Grease MPAA Rating: PG Entertainment: +3 Content: -1

Danny and Sandy (John Travolta and Olivia Newton John) play teenagers from opposite backgrounds who fall in love one summer in this popular musical of the seventies. When Sandy enrolls in a new high school she is surprised to see Danny at all. But seeing him as a swaggering, cool guy in tight pants, leather jacket and greased-back, duck-tailed hairdo shocks the pristine, wholesome cheerleader. His friends are anti-establishment who enjoy tormenting teachers, working on their hot-rods and bragging about their summer conquests. Sandy becomes friends with a group of what we used to call 'fast' girls, led by Rizzo (Stockard Channing).

GREASE has remained a popular video for years, but this re-release into the theaters has had its soundtrack updated with the technology of the nineties. Wonderful musical numbers, a Frankie Avalon appearance and a lively rock and roll dance contest make this 20-year-old musical fun for all ages. The street-smart teenage girls and boys aren't so tough even though they smoke cigarettes and drink wine, liquor and beer. Rival gangs pull out pocket knives occasionally and burn rubber as they drag race. Rizzo looks for love in all the wrong places, thinking sex in the backseat of a car is the answer. That scene shows heavy petting with sex implied. Danny and his friends are not really so experienced. One boy has been carrying a now disintegrating condom in his billfold since the seventh grade. When Danny attempts to do some heavy petting with Sandy, she pushes him away and stalks off. But Sandy's high standards make her the misfit, isolating her from Danny. When the girls try to teach her to smoke and drink, she just gets sick. Finally, it looks like Danny is willing to conform to her standards. But he is shocked and delighted when she appears at a school carnival in black, skin-tight pants, low-necked blouse, a floozy hairdo and heavy makeup. GREASE sends good and bad messages to teenagers: Stay in school, but lighten up; teenage sex is natural if you are careful and respect your partner. Mischievous boys "mooning" the faculty at the senior dance, crude references to girls' breasts, and five obscenities add to the film's disappointing content. Parental guidance is in order for GREASE.

Preview Reviewer: Mary Draughon
Distributor: Paramount Communications, 15 Columbus Circle, NY, NY 10023-7780