     

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Movie Details

Actors: Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta, Stockard Channing, Jeff Conaway, Didi Conn
Director: Randal Kleiser
Genres: Comedy, Musicals & Performing Arts
Sub-Genres: Romantic Comedies, Musicals
Studio: Paramount
Format: Blu-ray - Color,Widescreen - Dubbed,Subtitled
DVD Release Date: 05/05/2009
Original Release Date: 01/01/1978
Theatrical Release Date: 01/01/1978
Release Year: 2009
Run Time: 1hr 50min
Screens: Color,Widescreen
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaDVD Credits: 2
Total Copies: 0
Members Wishing: 0
MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Languages: English, French, Spanish, French, Spanish
Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish
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Member Movie Reviews

Jennifer D. (jennicat) from ST AUGUSTINE, FL
Reviewed on 12/30/2014...
Grease is the word. Awesome is my word!
1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Movie Reviews

Fine new Rydell Edition... Remastered Video & Audio... Delig
dooby | 10/07/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)

"I won't go into praising the movie. It's already an American Classic and obviously anyone who's contemplating buying this will already love it. I felt guilty about double-dipping but the cute leather jacket was an irresistable gimmick. The following discusses mainly technical aspects of the new disc.

I did a one-to-one comparison with the older disc. The picture has been cleaned up and looks noticeably different, though not necessarily better. The tiny dirt specks and film nicks, few as they were on the first disc, have been almost entirely eliminated. There is less grain. The picture also looks brighter, due to application of higher contrast. This has both positive and negative effects. In the darker scenes; like ONJ's "Hopelessly Devoted to You," the greater contrast (deeper black levels and brighter highlights) makes it appear clearer, and I personally prefer it this way. Some viewers may not like it as the lighting now appears harder and more "artificial". In other places, the greater contrast tends to wipe out detail in the brighter parts of the picture; you can see this at the opening beach sequence, where the scene now appears brighter and clearer but the finer detail in the sandstone rocks have been obliterated in the glare. So pluses and minuses, but overall I liked the new transfer.

The audio too has been remastered. The bass here is noticeably more prominent than on the previous DVD. It has that very satisfying visceral feel to it but there is also swamping of the underlying instrumentation. However I doubt if many people would notice or bother. What reviewers have referred to as an echoey quality on the first remix is still there. It is actually an over exaggerated reverb added to the vocal track. Most of the tracks in Grease have electronic reverb applied but some are more obvious and artifical than others; especially so in the 1998 remix featured here. The most egregious examples would be at the "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" reprise and Travolta's "Electrifyin'" repeats in "You're The One That I Want." Again I liked the newer, audio remix, mainly for its richer bass extension. Like previous reviewers have said, the 2.0 Stereo featured here is not the original theatrical Stereo mix but a downmix of the later DD 5.1 remix (made in 1998 for its 20th Anniversary re-release). And purists should note that the DD 5.1 remix (1998) is actually messing about with the music itself - there are additional instrumental and vocal overlays not found on the original theatrical soundtrack. (Eg. additional bass drum in second half of "Summer Nights," background vocals in "Hopelessly Devoted to You," and a clap-track in "We Go Together.") Perhaps someday the producers will see fit to release Grease with its original unembellished soundtrack.

The real delight here are the Extras. My favourite is the 15-minute long "25th Anniversary DVD Launch Party." Exerpts from the party concert include full length versions of Olivia Newton John singing "Hopelessly Devoted to You," Olivia and John Travolta singing "You're The One That I Want," and the reassembled cast singing "Summer Nights." All fine performances packed with fun-filled nostalgia. The 11 deleted/extended scenes are all in B&W and last for just 10 minutes. Nothing earth-shattering here but good to have all the same. The Sing-Along was something I appreciated. In the previous DVD, there was no direct access to individual songs. A note about the Sing-Along subtitles. These are multicoloured, animated, karaoke-style, lyrics that accompany the songs and can be activated within the film or in a separate Sing-Along session. It apparently caused problems for some viewers. I tried it out on several DVD players, a Sony, a Pioneer and a Denon, one of which was over 5 years old. The lyrics displayed without any problem. It also worked on a computer DVD-ROM drive (Pioneer), so at least these models apparently work. Only the main feature is anamorphic (enhanced for widescreen TV - 2.35:1 OAR). All the extras are in standard 1.33:1 fullscreen."
Blu-ray: "GREASE" looks absolutely gorgeous in High Definiti
Dennis A. Amith (kndy) | California | 05/06/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)

""GREASE" is the most successful movie musical ever created. The 1978 film was based on a musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey and eventually caught the attention in the early 70's of producer Allan Carr who purchase the rights to adapt the play into a film.

With the popularity of "SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER" in 1977 which help boost the career of John Travolta, producer Robert Stigwood joined Allan Carr to create a film based on this play. Tapping director Randal Kleiser who worked with Travolta in the popular 1976 TV film "The Boy and his Bubble", recruiting "GREASE" musical choreographer Patricia Birch and hiring Director of Photography Bill Butler ("Jaws", "Stripes" and "Rocky II & III", etc.), this team would create a film that would become a musical ingrained into American pop culture.

Despite no respect in supporting the film by the major film studios, "GREASE" would become the second highest grossing film in 1978 behind "Superman" bringing in $96 million in the box office, the "GREASE" soundtrack would achieve #1 status around the world during its release and the film received many award nominations.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"GREASE" is featured in 1080p High Definition and I will tell you I was blown away by the picture quality.

I've watched this film dozens of times, owned the VHS and both DVD versions and when I started watching the High Definition Blu-ray transfer, I was speechless. The many colors featured in the film were quite vibrant. This film is over 30-years-old and Paramount really did a great service in the transfer and remaster of this film. Closeups, outdoor scenes, you name it, the film looks spectacular!

I compared my 25th Anniversary DVD to this Blu-ray and just the opening sequence alone with the two at the beach, the colors are just absolutely stunning on Blu-ray. I was literally in awe of how beautiful this film looked in High Definition. The DVD video quality just doesn't compare to the Blu-ray disc and I was quite impressed!

As for audio, audio is presented in English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD and also in French 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish mono. Since music is a big part of the film, it was important for me to test this Blu-ray out on my system. Where the 1977 film "SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER" was just spectacular for its High Definition audio transfer, I was hoping to have an awesome lossless soundtrack for "GREASE".

Somehow, in the beginning of the film, it seemed as if the audio coming from the center channel was a bit lower than my front speakers. So, dialogue seemed as if it was being overpowered by the music. I've run a variety of tests and I did have to increase my center channel dB a little bit to compensate for the music coming louder but this may be due to my audio setup for my receiver. But everything sounded well throughout the film after the adjustment.

The dialogue was quite clear but the music really came alive and I did notice certain sounds utilizing my subwoofer during the car and music scenes. But overall, the music does sound great and clear via Dolby TrueHD 5.1.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"GREASE" comes with a good number of special features. Included on this Blu-ray disc are:

* Commentary: Commentary by Director Randal Kleiser and choreographer Patricia Birch - This commentary is quite interesting as Kleiser talked more about the film side of "GREASE" while Patricia Birch talked about the choreography part of the film. Both give really good insight of bringing the musical to film, talking about the things they had to accomplish and how Kleiser, Birch and DoP Butler really had to work closely with each other and the talent to make this film successful. You learn about the challenge of filming the National Bandstand segment, the finale during 102 degree weather and how Olivia Newton-John had to have her tight clothing sewn on and more.
* Introduction by Randal Kleiser - A brief :24 second introduction to the special features. Kleiser does several introductions throughout various features.
* Rydell Sing-Along - This segment is for those who want to watch the musical parts from the film and on the bottom of the screen is a karaoke single along.
* Featurette: The Time, The Place, The Motion: Remembering Grease - (22:27) This is the main featurette featuring interviews with the Director, producers, the cast sharing their memories of working on the film, working with John Travolta and more. How Allan Carr and Robert Sigwood made this musical a film and put money into it despite no studio wanting to back it, having to work with a good number of talents, John Travolta talking about why he wanted Olivia Newton-John to play the role, how Jeff Conaway actually played Danny in Broadway and was understudy for several other roles with the exception of Kinickie. And many more interesting tidbits on the making of the film.
* Additional Scenes: Deleted/Extended/Alternate Scenes with introduction by Randal Kleiser (intro :13 scenes 11:55 - TRT 12:08) - Randal Kleiser explains how footage was recently found in the Paramount vaults. The additional scenes found are in black and white.
* Additional Scenes: 1. T-Birds Harass Eugene - EXT
* Additional Scenes: 2. Classroom Announcements - EXT
* Additional Scenes: 3. Pink Ladies and Sandy at Lunch - EXT
* Additional Scenes: 4. She's too Pure to be Pink - EXT
* Additional Scenes: 5. Intro to Summer Nights - DEL
* Additional Scenes: 6. Rydell Pep Rally - EXT
* Additional Scenes: 7. Kenickie and Danny Outside Frosty's - DEL
* Additional Scenes: 8. The Stroll - EXT
* Additional Scenes: 9. National Bandstand - ALT
* Additional Scenes: 10. At the Dance - ALT/EXT
* Additional Scenes: 11. Thunder Road - DEL
* Grease on DVD Launch Party - (15:13) The cast and crew reunited for this DVD Launch Party back in 2002. Both Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta performed live on stage singing a few of their classic songs that sung with each other.
* Grease Memories from John & Olivia - (3:23) Both talent at the DVD launch party and discussing how it was like working together and their memories of being on the film and their favorite scenes.
* The Moves Behind the Music - (8:14) Interviews with Patricia Birch and the talent as they discuss how they learned the dance moves and how it important it was for Patricia to work with Director of Photography Bill Butler in capturing the choreography for film.
* Thunder Roadsters - (5:21) Interviews with George Barris (King of the Kistomers) and Michael Astamendi (Car Builder/Fabricator) and others in regards to making the cars for "GREASE". How they focused on customizing because parts for the old Chevy's are hard to come by.
* John Travolta and Allan Carr "Grease Day" Interview - (1:47) A quick interview with producer Allan Carr and John Travolta on "Grease Day" and Travolta talking about working with the producers and the talent for the film.
* Olivia Newton-John and Robert Stigwood "Grease Day" Interview - (2:07) An interview about how Olivia Newton-John gotten involved and the popularity of the film and working with John Travolta and more.
* Photo Galleries: The photo gallery consists of the following still photos broken down into several categories such as:
* Rydell High Year Book
* Production
* Premiere
* Grease Day
* Theatrical Trailer HD - (2:09) The original theatrical trailer in its original untouched and aged format, grain and scratches included.

JUDGMENT CALL:

"GREASE" is just one of those timeless classics that never gets old with repetitive viewings. But I have to be truthful and say how much I was in awe to see the brilliant camerawork but to see how the choreography and just literally everything look quite smooth on film.

And surprisingly watching this again 30-years-later and as the Director and even producers have said in the featurette, they were able to pull things off today that probably wouldn't happen now. Quite a bit of sexual lingo but overall, the lyrics of the songs to the mannerisms of the characters is what made things look genuine.

It's interesting to read some of the critical reviews from people who did not grow up with the film but are more familiar with today's musicals and drawing comparisons to "High School Musical" and making the comment of how HSM utilized real teenagers for high school life and that "GREASE" utilized 20 to 30-something year olds to play teenagers. I don't think any of us who watched it back then ever thought about the age being an issue for the film. What we saw were popular talent at that time in a movie musical and the film became a success. Even today, I have no reservations of the talents playing their roles. They did a fantastic job!

For me, John Travolta was the hottest star coming off with "Welcome Back, Kotter" and then doing "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE" in 1977 and Olivia Newton-John was just one of the most beautiful female solo singers at the time. Both had unique chemistry and the film was well-cast that I felt everything just went smoothly on the final cut.

You really have to give a big applause to Allan Carr and Robert Stigwood for taking the chance of bringing a musical to film but making sure its adapted well for the screen. Sure we see musicals now but during that time, there was no studio support. And because the film was enjoyed by audiences, the film is definitely ingrained into America's pop culture.

Also, I was just amazed through the featurettes and learning how the choreography was done. Because there were so many people utilized in the dancing segments, Patricia Birchwood wanted to make things come alive but to alter a talent's own personal dance to make it look right on film. And of course, Bill Butler, to capture what Birchwood wanted on film, the amount of cutting from scene to scene showing opposing points of view on a song like "Summer Nights" to the ending theme, it was indeed "electrifying"!

Overall, this Blu-ray release of "GREASE" is just the definitive version to own. To watch this classic film in High Definition and to see the magnificent picture quality really brings out the vibrant colors of the film, the energy and beauty of the beach sunset to showcasing the life of youth of the late 50's. The DolbyTrueHD 5.1 audio makes the music come alive and last, there are many special features included that will help people remember and celebrate such a wonderful movie musical.

Again, this is the true definitive version of "GREASE" to own! I was just stunned by how magnificent this film looked and how much clearer and alive the music sounded in High Definition. I highly recommend this release!"
A Musical for The Ages - Finally on DVD
Jose R. Perez | Yonkers, NY USA | 09/15/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)

"As far as film musicals are concerned, nothing comes close to "Grease" in terms of appealing to a mass audience of all ages, races, and generations. Though set in the fifties, "Grease" remains deeply entrenched in the seventies, as it defined that freewheeling decade's carefree attitude and innocence while drawing inspiration from the Elvis era. Still the top-grossing movie musical of all time, "Grease" works as a coming-of-age film we can all relate to - it sings (great songs from the Broadway classic plus chart-topping classics from the Bee Gees and Olivia Newton-John's longtime collaborator, John Farrar), it dances (Rydel High's Gym Dance), zips ("the chicks'll cream for Greased Lightning") and celebrates youth and friendship. Twenty five years after its first theatrical release, the movie still feels and sounds fresh even through its nostalgia, thanks to star-making performances from Travolta, Newton-John and Stockard Channing, to its clever wordplay and its irreverent look at high school - when everything and anything is possible. It's a movie that gets better with repeat viewings, as audiences associate seeing it with a singular moment in time. Cameo appearances from golden greats like Frankie Avalon ("Beauty School Dropout"), Sid Ceasar and Edd Byrnes are comic gems. The now-world-famous cast is hard to beat ... Didi Conn and Stockard Channing are excellent as Frenchy (THE beauty school dud) and Rizzo (the tough girl with a soft spot), while Eve Arden (Our Miss Brooks) gets the supporting role of a lifetime. Dody Goodman as her daffy assistant is a hoot, but the film belongs to the music and the performances of its two principles. Olivia Newton-John is a sublime choice for Sandy. Though requiring re-tooling from the original stage show, her character's Aussie born lass is a perfect combination of girl-next-door sweetness and (later on) I-Am-Woman-hear-me-roar guts. Perhaps no transformation has been so effectively cut in a movie as ONJ's good girl gone wild. Besides setting off fashion trends and the lycra industry, Sandy's evolution reminds today's teens that you can be hip AND nice. That's a testament to the singer-actress' presence in this film and her ongoing legend. Travolta is also sublime as Danny, a mix of cocky swagger and silly-boy charm that's never malicious...just young. His Danny plays both sides of the teen-angst fence, whether telling his version of "Summer Nights" to the boys, or sweetly professing his love for "Sandy" at the drive-in (drive-ins are set for a comeback if this DVD finds itself into everyone's home!) After 25 years and countless viewings, Olivia and Travolta make beautiful music together! Guaranteed a winner in any home, "Grease" gets better with repeat viewings and remains accessible, fun and genuine. As a backdrop for baby boomers' high school years and our memories of all thats happened since..."Grease" remains the word! Thrilled to have this out on DVD!!!"