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The Movie: A Disney channel original feature from the director of "Newsies", "High School Musical" is a wholesome comedy/musical that became quite a hit for the channel. The picture opens on New Year's Eve, with Troy (Zac Efron) meeting cute with Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Anne Hudgens) at a karaoke bar. She's shy and vanishes before he can talk to her, but - not surprisingly - it's not the last the two will see of one another. The shy, smart Gabriella once again bumps into Troy at East High, where she's a transfer student eager to blend in at a public school. Troy's the captain of the basketball team (some members of the team in one scene look like they're over 30), put under pressure by his coach father to focus on sports as the championship is on the horizon. Meanwhile, Troy can't help think about singing, as he's more interested in singing, despite feeling as if that would distance him from his friends. Despite feeling peer pressure and scheming from "villains" Sharday (Ashley Tisdale) and Ryan (Lucas Grabeel), Troy and Gabriella share their love of music and try out for the school musical after convincing the uppity teacher to give them a chance. The duo's ambition to get into the musical leads to other kids around the school finally speaking up about hobbies (one kid reveals that he likes to bake) they've been too afraid to admit. Every so often, the cast breaks into song and the results are definitely about as bubblegum pop as it gets - not surprisingly, the soundtrack has been a hit. Those who are in that target audience will likely find the movie to be a delight. Most adults, on the other hand, are going to find the picture cheesy enough to fufill their required servings of dairy for a few weeks. Still, the performances are lively and the kids certainly give it an effort in their roles, especially Hudgens, who is engaging as a shy girl who gradually starts to gain more confidence. Overall, I definitely think this is a geared completely to younger audiences, who have already made it quite popular. This DVD offers both the original film and a "sing-along" version with on-screen lyrics. The DVD VIDEO: "High School Musical" is presented by Disney in 1.33:1 full-frame. The presentation quality was perfectly fine, with no major concerns. Sharpness and detail weren't remarkable, but the picture at least remained consistently crisp. The picture did show some minor shimmering and a few instances of artifacts, but otherwise looked clean and clear, with no print flaws or edge enhancement. Colors remained pleasantly poppy and bright, with nice saturation and no smearing or other faults. SOUND: The film's Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack largely comes from the front speakers, with the surrounds only providing light reinforcement of the music on occasion. Audio quality is perfectly average, with a bassy score and clear dialogue. EXTRAS: "Learning the Moves" featurette, "I Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" music video, "We're All in This Together" music video and behind-the-scenes featurette. We also get a look at the Hollywood premiere (2 minutes), a "reunion" featurette that looks at the "High School Reunion" phenomenon (5 minutes), a behind-the-scenes featurette (8 minutes), "Dance Alongs" for "Get Your Head in the Game" and "We're All In This Together", "Breaking Free: Remix" music video, "We're All In This Together: Remix" music video and "Eres Tu" music video. Overall, the new extras are minor and could have all been included on the first disc. It's surprising that the cast wasn't brought together to do a commentary for this new release. Final Thoughts: Wholesome and inoffensive, "High School Musical" is a bit bland, but the performances aren't bad and the energy level remains high throughout. Younger kids are definitely the ones that will enjoy the Disney flick. This new DVD edition offers slightly more extra features than the prior edition, along with the same audio/video quality. 
Film Grade The Film B- DVD Grades Video 87/B Audio: 86/B Extras: 75/C |