Set in the late 1950s, Grease opens with Danny Zuko (John Travolta) and Sandy Olsson (Olivia Newton-John) meeting at the beach, falling in love, and hating to part. Danny returns to Rydell High School for his senior year, where his reunited with his friends, The T-Birds, who include Kenickie (Jeff Conaway), Doody (Barry Pearl), Sonny (Michael Tucci), and Putzie (Kelly Ward). He also runs into school flirt Rizzo (Stockard Channing) and her "Pink Ladies", Frenchy (Didi Conn), Jan (Jamie Donnelly), and Marty (Dinah Manoff). Danny is shocked to learn that Sandy's family moved to town and she is now at Rydell. However, Danny doesn't want the guys to know that he wasn't his usual cool self when he was around Sandy and he blows her off. From there, Danny begins to do everything that he can to win her back. Meanwhile, Kenickie buys an old car, determined that he can turn it into a racing machine. Rizzo attempts to reconcile her feelings for Kenickie. Everything comes to a head at the high school dance.

Anyone under the age of 25 may not understand the appeal of Grease, but when the film was released in 1978, it was huge. The movie was a box-office smash, the songs were all over the radio, and the soundtrack was one of those things (be it on 8-track or vinyl) that you simply owned - no questions asked. John Travolta was still a very hot commodity thanks to the success of Saturday Night Fever and Olivia Newton-John was one of music's most popular performers. I have no idea how many people were familiar with the stage version, but everybody saw the movie.

So, watching the film some 30 years later (God, I am so old!), I have very mixed feelings about the movie. I still know the words to every song and many of the images, especially from the finale, as so ingrained in pop culture, that it's nearly impossible to imagine a world without them. While I'm not a fan of any of his current work, John Travolta is perfect in the role of Danny Zuko, and for a non-actor Newton-John holds her own. (Although, if you really examine the movie, she isn't in it very much.) However, seeing the movie through adult eyes, I see that Grease isn't a very good movie at times. Director Randal Kleiser was helming his first feature film and something of this scope (with big song and dance numbers) may have been too much for him to handle. The editing is jarring at times, there is basically no character development, and when one puts a microscope to the story, we see that it's virtually non-existent. It's as if the stage musical was taken, a few songs were added, a few were removed, and then put in front of the camera with hopes that the whole thing would work. So, I can definitely imagine a modern tween coming across this movie and thinking, "What the heck is this?"

But, none of that matters, for a certain generation, Grease will always be the word. The movie isn't a technical marvel and the acting is often forced, but the songs still hold up today and Sandy's transformation (while sending a horrible message to young girls) is still one of the great moments in movie musicals.

The Grease Blu-ray Disc contains several extras. We begin with an AUDIO COMMENTARY from Director Randal Kleiser and Choreographer Patricia Birch. Kleiser also provides an optional introduction for the film. "Rydell Sing-Along" offers the musical numbers with karaoke-style lyrics. "The Time, The Place, The Motion: Remembering Grease" (23 minutes) is a retrospective featurette which contains interviews with some of the cast, the producers, and Kleiser. They discuss the evolution of the play from stage to screen. From there, we get a discussion of the cast and chracters, and a chat about the production. The Disc contains eleven DELETED/EXTENDED/ALTERNATE SCENES which run about 10 minutes and contain an intro from Kleiser. The new footage is in black and white (we aren't told why) and most of the moments are simply longer versions of scenes which exist in the finished film. "Grease on DVD Launch Party" (15 minutes) takes us inside the 2002 event which celebrated the DVD debut of the movie. "Grease Memories from John & Olivia" (3 minutes) is a brief interview with the two stars who share their thoughts on seeing the film years later. Choreographer Patricia Birch discusses the film's dancing in "The Moves Behind the Music" (8 minutes). "Thunder Roadsters" (5 minutes) examines the vintage cars used in the film. "John Travolta and Allan Carr 'Grease Day' Interview" (2 minutes) is a brief chat from 1978. "Olivia Newton-John and Robert Stigwood 'Grease Day' Interview" (2 minutes) is another short talk from the 70s. The extras are rounded out by four PHOTO GALLERIES (Rydell High Year Book, Production, Premiere, Grease Day) and the THEATRICAL TRAILER for the film.

UPDATE:

The only extra included on the Grease 4K UHD is an AUDIO COMMENTARY from Director Randal Kleiser and Cinematographer Patricia Birch (which was included on the earlier release).  The remainder of the extras are found on the Blu-ray Disc included here.  This release contains all of the extras listed above for the old release, plus some new ones.  "Grease: A Chicago Story" (25 minutes) takes us back to the original stage show, and includes interviews with Co-Creator Jim Jacobs, who provides a great deal of information about the inspiration and origin of the show, and original cast members like Marilu Henner.  The anecdotes are interesting, but we don't see any footage of the show.  We get a new "Alternate Animated Main Titles" (4 minutes), which is simply the familiar animation set to a new song.  There is also an "Alternate Ending" (1 minute) which is exactly the same save for a brief animated shot.