High School Musical (DVD)

It's doubtful that showtunes will ever be cool among teens and tweens, but Disney Channel certainly makes a convincing case for the return of the musical with an original pic from "Dirty Dancing's" Kenny Ortega. Featuring an immensely appealing cast and some highly clever, toe-tapping tunes, "High School Musical" should strike the right chord with Mouse fans.
Considering that the broadcast nets have pretty much given up on scripted family programming, one has to appreciate the consistency with which Disney delivers the goods to its target demos. "Summerland's" Zac Efron stars as Troy Bolton, East High's basketball star. Over winter vacation, he meets Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Anne Hudgens) during a karaoke contest, and the two discover harmony in more ways than one. The bookish Gabriella, however, is shy around the confident Troy and runs off before he can learn that she just transferred to -- yes -- East High.

Once back at school, romance takes a back seat to the social pecking order. Troy's dad and coach demands unwavering commitment from his players in the face of an impending championship game. Gabriella, eager to make a fresh start, is happy to shed her math genius rep in favor of blending in. Still, she doesn't quite have the nerve to try out for the school musical alone. When Troy decides to lend a hand and audition for the musical with her, the consequences reverberate throughout the school.

Although the plot's not particularly novel, writer Peter Barsocchini's script maintains the fantasy elements while incorporating topical and relevant themes into the story. Many viewers will surely relate to the notion of parents latching onto their child's every interest and passing fancy as if it's the ticket to college admission.

High school is a time when kids are just beginning to discover their true selves in an environment where individuality is as welcome as leprosy.

To express this notion with fresh dialogue is one thing, but to convey it through song is a marvel. Ortega, a master of the group dance, hits his stride in particular with "Status Quo," a catchy number that takes place in the most vicious social gauntlet of all -- the high school cafeteria.

Inspired by Troy's actions, a fellow basketball player admits he likes to bake and dreams of making the perfect creme brulee, while a skater dude owns up to playing the cello. Horrified by these revelations, their fellow classmates encircle them, warning them, "If you want to be cool, follow one simple rule, just stick with the status quo."

The movie features several other radio-ready tunes, most notably the duets "Start of Something New," by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil, and "When There Was Me & You," by Jamie Houston. As usual with Disney, the net has promised numerous cross-promotions and tie-ins via TV and the Web.

As always, Disney manages to incorporate diversity without making it an issue, perhaps knowing that in high school, popularity is the only demographic that really matters.

High School Musical is a very typical Disney movie with the nice all round girls and boys, a couple who need to be shown the correct path to take and them all coming together at the end of the film. Its a great family film, songs are very catchy. My children have watched it over and over. You know with a Disney film there will be nothing inappropriate for children, it is all very fair and the story will have a moral background to do what is right!
The extras such as the sing along is great as at least they can find out what the words are, not so annoying when they are being sung back at you.
Only thing that is weak is the How to dance bit, it is only one song and it was hard for an 8yr old to follow. If that was clearer and broken down in smaller chunks it would be perfect.
The film is fantastic and great feel good movie and it does mean that you'll want to watch the second film.

This isn't the type of flick I'd usually go for, I'm more into independent and foreign films however I was intrigued by the hype of this movie and persuaded to give it a shot and I'm glad I did.

Yes, it is completely ridden with cliches, but that's the fun of it! The film works by Taking stage school kids, a cliched script, cheese-fest songs and a few bottles of glitter and throwing them all together in the hope of getting something worth sticking on the Disney channel on a Sunday night. However the production got more, they got a dvd release and a huge fan base which created the hype that we've all heard of!

If you want a ray of sunshine this dull summer then look no further as I've found it for you! High School Musical!

This is a DVD-9 movie and is Region 3. It has very good quality. The literature on the box is in Chinese languag. The default language is English and there are others too if one prefers. They all work fine. Subtitles are also included. Having this movie in it's original box has made my daughter very happy indeed. Any High School Musical serious fan should consider having an original like this. The seller was also nice to communicate with and I highly recommend this seller.

i brought this for my 9 year old daughter as she is a huge fan,,now my 5 year old daughter knows all the words and actions!! experience this movie in a new way,with never before seen music sequence and rehersal footage,on the dvd you can also sing lead vocals...how will it all turn out in this sequel,,will sharpay manage to lure zac afron from gabriella??? a must watch family film that everybody can get involved with!!