Commentary by Randall Klesier, second track with Klesier and Pat Birch, Introduction by the Director, “Rydell Sing-Along”, “The Time, The Place, The Motion: Making Grease”, “DVD Release Party”, “Grease Day USA”,

As slick as Danny’s (John Travolta) hair in the movie, “Grease” briefly popularized movie musicals once again. As I’ve mentioned before every period movie is really about the decade it’s made in. “Grease” is no exception. Set in the 50’s but it’s about the 70’s, Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) a “good girl” stays in the U.S. rather than returning down under which is home. When she enrolls in Rydell High she meets Danny a bad boy that she previously had a summer romance with. Danny can’t let his vunerable side show around the greaser gang that he leads but clearly has fallen for Sandy. ***

Image & Sound:

“Grease” has “put out” so many times when it comes to home video that one might be tempted to call it a video slut. Every edition has been flawed in one way or another the Blu-ray is the closest to perfection that I’ve seen for this film. ***

Detail is quite good throughout with a sharp looking transfer. Colors are often dazzling although flesh tones are off a bit (I’m sure that was probably intentional though). The film isn’t quite as over processed as some catalog titles from Paramount (“The Hunt for Red October” springs to mind) and that’s good news for fans of the film particularly those who use a projection system. ---

The extras on the regular edition reissue that came out within the last two years are ported over here. Paramountt offers them in SD and doesn’t bother to add any new special features nor do they bother to upgrade them to HD. ***

Director Randal Kleiser appears in a brief introduction to the film briefly discussing his experience of making the film. Kleiser also appears on the commentary track done with choreographer Pat Birch and we get plenty of background on the production of the film. Birch discusses the choreography and working with the actors to try and integrate their natural ability and the demands of the film. ***

We also get “Rydell Sing-Along” allowing you to do the karaoke thing with 11 of the songs from the film. Lyrics are provided for those who don’t know all the words. This featurette would be great for a party. ***

“The Time, The Place, The Motion: Remembering ‘Grease’” features both new and older interviews with cast and crew. Most of the new interviews feature the supporting actors and production crew with the stars appearing in footage shot for the 20th Anniversary Special Edition. We also get some recycled featurettes such as “’Grease’ Memories from John and Olivia” and “Grease on DVD Launch Party”. The latter will be of particular interest since the cast appear and in clips performing some of the songs from the film. Clips from “Grease Day USA” are included as well. This was a made for TV special that featured the stars and designed as a promo tool for the film. We only get a couple of clips for the special probably because there are plans to release this intact eventually. Finally we get deleted/extended scenes that were cu t for various reasons. The set is rounded out with photo galleries. ***

Final Words: