ChanFamous
I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.
Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin
The movie really just wants to entertain people.
Sanjeev Waters
A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
Cody
One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.
nowego
Every time I see this movie it brings back memories of the first time I saw it. It was my first year away from home at boarding school. Most teenagers loved Olivia Newton-John, well I did anyway being a 13 year old Australian.It was probably one or the first movies I saw away from my parents and it has stuck with me ever since and I am by not stretch a fan of musicals at all. In fact I rarely ever watch them, but this one I have seen more than a few times.There are few films that have had such a lasting impact on popular culture and it is one of the few films, that are parodied and remembered as well.John Travolta and Olivia Newton John were in my opinion very good portraying the cool, streetwise 1950's teenagers, although both at the time were well into their late twenties. While neither are the greatest of actors, but they don't need to be. Grease is all about the song and dance.Some of the most memorable songs ever to be put on film are here. "You're the One that I Want" "Grease" and "Summer Nights" are songs that are unbelievably catchy and songs that are known by pretty much everybody from the first line to the last.This movie always makes me smile and at the end of the day that is all that is important to me, I enjoy it each time I see it.
justin-fencsak
When Grease first came out on the same day as Jaws 2 nearly 40 years ago, it broke records for a big budget musical on opening weekend at the box office yet it landed in 2nd place to the shark sequel. Luckily, Grease went on to become the most profitable film of that year and became the most popular musical film of all time, a record that it broke from Sound of Music which has been broken by Chicago (Oscar winner for best picture), and Disney's live action remake of Beauty and the Beast. A sequel was soon comissioned in 1982, and sadly it didn't do well as it was released on the same day as E.T. That year, Grease would come out on home video for the first time, with some minor changes from the theatrical release. In 1998, the film was reissued in a heavily remixed and digitally restored 35mm print to moderate success. It was also the first time that the movie was on DVD and then Blu-Ray. Thankfully this year, Paramount has gone back to the original 35mm negatives and the 70mm six track 4.2 audio to create the definitve Grease experience, which is now available on Itunes as well as DVD, Bluray, and 4k bluray. As for the movie itself, it's a classic. Based on a musical that ran on broadway and continued to run even when the movie was still in theatres, this movie tells the love story of two high school lovers in 1950s america. Both Olivia Newton John and John Travolta shine as well as Didi Cohn and others. Even though the movie is rated PG it's more aimed at teens than kids.
Clinton Yuen
This movie strikes a cord to all because of its universal theme. it reminds us of the adolescent days of middle and high school when life was like a sitcom world with our friends and classmates. It was life before the matrix world when all were equal economically and infatuation flourished with the opposite sex. The pranks, slumber parties, drag racing matches, and the intermixing of subgroups of greasers, pink ladies, nurds, good boys and girls, jocks, and teacher's pet types were all part of the ongoing effort to, ironically, define one's self. The finally carnival scene captured the enthusiasm of a sad but understandable parting of that world for seniors when one, from here on out, would get in character each day with a work face and demeanor for the adult world of the stage.
dxiv
A shallow, accessible studio concoction which had the right songs, the right stars and the right 'feel good' vibe AT THE TIME for the comfortable, uncritical (mainly) white, middle-class audience that it was expressly made for and hyped to in the late 70's. As a light, frothy, inconsequential film which thoroughly entertained its undemanding demographic audience, trading on the vibe & success of Happy Days and Saturday Night Fever in particular, it was a marketer's dream. The film does not stand up to any sort of critical scrutiny, but we must remember it was never meant to. Phony situations, lazy plotting, forced tension, pretentious drama and most of all a naive and ignorant knowledge of teenage culture at the time combine to make this the perfect 'false nostalgia' film (ie. a clever lie) - we are drawn in to pining for a guilt-free innocent past that never existed. 'Grease' treats its characters and 'story line' in a camp, jokey way without ever taking the leap into satire, which would have made for a much better film. Rizzo's persona & worldly cynicism is what a better film might have explored; this is why she feels like the most authentic character in this.
The filmmakers treat the story's participants as silly, which undercuts any kind of believable tenderness and tension between the main characters, so any attempt at meaningfully exploring what 'real' teenagers actually go through (peer group pressure, finding identity, discovering romance, breaking up, making up) is lost.
What's left? 'Grease' is primarily a catchy soundtrack over which pretty, innocent, meaningless pictures and story are laid - you are in effect 'watching' the soundtrack, like an extended MTV-style music clip, which this film helped usher in via 80's pop culture.
Do you want something better, still entertaining and with good songs, but also with believable drama? Watch 'American Graffiti', or even better, find "American Hot Wax'' and marvel at what a truly good filmmaker did with similar source material. '..Wax' was my 'Grease' of 1978; a better made, gritty, knowing and believable film......that's why it found a very limited audience. Enough said !!!