Grease Movie Review

Scout Gutierrez, Reporter

The musical, Grease, takes place in the 1950’s about a bunch of high school students in romances, it became one of the most successful musicals in time. Its release was in 1978, and starred Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta, and won two awards by the next year of “People’s Choice of Favorite Movie” and “People’s Choice of Favorite Musical.”

Sandy, a high school exchange student who comes from Australia, ends up moving to California where she met Danny Zuko, a boy she fell in love with over the summer. The two both expected to not see each other again until Sandy attends the high school unknowing that her summer love had attended the same school. Her first day starts with meeting Frenchy, and joining the “Pink Ladies” group which include Rizzo, Jan, Marty, Frenchy and then, Sandy herself. The movie began with the first song “Summer Nights,” when Sandy and Danny are both singing and explaining their summer spent together to their group of friends. The “Pink Ladies” become aware of who the boy Sandy had spent their summer with and later that night, Sandy has her first encounter with Danny since the summer. She is shocked with the way he reacts when around his friends after seeing her again.. which goes into the major conflict of the movie, Danny had been self-conflicting with his masculine self and cared too much of how his friends thought of him.

Sandy continues to become disappointed with Danny’s actions throughout the movie. Sandy sings “Hopelessly Devoted to You” as a way to explain how she felt towards Danny; to be hopelessly devoted is to be “in love with the wrong person” yet you continue to have feelings for the person though it is wrong. The song received a nomination of “Best Original Song” in 1979, and although lost, it became a huge and famous hit and reached number three on Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for two years.

At the end of the movie, Sandy has a rebirth within herself and starts to fully realize her self confidence and has a sudden transformation of becoming the perfect greaser girl, she changes herself in order to fit in. The two end up together by the end of the movie.. with a questionable ending of flying into the clouds, before this scene the couple sing another major hit called “Your the One That I Want.”

The movie has made  an impact to many generations and stays one of the best musicals,  it is based on Warren Casey’s and Jim Jacob’s 1971 musical of the same name about two lovers in 1950’s high school. It remains a  movie for everyone to watch, to this day there are showings of Grease as well as plays. At Tigers high school, there is gonna be a play by the theater students…hopefully it  goes well.