Grease (1978)

I’d like to consider myself pretty knowledgeable when it comes to musicals.  I know that there’s a ton that I haven’t seen but I’ve also seen a good bunch of them and they are possibly one of my favorite genres ever to watch.  Imagine the surprise when I tell you that before 2 weeks ago, I’ve never seen Grease before.  I know of Grease and I’ve seen the Grease based episode on Glee before.  I’m relatively okay with the younger days of John Travolta and I know that Olivia Newton-John is in it, even though I’ve never actually seen her in any movies.  Its always been on my list but I’ve just never gotten around to it.

Here we are! My friends dropped by with their little one (I talked about it HERE) and while we had nothing to do while she took care of her mommy duties, we sat down to watch Grease 🙂

Let’s check it out!!

Grease (1978)

Director: Randal Kleiser

Cast: John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Jeff Conaway, Stockard Channing, Didi Conn, Barry Pearl, Michael Tucci, Kelly Ward

Good girl Sandy and greaser Danny fell in love over the summer. But when they unexpectedly discover they’re now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance? – IMDB

 I have no idea what has taken me this long to watch Grease.  Grease is a fun high school musical film full of great songs and great characters.  While I was completely convinced with the whole romance between Danny and Sandy and it begged for a little more development, the music and dance choreography was so great and really memorable.  Watching this actually  made me realize that I knew most of the songs before I even watched this.  Maybe my parents watched this when I was young and it stuck in my memory? I don’t know.

My version of Grease’s review wouldn’t be complete without tackling the concept of young John Travolta.  I had a bit of respect for him until he really creeped me out in this year’s Academy Awards. He looks a tad plastic and I haven’t quite enjoyed his recent movies.  I can’t even remember them anymore.  But young John Travolta, early in his career, I believe, was fantatic.  Sure, like any musical brought to the big screen, there’s a tad of overacting and whatnot but Danny is such a great character.  He’s the school bad boy and the leader of the T-Birds but he falls in love for Sandy.  The choice now is deciding whether he can give up his image for this girl.  The character development of his character was pretty good from trying to hide his feelings to being an encouraging leader to his friends (especially about their rundown crappy car and turning it into Grease Lightning) and by the end, he’s changed in his own way. John Travolta in this role was really great.  He carried it amazingly and while I sat around wondering if John Travolta in his younger self was handsome, I do admit he had a bit of charm going for him as Danny.

Plus, he had his buddies in T-Birds and they made up for a lot of humor as well.  Just looking at the supporting role in his best friends Kenickie (Jeff Conaway).  That guy kind of grew on me a little.

Turning to the other side, the ladies.  Sandy is from Australia originally and due to a change of events, she ends up in the same school as Danny.  And through some way, she ends up hanging out with the Pink Ladies lead by Rizzo (Stockard Channing), a independent girl who holds her on but really is quite soft-hearted when you get to know her.  Her and Kenickie have an interesting vibe.  The other Pink Ladies are all unique in their own way, each one has their own personality. Two of these girls are more highlighted: Rizzo and Frenchie.  Frenchie’s all about living in her dreams but uncertain about her future. Its a good reflection of high school and trying to figure out what to do with your future, at least a glimpse of it.

Going back to our main lady, Sandy.  She’s a sweet, good girl.  She has her own principles and really likes Danny but she wants him to accept the guy that she spent the summer with.  The contrast between the characters and the individually they were all pretty good but the development of the romance between Danny and Sandy was a little lacking and same kind of goes for Rizzo and Kenickie.  Not to say that when they were together it didn’t have their own little spark but what made up for it was definitely the upbeat music.  I could get that the fast pace of events going on and the music and dance sequences really kept the audience engaged in the movie and that’s the plus to all this.

Overall, Grease is a fun upbeat teenage musical full of great dance sequences and amusing characters and catchy songs.  Its absolutely addictive to watch (and I’m saying this because I watched it a lot of times the week after I saw this which is what delayed writing this actual review…).  I love Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta as Sandy and Danny respectively.  Although their story could be a little more developed, same goes for Rizzo and Kenickie, there was still a nice chemistry going on between the couples.  Definitely a must-see and an awesome time altogether! 🙂 I may be one of the few that haven’t seen this but if you haven’t, you should!

Have you seen Grease? What do you think of John Travolta? Which is your favorite song?