This is one of my wife's favorite films and, indeed, I loved it as a kid. Heck, I still enjoy it, even though the film has a ton of problems. Amazingly, it succeeds in spite of sending a horrible message, casting folks too old to play high school students, letting John Travolta sing and tossing in elements of damned disco all over the place.

Grease, released in 1978, is set in the 1950s and centers around the on-again, off-again romance of Danny Zuko (played by John Travolta) and Sandy (Olivia Newton-John). The film starts with Danny and Sandy having a big, fun time over summer vacation. At the end of the summer, the two are convinced they'll never see each other again.

But, wait! Sandy comes to Danny's school as an exchange student from Australia, and merriment ensues. Does the romance heat back up as soon as the two run into each other? Of course not. The problem is, Danny is a greaser and a member of the T-Birds, a gang which is about as fierce as the Jets or the Sharks from West Side Story. Sandy, on the other hand, is a "nice girl" and it just won't do for Danny to be seen to her because of his "cool-o guy" image.

Sandy, for one reason or another, falls in with the Pink Ladies, a gang of girls led by Rizzo (Stockard Channing) which serves as the counterpart of the T-Birds. The Pink Ladies don't care to much for Sandy, either. Why, because she won't drink, won't smoke, avoids sex and is, in the words of Rizzo "too pure to be pink."

So, Sandy gets ostracized by the Pink Ladies, the T-Birds and Danny. Danny, in fact, spends a good part of the film treating Sandy like garbage. Indeed, it's pretty pathetic to watch him pine away and sing those lonesome, lonesome songs after he runs Sandy off by acting like a complete jerk.

So, what's poor Sandy to do? After all, getting ostracized by ne'er-do-wells is quite tragic. Ah, but there's a way out for Sandy -- if she'll merely conform to the rather rigid set of rules by which the Pink Ladies and T-Birds conduct themselves, she'll by in like Flynn. Why, she'll be stylin' like Stalin, even! So, she gets some advice from the most annoying member of the Pink Ladies (Frenchy, played by Didi Conn) and "tarts up" a bit to win Danny's affections and the approval of the aforementioned ne-er-do-wells. By the end of the film, Sandy goes from "nice girl" to "racy girl" and everyone's happy.

It occurs to me, that's kind of a crummy message to send. "Want to be happy? Tart it up, girlie!" Still, it's only a movie, and a darn fun one at that.

According to the Grease entry over at http://www.allmovie.com, this film is considered to be "one of the last great musicals." And, it's got music a'plenty. With ballads like "Hopelessly Devoted to You," an appearance by Sha-Na-Na running through classic numbers such as Elvis' "Hound Dog" and plenty of good ol' rock n' roll, folks watching this film can't help but enjoy the good times. In fact, the music is the very thing which carries the film as the score and dance routines are the clear focus of the film -- the plot is really secondary.

But, there's even a problem with the soundtrack. Take, for example, the theme penned by Barry Gibb -- it sounds like something from the 1950s with some disco elements thrown in for good measure. The same is true of a key scene in which Danny enters a dance contest with Sandy, blows her off for another partner (yeah, I know Sandy was pulled away, but Danny didn't protest too much) and then wins said competition. Cheese-ball disco beats and those awful, awful strings are the stuff of nightmares and just scream "late 1970s" louder than one of those black Pontiac Trans-Ams with the huge, yellow bird on the hood. The disco is toned down a bit in a good number of the songs here, but pops up far too often for me. Hell, you can't even escape them disco-duck beats in the huge number in which Sandy tarts it up, wows Danny and the two sing "You're the One that I Want" at each other. A film about the 1950s? How about some music influenced more by Chuck Berry or Carl Perkins than the damn Bee Gees?

And speaking of singing, who the hell told John Travolta he had any business picking up a microphone and screeching at captive audiences? After treating Sandy like garbage at a drive-in movie, Danny goes through a ballad, "Sandy," in which he pines away and declares, "Sandy, you hurt me real bad." I felt "real bad" after listening to that bit of caterwauling, too.

And, then there's the cast. How many grades were these kids held back, anyway? Stockard Channing was 34-years-old when this was released. No one born during World War II should be playing a teenager in the late 1970s. The rest of the cast isn't too far behind her, and I can't help but think of one term when hearing those elder folk chatter on about sex with high school kids -- statutory rape.

Still, the film succeeds quite well. Sure, the message the film sends is dastardly, the plot is weak, there's too much disco for a film about the 1950s, the cast is too old and Travolta's singing makes my head hurt. However, the film is so much fun that you'll forget about the obvious shortcomings and enjoy the drag races, shenanigans and the general goings-on around Rydell High. You even get some solid acting from such greats as Eve Arden, Sid Caesar and Fannie Flagg). I bought my wife the DVD of this thing for Christmas, and she's watched it over and over again.

And, speaking of the DVD, the picture is as good as you'd expect, yet the sound leaves a bit to be desired. I love nothing more than cranking the surround sound channel way, way up. That doesn't work in this movie as you get some weird "surges" of sound and an odd "echo" at times. However, keep that surround channel around the same level as the center and front ones, and you'll enjoy thumping bass (I'm still convinced God invented the sub-woofer) as much as you did when this thing was in theaters in 1978. The DVD comes in either widescreen or fullscreen format, and even contains a book with the lyrics of all the songs listed. You also get some interviews with members of the cast and production team included. Nifty, nifty for the fans.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older