Grease
(1978/Blu-ray) + Saturday Night Fever
(1977/Blu-ray/Paramount)
Picture:
B Sound: B/B- Extras: B Films: B
In a
double blast from the past, Paramount is issuing Blu-ray versions of what remain
the biggest hits from the early part of John Travolta’s career: Saturday Night Fever and Grease.
They remain two of the hottest back catalog titles from any studio and
these are complete versions of the best DVD editions the studio released to
date. You can read more about those
editions, including all the same extras and the importance of the films at
these links:
Grease – Rockin’ Rydell Edition
DVD
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4212/Grease+%E2%80%93+The+Rockin
Saturday Night Fever 30th
Anniversary DVD
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6047/Saturday+Night+Fever
Grease Deluxe Edition Double CD Soundtrack
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/639/Grease+-+Deluxe+Edition+CD+Soundtr
I include
the Grease CD set because it is
still out there and any serious fan should get a copy while supplies last. I also covered it before the DVD was issued and
dug into the workings of the film and why I think it continues to be an
enduring success. I like the film
marginally better than Saturday Night
Fever, but must admit I have more respect for Fever now than when it first came out. Before I get to the performance of each
Blu-ray, I want to add key thoughts on each film.
On Fever, I can say Travolta’s acting is
even better than I gave him credit for and though those who trash The Bee Gees
act like they only had hits from that film and they were just a disco act, that
is not the case in real life. Survivors
from the 1960s British Invasion, they had already made a comeback before the
film was even a vague idea, hitting big with Jive Talkin’, Nights On
Broadway and Fanny (Be Tender With My
Love) in 1975 in the hands of the great Arif Mardin. A real gentleman family act, including a
great run of solo hits from younger brother Andy Gibb, the inclusion of their
newest music in the film would have been an event no mater what since they were
already on a hits run that included two #1s.
You Should Be Dancing was even
in the film, despite being a hit for a few years. There is a sadness in hearing their music in
the film now with Andy’s tragic loss and losing Maurice way too soon, but the
music remains iconic, took the high road and will endure for decades to
come. And they are not the only act
doing music in the film. You can read
more about their hits from our coverage of the upgraded double-CD version of Bee Gees Greatest that I actually
included in my Fever DVD review, which you can reach at the above link.
As for Grease, it honest-enough portrayal of
the raw side of the 1950s has endured in the face of 30 years of politically
conservative Rollback myth-building and remained popular long into the MTV era
and during that dry spell when no one wanted to even think of making a
Musical. After so many bad female singer
have tried to have hits and those few “pop tarts” who have had one too many,
Olivia Newton-John suddenly seems like Beverly Sills, handling the material
with phrasing so clever, that she will never get the credit she deserves since
people could not separate the stage persona from the talent. People who have enjoyed the spoofy stage
revival of Xanadu (both that
soundtrack and original film are reviewed on this site) get it, but too many
critics are just out with their knives.
She gives a great performance here and hey, she did all her own singing!
After the
likes of Chicago, Dreamgirls and especially Hairspray, there is something about Grease that seems ahead of its time and
it was enough on the MTV curve (think of the sudden dream sequences during some
of the songs) that it can be considered the single transitional film in the
genre between the Classical Hollywood Musical the That’s Entertainment documentaries celebrated and the comeback
cycle we have been lucky enough to encounter, duds and all. Travolta and Newton-John have great chemistry
and the extras show it never went away.
However, this is one of the best-cast Musicals ever made and the joy and
fun in making it comes throughout loud and clear.
Now to
the performance of each Blu-ray, both in 1080p digital High Definition
transfers.
The 1.85
X 1 image on Fever shows its age,
with grain you’d expect from film stocks of the time, which you can compare to
Blu-rays of The French Connection
films and Walter Hill’s The Warriors. Some shots are terrific and the color is
consistent for most of the transfer, but one too many moments of softness get
in the way, yet fans will be stunned.
Sometimes, the dance floor shots are not as clear as I remembered, but
the dry ice reproduces without a hint of digital harshness. Better than the DVD or any other footage
anyone has seen outside of a 35mm print, it delivers well for its age.
As for Grease, this is the same master
Paramount has been using since the first DVD, which is from the 1998 theatrical
re-release. Though it was shot by Bill Butler (A.S.C.) in real anamorphic
Panavision and looked great in that re-release, the HD actually reveals more
troubles with the master than the DVD, which at first looked like DVD downtrade
errors. Now we get colors that are
slightly pale throughout, making one wonder if this is a 1080i master and does
not give one the true idea of how good this looked in re-release or in the 70mm
blow-ups that made it such a blockbuster to begin with.
The windowboxed
animated credits seem too much so here, then there are odd moments of
softness. Why are Newton-John’s ankles &
shoes blurry but the rest of her sharp after before the Shake Shack during You’re The One That I Want? Why are the silver curlers in Beauty School Dropout now pale? Why does Greased Lightning go from sharp to
blurry to sharp to blurry on and on? Someone
was not paying attention when they did this work and with the somewhat advanced
use of color in the film, Paramount ought to do a 6K transfer down the road to
really do justice to the work here. This
is often sharper and clearer than the DVD, but color is an issue throughout, so
it barely outdoes the DVD.
The Dolby
TrueHD 5.1 in both cases also disappoints.
Fever was monophonic in theaters and the upgrades on the DVD made the
music sound a bit weak and ambient, while the TrueHD sounds like bass was used
to up the sound a bit, but that does not make it as vivid as it could sound by
any means and the old sound on the rest of the film is only made more obvious
by the better fidelity of the TrueHD.
As for Grease, the film was originally a 4.1
Dolby magnetic stereo mix and the 5.1 tries to make it sound a little better,
but dialogue and some other sounds are too much towards the center channel,
with music sometimes (as in the opening, when you can almost not hear Danny
& Sandy talking on the beach before the titles) overwhelms the dialogue in
non-singing sequences. However, the
Dolby TrueHD 5.1 seems a bit dull, is transferred at too low a volume and does
not seem as clean, clear or as dynamic as the DTS 35mm presentation I enjoyed
back in 1998. I wo0udl even warn you of
switching volume between the film and extras as you will be turning up the
volume to compensate for the problem. I again
hope Paramount and Universal/Polydor go back to the original multi-channel
music again and redo this for a future Blu-ray.
Otherwise, I still recommend the Blu-ray, but with some important
reservations.
- Nicholas Sheffo
