Cons: Same audio remix as '98 re-release Digital fixes to an optical and a gaffe New Paramount logo...the original had music composed specifically for Grease
......so it seems that they just took the re-release print and spiffed it up with color correction and such. I wish they had gone back to the original elements.
I have the 1978 Grease Fotonovel. For those who don't remember, Fotonovels were paperback books that told a movie or TV show story comic book style, using frame blowups from the film.
In the Fotonovel, the frame blow up of Olivia and Lorenzo Lamas at the table also has the distorted Coke sign.
I think the new transfer looks great and the extras are quite good. The only negative thing is that the old remix is used again. I think it sounds a bit drier than the old dvd but I could be imagining things, however it is definately the same mix.
I bought this last September and liked the disc a lot except for one thing, the Sing-along feature in the special features section doesn't work. The disc freezes starting on the last lyric in the first line of Summer Nights and it does this throughout most of the songs, yet I can play them with the subtitles turned on. I exchanged the first copy I bought yesterday and the new disc does the same thing in the exact same spot, otherwise the disc plays great.
Must be just a navigational feature your DVD player is having trouble with. After all, the "Sing a Long" feature is just access to the sngs with a different subtitle track. Just go to the scene in the movie and press the SUBTITLE button on your remote twice, and there you go! They didn't even include isolated music for those scenes to make them karaoke, which would've been cool.
I'm SO glad I took the time to sync the PCM Stereo original mix to the new anamorphic widescreen transfer. The original mix runs laps around the horrible - and botched - remix. Notice how Travolta now says "It's electrifyin'!" twice before Olivia joins in for "You're the One That I Want" on the remix. Sounds like a mixing accident as it only appears in the center channel.
Thanks for the reply. I'm playing the movie and when I pressed the Subtitle button twice during "Summer Nights", the Sing-along track came on and did the same thing. I'll play around with my player and see if I can find a way to fix it. A karaoke feature would be cool but as I found out with "The Wedding Singer", I have a terrible singing voice .
I did notice the "It's electrifyin'!" being said twice but didn't realize it was an error. It's been quite awhile since I last watched this movie. I thought it was a cool effect that I never noticed before.
I don't have the new or the old disc, but I remember an echo on that line. "It's electrifyin' . . . lectrifyin'!"
Edit: I just listened to my LP, and it has a decaying echo on that line. You hear the word "electrifyin'" three times. I'm not trying to dispute what Chuck is saying, because I haven't heard it. An echo is supposed to be there, but not him repeating the line.
The worst is the addition of a chorus during "Hopelessly Devoted to You." What was once a wonderful solo written for and performed by Olivia has become a karaoke style mess, with the newly added backup singers sounding louder than her! Also, some foley effects of her letter to John in the pool have been erased. You can barely hear the sounds of the letter in the pool and the crickets chirping now. Also, with this song and some others ("Beauty School Dropout" is another one), the song's music now continues into the next scene. What a mess of a remix.
Yes, there is an echo int he original mix and on the album - but on the remix there is a pause of several seconds, Olivia looks back at her friends, they motion to put out her cigarette, and there is Travolta repeating his line sans reverb in the center channel! It has never been there before. I have the new anamorphic widescreen transfer with the PCM Stereo mix edited back to match it if you want to hear for yourself.
I would love to have a copy of that. I wish they would include original soundtracks when they do radical remixes (thank God they finally did it for JAWS)
I called tech support for the maker of my VD player and they told me to unplug the power cord and plug it back in, then check to see if that helped, which It didn't. They also suggested cleaning the disc and the laser which never helped either, so they said it must be the disc. So, I hooked up my old player and played the Sing-along feature on there and it worked. I'm going to call tech support again and see what they say. This is frustrating but I want to figure it out.
Usually, if it works on one DVD player, but not the another, it's a problem with the player, not the disc. Not all DVD players can handle special features.
For instance, I recently purchased the "Don't Call Me Shirley" edition of "AIRPLANE!" and it says on the back of the case (in very small letters):
"This disc was created in compliance with applicable DVD specifications. Certain advanced features may not play on all machines."
That's basically what Tech Support told me when I called back today. The man said some features are incompatable with some players and my only option left was to mail my player back to them and they would send me a new one. He also said that there wouldn't be any guarantee that I wouldn't have the same problem on the new player. It's not worth the hassle for one problematic disc. Grease is a great movie and aside from the one problem, I really like the disc and love the leather jacket.
Yeah, if the disc works with your old player, just use that one to play it. I've had to do that myself with a couple of DVDs that misbehave on a particular player.
The new Grease DVD is great (& I love the leather jacket too! )