:
Theatrical: Robert Stigwood/Allan Carr Productions
Video: Paramount Home Entertainment
Disc:
Region: ALL
(as verified by the
Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player)
Runtime: 1:50:29.080
Disc Size: 40,994,652,809 bytes
Feature Size: 36,868,540,416 bytes
Average Bitrate: 44.49 Mbps
Chapters: 18
Case: Standard Blu-ray case
Release date: May 5th, 2009
Video:
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Resolution: 1080p
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Bitrate:
Audio:
Dolby TrueHD Audio English 3536 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3536
kbps / 24-bit (AC3 Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps)
Dolby Digital Audio French 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 224 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps
/ Dolby Surround
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 224 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps
Subtitles:
English (SDH), English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, none
Extras
• Commentary by Director Randal Kleiser and Choreographer
Patricia Birch
• Introduction by Randal Kleiser
• Rydell Sing-Along
• The Time, The Place, The Motion – in SD (22:27)
• 11 Deleted, Extended & Alternate Scenes – in SD
• 2002 DVD Launch Party – in SD (15:13)
• Grease Memories from John & Olivia – in SD (3:25)
• The Moves Behind the Music – in SD (8:14)
• Thunder Roadsters – in SD (5:23)
• John Travolta & Allan Carr "Grease Day" Interview – in SD
(1:47)
• Olivia Newton-John & Robert Stigwood "Grease Day"
Interview – in SD (2:07)
• 4 Photo Galleries
• Theatrical Trailer – in HD
Comment:
The Movie: 8
The producers of Grease must have been in shock and
awe to find that their charming, giddy, campy movie would
quickly become the biggest money making musical to that
date. (According to WikiAnswers.com, Grease still
holds the U.S. record.) Even though they were transposing a
hot Broadway property for the screen they hired TV director
Randal Kleiser for his first feature film (Kleiser went on
to worry his career two years later with the execrable
Blue Lagoon). On the other hand, they spent their money
wisely in the casting of three major stars: star of
Saturday Night Fever: John Travolta (who went on the
following year to make the execrable Moment By Moment
with Lily Tomlin – what a waste of talent!); the lovely
singing sensation from DownUnder, Olivia Newton-John (who
went on in her very next film to make the execrable
Xanadu with Gene Kelly – ditto my previous comment); and
dynamite Stockard Channing as the permanently randy Betty
Rizzo. Stockard waited another 15 years before people would
take proper note (Six Degrees of Separation and later
as the First Lady in The West Wing.)
Grease
was still playing out its run on Broadway since its opening
in 1972 (first at the Eden, but for the longest while at the
Royale – without cheese). The original Danny Zuko was Barry
Bostwick (nominated for a Tony), Carole Demas was Sandy and
Adrienne Barbeau was Rizzo. Several new songs were added
for the movie and several were dropped (I miss only "Born to
Hand Jive.") It may come as a surprise that the title song
itself – is that a disco beat I hear? - was written for the
movie, as was the sparkling "You're the One That I Want."
Recovering from the Academy's disastrous oversight in their
having not nominated any songs from Saturday Night Fever,
they managed a nomination for "Hopelessly Devoted to You",
another of the new numbers for the movie. As I write this I
am listening to the Original Broadway Cast album, and I am
frankly a little surprised that the movie version is often
funnier and more energized. Despite my earlier catty remark
about Kleiser, I suspect a good deal of the credit - the car
race in the L.A. River notwithstanding - goes to him. The
film's success is a true group effort: Kleiser, the
choreographer, Patricia Birch, Director of Photography Bill
Butler and its remarkable cast.
The movie was faithful to the time the play celebrated: the
fifties, which may be why Travolta was such an obvious
choice, having made his mark on TV in the mid 1970s as 50s
throwback, Vinnie Barbarino on Welcome Back Kotter -
a "Fonzie" clone, to be sure, but Travolta made the role his
own. The movie afforded some iconic resurrections of its
own: Sid Caesar as Coach Calhoun, Eve Arden as Principal
McGee, Joan Blondell as the Waitress, Edd Byrnes as Vince
Fontaine, and Frankie Avalon as the Teen Angel himself.
The movie has been a mainstay of home video, seeing early
manifestations on tape, laserdisc, DVD and now on Blu-ray.
It even had a reappearance in a highly touted 20th
anniversary revival in theatres, each time taking advantage
of an undying nostalgia craze – and what better time to
celebrate idealized malt shop rock n roll than the fifties –
as well as the improving fortunes of its stars, not least,
John Travolta. Grease may not have been Travolta's
best role – certainly Tony Manero is more electric and
Vincent Vega more eccentric - but it is iconic, as are the
songs and dance routines. It's no wonder that we are amused
at his droll non-dance routine in Pulp Fiction, a
parody of both Tony and Danny.
Image: 7/8
NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were ripped directly from the
Blu-ray disc.
The first number indicates a relative level of excellence
compared to other Blu-ray video discs on a ten-point scale.
The second number places this image along the full range of
DVD and Blu-ray discs.
Paramount's previous anamorphic DVD was a pretty good
effort: sharp, bright with good color. The high definition
presentation tells us more about the film itself, not least
that resolution is often on the soft side – smooth in the
close-ups, and with practically no definition to speak of
for hair, which comes off as matted. My guess is that this
is not a transfer issue, but the product of overprinting.
Grain is still present but never to the point of
distraction. Black levels and contrast might have been
manipulated to give the image a bit more "pop." I wasn't
aware of other artifacts or edge enhancements.
CLICK EACH
BLU-RAY
CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio & Music : 6/9
Nothing is more exasperating than a musical with a weak
soundtrack. For a movie such as Grease we expect the
songs to have been recorded elsewhere and looped into the
mix. Not a problem as long as the dubbing is in sync.
Studio recording should offer plenty of opportunity to
secure proper dynamics and balance. Most interesting in the
present case is the degree to which a different ambiance and
EQ is arranged for each number. Stockard Channing's
tour-de-force rendition of "Look at me, I'm Sandre Dee" goes
through several such changes as she parodies various
real-life celebrities of the day. While the songs get the
royal treatment – at least as far as Robert Stigwood and the
times would permit – I can't as much for the dialogue, which
often sounds squeaky and rolled off (vide the intro to
"Summer Nights." ) The surrounds are not used much: more for
a vague immersive effect, as at the school dance than for
directional cues. The score of 6 reflects my feeling about
the audio in absolute terms; I suspect it is faithful to the
theatrical presentation, however.
Operations : 5
The menu design is sensible, if uninteresting, but there is
no Play All function for eleven deleted scenes, nor is there
a summary or runtimes for the extra features.
Extras : 6
Paramount's single-disc Blu-ray presentation is crammed with
extra features – alas, none, save perhaps the theatrical
trailer (in a 16x9 aspect ratio) upscaled, I should think,
is in HD. Grease was made long enough ago that we
shouldn't expect a "making-of" documentary as such, which is
kind of relief in this market. In its place is "The Time,
the Place, the Motion " – a collection of reminiscences by
cast and crew - and the feature commentary, commanded by
Kleiser, who is an encyclopedia of production bits of tid.
Ms. Birch seems to be having difficulty getting a word in.
You can also watch the movie in karaoke in the "Rydell
Sing-Along" – Just the songs, hold the story.
There are some 11 deleted scenes, all but one shown here in
black & white. Some of the characters are fleshed out a
bit, but all the scenes deserved their ultimate fate. Most
of the other segments are served up like snapshots in a
scrapbook, which I suppose fits with the overall tone of the
movie, but aren't all that informative. I had hopes for
"The Moves Behind the Music" with choreographer Patricia
Birch – her only moment in the sun, though shaded to be
sure, since the accent here is on the team of Kleiser, Birch
and DP Bill Butler.
On the other hand, you don't want to miss the DVD Launch
Party, which shows off the stars singing some of the tunes
from the movie 25 years later. There are no Blu-ray
Exclusives – in fact, we've seen and heard all these before
on the DVD. Image quality is fair to good for the bonus
features in general.
Recommendation : 7
Grease
is one of those movies that I thoroughly enjoy despite its
flaws – enough to have upgraded my score a notch. The
Blu-ray image is pretty good, but the audio, though peculiar
at times and hardly benefited by the 5.1 mix, is clear and
clean. The Extras are the same as on the latest DVD.
Leonard Norwitz
May 23rd, 2009
