Grease 2 (1982)

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General		Extras
Category	Musical	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1982
Running Time	109:41
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (59:09)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Programme
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Patricia Birch
Studio Distributor	Paramount Home Entertainment	Starring	Michelle Pfieffer Maxwell Caulfield
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$24.95	Music	Louis St. Louis

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English Arabic Bulgarian Croatian Czech Danish Dutch Finnish French German Greek Hebrew Hungarian Icelandic Italian Norwegian Polish Portuguese Romanian Serbian Slovenian Spanish Swedish Turkish English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

   Grease 2 has long been considered one of the worst sequels ever made, and rightfully so. The film lacks everything that made the original Grease a classic. So what exactly is wrong with Grease 2? To begin with, the story is exactly the same, only this time the roles are reversed. New student to Rydell High Michael Carrington, played by Maxwell Caulfield, is the shy cousin to Olivia Newton-John's Sandy. He instantly falls head over heels for cool Pink Lady chick Stephanie Zinone, played by Michelle Pfeiffer. Michael spends the rest of the film trying to impress by becoming a 'Cool Rider', thus the title of one of the film's more ludicrous songs. The story couldn't be more uninspired if it tried.

    Now, let's get down to the big problems with this film. Maxwell Caulfield delivers one of the worst acting performances ever recorded. He is so bad that you become mesmerised. I found myself becoming morbidly fascinated to see how dreadful this guy could get. This has got to be one of the worst casting decisions since George Lazenby was cast as James Bond. It is not surprising that Caulfield's career began and ended with the one film.

    The music, which elevated the original Grease to worldwide phenomenon status, is a liability in Grease 2. With the exception of maybe two songs, the film's music is absolutely dreadful. Any musical needs a signature song or tune to become a success. Grease 2's soundtrack is totally devoid of artistic merit and rightfully disappeared without a trace.

    Simply stated, Grease 2 is the Battlefield Earth of its day.

    If this film has any redeeming features, they are two-fold:

1. Michelle Pfeiffer manages to escape the shame of the production by giving a decent performance, and it is clear from this early stage that she had star quality;
2. The film is so bad that it becomes enjoyable as a straight-out comedy, a fact I don't think was part of the filmmakers' agenda.

    Grease 2 is definitely worth a look, as it is absolutely hilarious in a 'so bad it's good' kind of way.

Video

    Grease 2 is presented in the film's original aspect ratio of 2:35:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    Sharpness levels are adequate. There is slight edge enhancement present throughout the print, but this is not overly annoying. Aliasing issues are also present. The worst example of this occurs at the 49:58 minute mark inside a pinball parlour - the sleek edges of the machinery jump around constantly.

    Shadow detail is acceptable with a reasonable depth of field and detail. There are, however, a lot of grain problems during this film. I noticed that grain was present throughout the transfer and it becomes intrusive around the 11 and 79 minute marks for a good minute or so.

    There was one example of Low Level Noise interference. At the 43:25 minute mark during a tracking shot of a junkyard, the whole picture has a nasty shimmer to it.

    Colours are natural with no bleeding apparent.

    There are the usual level of film artefacts found on the print for a film of this vintage.

    The RSDL layer change is at the 59:09 minute mark.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    Grease 2 has been graced with five audio tracks. There is an English Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track, the one reviewed here, as well as 2.0 surround tracks in Spanish, Italian, French and German.

    Dialogue is always clear and except for some bad lip syncing by the cast to some of the dreadful songs there are no audio sync problems.

    The music for this film is simply awful. Enough said.

    Surround channel usage is surprisingly good. Good use is made of directional effects. An example of this is at the 50 minute mark, where a motorbike races across the room from right to left with great effect. A well done 5.1 remix.

    The subwoofer adds strong support to the numerous musical numbers and on-screen action.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    All versions of this DVD currently available are essentially the same.

    Grease 2 is one of those films that is so bad you have to see it to believe it. The disc is adequate with a workable print and decent audio. Thank the Lord there are no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall