DVD Movie Guide @ dvdmg.com Awards & Recommendations at Amazon.com.
.
Review Archive:  # | A-C | D-F | G-I | J-L | M-O | P-R | S-U | V-Z | Viewer Ratings | Main
PARAMOUNT

MOVIE INFO

Director:
Patricia Birch
Cast:
Michelle Pfeiffer, Maxwell Caulfield, Adrian Zmed
Writing Credits:
Ken Finkleman

Synopsis:
A British student at a 1960s American high school must prove himself to the leader of a girls' gang whose members can only date greasers.

MPAA:
Rated PG.

DISC DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1/16X9
Audio:
English Dolby 5.1
English Dolby 2.0
French Dolby 2.0
Subtitles:
English
French
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
None

Runtime: 114 min.
Price: $14.98
Release Date: 6/10/2003

Bonus:
• None


PURCHASE @ AMAZON.COM

EQUIPMENT
-LG OLED65C6P 65-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart OLED TV
-Marantz SR7010 9.2 Channel Full 4K Ultra HD AV Surround Receiver
-Panasonic DMP-BD60K Blu-Ray Player
-Chane A2.4 Speakers
-SVS SB12-NSD 12" 400-watt Sealed Box Subwoofer


RELATED REVIEWS


Grease 2 (1982)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (May 4, 2022)

After Grease became a massive smash in 1978, did a sequel become inevitable? One would assume so, but given that the original wrapped up the characters’ stories with a fairly neat little bow, it seemed difficult to develop a logical story for Danny, Sandy and company.

By 1982, Paramount found an answer: move on without most of the original cast! Thus Grease 2 took us back to Rydell High for more musical adventures.

Set in 1961, Stephanie Zinone (Michelle Pfeiffer) leads a girl gang called the Pink Ladies, and she dates her counterpart Johnny Nogarelli (Adrian Zmed), the head member of the boy gang the T-Birds.

However, they split up, and a new romantic interest appears on Stephanie’s horizon when Michael Carrington (Maxwell Caulfield) – the straight-laced cousin of the original film’s good girl Sandy – enters the scene. Smitten with Stephanie, Michael needs to up his game and become the bad boy she desires.

Huh – that sounds kind of familiar, doesn’t it? Not unlike the plot to the 1978 movie but with gender reversal, doesn’t it?

Probably because that essentially becomes what we see with Grease 2. It brings a rehash of the prior flick but with a nice boy and a tough girl rather than an innocent girl and a rough boy.

Perhaps the redundant feel of this plot would bother less if Grease 2 did anything interesting with it. Alas, the film just seems like a wholly uninspired semi-remake.

“Plot” should appear in quotes since Grease 2 comes more with themes than actual story beats. Sure, we follow the Michael/Stephanie narrative, but those moments feel less important here than the Sandy/Danny tale in the prior movie.

Instead, Grease 2 burdens itself with a mix of other subplots that feel like padding. Granted, the original came with more than a few semi-unnecessary detours as well, but at least those felt more connected to the main Danny/Sandy thread.

Here we wind up with lots of scenes that seem tangential at best and irrelevant at worst. For instance, whereas the “big dance” in Grease mostly existed as an excuse for a long production number, it still advanced the Danny/Sandy relationship and added complications.

Grease 2 uses a talent show for similar purposes, but it comes across as largely irrelevant to any true narrative momentum. It also seems perplexing in terms of the characters, as it feels bizarre that the tough Pink Ladies would decide to put on a cutesy holiday-themed song and dance number.

Little about Grease 2 makes a lick of sense, what with thin characters as well as scenes that clearly exist for Big Production Numbers and nothing else. Why do the characters love to bowl? So we can get a bizarre “showstopper” set at an alley, of course!

Hoo boy does Grease 2 love its borderline insane musical sequences. We get cringy material like a smirking song in Science about the reproduction of flowers, and poor Pfeiffer looks ready to quit Hollywood when stuck with the embarrassing “Cool Rider” tune.

Whereas the original film came with a slew of memorable songs, the tracks in Grease 2 range from mediocre to yikes, with more on the latter side. Sometimes it feels like the composers set out to write the worst possible songs – and they succeeded.

Try as I might, I can’t find a single redeeming factor with Grease 2. An embarrassment for all involved, it presents a total catastrophe.


The Disc Grades: Picture C-/ Audio B/ Bonus F

Grease 2 appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this single-sided, double-layered DVD; the image has been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. Though not a terrible presentation, the image seemed bland at best.

Sharpness seemed adequate and no better. Closeups displayed decent delineation, while wider shots felt a bit mushy.

Some notable edge haloes didn’t help. Given the limitations of SD-DVD, this didn’t become an especially fuzzy image, but it came across as blah.

No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects materialized. Print flaws popped up sporadically via occasional specks but they remained fairly modest.

Grease 2 opted for a palette that leaned toward fairly natural tones. None of these displayed vivacity, so they seemed drab.

Blacks came across as inky, while shadows felt somewhat muddy. The image looked good enough for a “C-“ based on the format, but it never excelled in any way.

I felt more impressed by the pretty decent Dolby Digital 5.1 mix of Grease 2. Though not memorable, the 5.1 track opened up moderately well.

Most of this came from music, which used the speakers to broaden in a satisfying manner. Some effects – like at the bowling alley or with vehicles – also moved around the spectrum in a gentle but moderately involving way.

Audio quality seemed fine for its vintage, with speech that came across as mostly natural and without edginess. Effects appeared a bit flat but they showed reasonable range and accuracy.

The movie’s score and songs fared best, as they showed appealing fidelity and oomph. This was a pretty pleasing mix for a movie from 1982.

No extras appear here – not even a trailer.

One of the most unnecessary sequels of all time, Grease 2 offers little more than a tedious, tacky remake of the original. Nothing here works, as not even a young Michelle Pfeiffer can save this stinker. The DVD offers pretty good audio along with flat visuals and no bonus materials. Even the most diehard Grease fans should avoid this stinker.

Viewer Film Ratings: 1.5 Stars Number of Votes: 2
05:
04:
0 3:
12:
11:
View Averages for all rated titles.

.
Review Archive:  # | A-C | D-F | G-I | J-L | M-O | P-R | S-U | V-Z | Viewer Ratings | Main