Grease 2 (40th Anniversary Blu-ray Steelbook Review)
Grease 2 really couldn’t stand a chance. Despite charismatic performances from Michelle Pfeiffer and Maxwell Caulfield and a bevy of character actors (The ones you’d call “that guy/girl from…” but not by name…), the film suffers from the inevitable sequel tropes. But revisiting this for a 40thanniversary Blu-ray may make you wanna go “back (back) back to school again!” Coming home in steelbook form, Grease 2 begs to be revisited. Read all the details below and don’t forget to click the paid Amazon link to get yourself a copy, cool rider!
Film 
2 years have passed since we last spent some time at Rydell High School. JFK is in office, and hot cars are now being surpassed by cool motorcycles. The T-Birds and Pink Ladies are still around, but this time, a new breed of each is facing senior year at school. The new leader of the Pink Ladies, Stephanie, is a siren looking for her match, boy wise. She can’t find it in Johnny (Adrian Zmed), the goofy leader of the T-Birds, and can’t find him in any of his lackies either.
Then, like a breeze across the ocean, Michael (Maxwell Caulfield) shows up fresh from England. We learn he’s a relative Sandy (of original Grease fame.) Curiously, we also catch up with Frenchy, who is still trying to graduate after her brief tenure at La Coiffure Beauty School 2 years back. Also returning, are Principal McGee (Eve Arden), Secretary Blanche (Dody Goodman) and Coach Calhoun (Sid Caesar) who we know and love.
The story is simple, and not spoiling a thing: Boy (Michael) sees girl (Stephanie) and falls immediately. He learns that she wants a “rider that’s cool…” and sets off on a quest to rebuild a bike, learn some tricks and get the girl. In all of that we also get the resurgence of Crater Face (Dennis C. Stewart) who is set on destroying the rep of the T-Birds and Michael who becomes a mystery man with an all-black motorcycle helmet to conceal the mystery.
In all this, there are musical moments, with a humorous talent show as a backdrop. Pfeiffer has a real moment with her song “Cool Rider”, where she goes full Pat Benatar by way of 1961, with Tab Hunter coming in for a risqué song about reproduction. Caulfield, no shame in trying, has the worst songs to himself, and the worst singing talent, making his songs a little harder to get through, even when he’s supported by his more musically motivated cast mates. The true story though, is that these songs are not the songs of the original. They’re a little cheesier and lack the timelessness of the original too. I will give special mention to “Girl for All Seasons” as being often in my head long after the viewings of this film (ah, ah, ahs be damned…)
Besides the school setting, the sequel to the iconic Grease shares some motifs from the original, and character arcs too, but not much besides that. The roles are flipped a little bit, this time, a male trying to be cooler for a female. Beyond that trope, there’s not much original there. Released 40 years, Grease 2 cleared a paltry $15 Million, being eclipsed by its predecessor by over $100 million in ticket sales. Despite one hell of a debut from Michelle Pfeiffer, some charm and a couple of memorable tunes, this is a film that does pale in comparison to the original, giving critics a reason to bemoan sequels as money grabs. Sure, we have seen better part 2’s in our life, and this film is a good example of not how to continue a beloved story. In truth though, taken without much anticipation for perfection, Grease 2 is a fun and silly musical. The people involved look like they’re having fun, and, yes, even if the songs aren’t as good, there are at least 2 that you’ll love as much as Summer Nights or Greased Lightning.
Video 
- Encoding: MPEG4/AVC
- Resolution: 4K (2160p)
- Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
- Layers: BD-50
- Clarity/Detail: Previously included in the 40th Anniversary Blu-ray collection, this looks to be a nice 2K transfer. Coming from the paltry DVD, this is miles better. Clarity abounds with a nice light grain structure to bring details through.
- Depth: There is plenty to see throughout the film with large scale musical numbers being the best places to look for depth of field. You’ll see every happy dancer clearly, and love taking in the sights. What could be soft and hard to see just simply isn’t!
- Black Levels: From the T-Birds’ leather jackets, to the bomb shelter in darkness, all blacks look dark and shadowy.
- Color Reproduction: Colors are vibrant and of the cotton candy variety. From sweet pinks to hot reds to cool blues, all colors look wonderful throughout with nothing looking amiss in any scene.
- Flesh Tones: All actors look nice and natural, with the occasional fake tan lovingly recreated too!
- Noise/Artifacts: None
Audio
- Audio Format(s):English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1, German: Dolby Digital 2.0,Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono (Spain),Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, French: Dolby Digital 2.0, Italian: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, Portuguese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono (224 kbps)
Brazilian Portuguese; Castilian and Latin American Spanish Mono - Subtitles:English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Bulgarian, Cantonese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Icelandic, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Romanian, Slovak, Swedish, Thai, Turkish
- Dynamics: Dynamic this mix is not. The original track had to have been in stereo, as there is a full sound stage, but not much going on anywhere besides the front three speakers.
- Low Frequency Extension: Not much in the bottom end to take in. Music sounds a little flat and sound effects are of an old vintage, and not fully realized either.
- Surround Sound Presentation: Surrounds are not very active save for carrying some music and an odd moment of background noise at times.
- Dialogue Reproduction: The dialogue in the film sounds low in this mix, and you’ll have to turn your sound up to hear things when nobody is singing.
Extras
Extras for Grease 2 are zero. The steelbook and digital codes are the main draws for this new Steelbook edition.
Summary
Anchored by Michelle Pfeiffer’s first starring role and a dreamy Maxwell Caufield (whose teen idol good looks no doubt landed him this role…), Grease 2 is not without its ardent fans, who will defend it to the grave. For me, I saw this many years after release and after many viewings of the original. There are shades of the spirit of Grease and while they don’t quite compare, I find there is plenty to like about this charming follow up. Worth a look for first time viewers, and at a great price, this steelbook comes recommended!
