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Movies / On DVD / Grease
Grease

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Grease (1978)

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Reviews Counted:50

Fresh:42

Rotten:8

Average Rating:6.6/10

Consensus: Grease is a pleasing, energetic musical with infectiously catchy songs and an ode to young love that never gets old.

Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins

Genre: Musical & Performing Arts

Synopsis: This film adaptation of GREASE is the zippy smash hit translation from the Broadway musical tribute to the fabulous 1950s. As a new school year begins, wholesome Australian exchange student Sandy... This film adaptation of GREASE is the zippy smash hit translation from the Broadway musical tribute to the fabulous 1950s. As a new school year begins, wholesome Australian exchange student Sandy (pop star Olivia Newton-John) and duck-tailed, leather-jacketed Danny (John Travolta) parlay their summertime romance into an on-and-off attraction that may or may not cross clique lines. Sandy seriously cramps Danny's style, so he dumps her. In response, Sandy begins dating a wholesome athlete, but, as a hedge, she also joins the gum-chewin', tough-talkin' clique known as the Pink Ladies. One of the most beloved musicals of all time, the popular soundtrack includes "You're the One that I Want," "Hopelessly Devoted to You," "Sandy," "Summer Nights," and the title tune. [More]

Starring: John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, Jeff Conaway

Starring: John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, Jeff Conaway, Didi Conn, Dinah Manoff, Eve Arden, Joan Blondell, Barry Pearl, Michael Tucci, Kelly Ward, Jamie Donnelly, Frankie Avalon, Edd Byrnes, Sid Caesar, Alice Ghostley, Dody Goodman, Susan Buckner, Lorenzo Lamas, Annette Charles, Dennis C. Stewart, Fannie Flagg, Dick Patterson, Eddie Deezen, Darrell Zwerling, Ellen Travolta, Sha Na Na

Director: Randal Kleiser

Director: Randal Kleiser
Producer: Allan Carr, Robert Stigwood
Composer: John Farrar, Bill Oakes, Louis St. Louis, Barry Gibb
Studio: Paramount Pictures

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Grease

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1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Travolta and Newton-John burn up the screen with all the passion of a potato salad while occasionally singing a song you know all the words to because they play it every week in small-town nightclubs.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment 2 Comments
03/03/08
Ben Reynolds
Ben Reynolds
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Its flashy opportunism (nostalgia pitched squarely at an audience too young to even recall the era) quickly becomes very irritating.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment 1 Comment
02/09/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Much-loved but somewhat overrated.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment 1 Comment
09/26/08
Wendy Ide
Wendy Ide
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Clunky kitsch quality that makes Grease such a perpetual joy.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
Caroline Westbrook
Caroline Westbrook
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There's a surprising strain of filth, too - this is much closer to Hairspray than High School Musical. The message is: burn rubber, have sex, strut about like a chicken. It's one that's hard to resist.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
09/26/08
Catherine Shoard
Catherine Shoard
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Randal Kleiser's 1978 musical, set in the Fifties, has some horrible acting but the kind of exuberance that has made it a cult classic.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
09/26/08
Derek Malcolm
Derek Malcolm
This is London

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: UK Critic | comment Comment
07/20/02
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
UK Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
03/24/02
Boston Phoenix

I didn't know that in the 1950's, high schools were populated by 30 year olds who constantly broke into nails-on-a-blackboard musical numbers.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment 4 Comments
03/19/03
Brian Mckay
Brian Mckay
eFilmCritic.com

Limp, cheaply made.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment 6 Comments
07/18/07
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader

Despite the film's rose-tinted rearview mirrors and Ipana-worthy cheeriness, it's not so much the Wedding Singer of its day as it is the Boogie Nights.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment 1 Comment
09/16/06
Eric Henderson
Eric Henderson
Slant Magazine

Grease" hasn't improved much in two decades. It remains a juvenile remembrance of a mythologized '50s, a musical lacking grace.

Full Review Source: Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) | comment 3 Comments
06/18/02
Jeffrey Westhoff
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

Annoying film version of the play, which was annoying enough.

comment 1 Comment
11/06/02
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

It's worth the price of admission just to see John Travolta swing his hips in the carnival Shake Shack.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
01/01/00
E! Online

Good, clean, high-spirited fun.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
07/18/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide

It’s Travolta who provides the movie’s special treat.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
08/02/02
Betty Jo Tucker
Betty Jo Tucker
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

It's nostalgic to recall how good a dancer Travolta was, and it's sad to think of what could have been had not a few missteps sidetracked his career.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bob Bloom
Bob Bloom
rec.arts.movies.reviews

No review available.

comment Comment
08/22/03
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

Grease is the word, baby.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
09/13/02
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

Too pure to be pink.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia City Paper | comment Comment
01/01/00
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
Philadelphia City Paper
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
all

Latest News for Grease

September 19, 2008: Paramount DTV Sequel Plots Revealed Opens in new window
Finding yourself morbidly curious about that slew of direct-to-video sequels announced by Paramount recently? You'll want to check out studio exec Louis Feola's recent interview... More...

March 03, 2006: Travolta & Latifah to Share "Hairspray"
John Travolta and Queen Latifah have signed on to star in New Line Cinema’s upcoming feature film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical "Hairspray," it was announced... More...

See All

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