 "There's nothing like A GOOD musical..." | 2008-09-10 |
| - Reviewed By michaelanderson65 |
...and this is NOTHING LIKE a good musical.
Adults should be warned to stay clear of this dreary exercise at ALL costs. This is time better spent with an insurance agent or doing your taxes. (Yes...It's THAT bad.)
If you have tweens at home and they clamour for this abomination, be warned, it never ends. Long after the movie has finished there is the CD of the film's unmemorable soundtrack which can only lead to the sequels (2 of them at this writing.) and the ripoffs. (AMERICAN MALL anyone?)
Do yourself a favor and run far and fast when the kiddies get a yen to pop this one in the old dvd player or you'll be visiting your dentist to fix the damage caused from grinding your teeth. |
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 "An Uncertain Future for the Disney Channel???? Maybe...." | 2008-06-20 |
| - Reviewed By Anonymous |
Before you start to shoot insults and criticisms at me, hear me out. I'm not writing a review on how tacky or unoriginal HSM is, but writing on something that's going through the minds of the a generation that grew up on the Disney classics and television series we cherished throughout our lifetime. Many of us worry that the Disney Channel is heading for serious trouble since it has now become focused on the tweens and teens of today instead of the entire family, and I am one of them. A tad bit bias toward HSM? You could probably say that. But once again, hear me out.
HSM is basically a younger rendition of the Tony Award-winning show Grease, except pointed towards a younger audience. The star athlete Troy (Zac Efron) meets a smart science girl named Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) at a party, and they probably don't expect to see each other again. However, all of that changes when they both end up in leading roles for the high school musical production, which causes confusion for the vast majority of the cliques (i.e. Geeks, drama clubs, science club, athletes, you get the idea.).
To start things off, the only song I really enjoyed from this film is "Getcha Head in the Game," and I found it really upbeat and good to dance to. The casting, plot, and dancing was okay, but not great. One thing that many people may argue is whether or not this can actually happen in real life high schools. The answer to that is: yes and no. Yes because unfortunately there are cliques in school which exclude many students from really ever "standing out" or even merging togething in another group without being made fun of from the main group. However, it can also true that this film was somewhat exaggerated; the dialogue doesn't seem to be realisitc to an audience as it would be in real life, and the music isn't really helping to reinforce that belief as much as many of us would.
Second, what really surprised was how big of a hit HSM became after premiering on a Friday night; it somehow created the biggest sensation known to teens and tweens everywhere. Also, I was kind of irritated at the attention it got. It's just another film that people should enjoy watching, not the greatest thing in the world. It shouldn't be worshipped as an idol like it is today, alongside Hannah Montana and That's So Raven. Being that I'm an adult, I grew out of things like this and preferred things that have more charm, sentinementality, and even a little bit of originality, such as Singin' in the Rain, The Lion King, or Wicked. You could say that's the reason why I didn't try out for the musical for my high school production (Also because I couldn't dance very well, but that's neither here nor there.).
Now, you're probably wondering about the title of my review. This is the bulk of it. I was born in 1988, and I grew up watching all the classic Disney films (i.e. Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, the Little Mermaid, etc.) as well seeing all the cartoon shows I adored (i.e. Gummi Bears, Talespin, Darkwing Duck, Ducktales, etc.). One of the things going through my mind as I see more shows such as Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, and That's So Raven being put on the air is the future of the network itself. When I was growing up, the Disney Channel featured something for everyone: the morning geared toward preschoolers, the afternoon geared toward tweens and teens, the evening featuring a family film (usually an animated classic, a comedy, a drama, something along those lines), and the late night dedicated for the young at heart. Today, it seems, soley geared toward tweens and teenagers, with little or no time for the entire family. Futhermore, there was a time when pop, hip-hop, or rap didn't rule the music airwaves on televsion, as well as sex, drugs, or dancing that lacks originality ruling television as it does now.
What concerns me as well as people who grew up in my generation and even parents is whether or not the Disney Channel is going downhill because of being soley focused on a particular group of people instead of the entire family as a whole. Unfortunately, the answer to that is yes. Walt Disney's empire wasn't founded on HSM, Hannah Montana, or anything like that; it was founded on the power of imangination, originality, creativity, and believing in the impossible. It's not all about HSM, Hannah Montana, or even Wizards of Waverly Place; it's about bringing the entire family together to enjoy each other while watching a movie or seeing a show. And even the network allowing these actors to continue doing these things after some of the scandals which went on (i.e. Miley Cyrus' photo shoot w/Vanity Fair) is sending the wrong message to viewers, which also worries me.
Hopefully there will come a day when the Disney Channel goes back to what it originally started out as: a network focused on THE ENTIRE FAMILY, not just one group of people to make money. Some of the cartoons shown today don't even come close to the original shows shown in earlier periods, and some of the original television movies made for the audience today may be a way to make quick bucks for themselves without actually going out into the world and finding something original to make movies from. Futhermore, I hope they begin showing more of the animated and/or live action classics we've grown to love over the years again instead of night after night after night a Disney Channel original movie. It's starting to get old real fast, don't you think?
In conclusion, HSM isn't great, but it isn't horrendous either. It's somewhere in the middle, and I hope people respect my opinion. I applaud the actors and Kenny Ortega for their effort, but it just couldn't grab my attention fully, and judging from the review, you can probably tell why. Do I have a lot of time on my hands? Yes, because I prefer older musicals and animated and/or live action classics to this, and no because I constantly have to deal with this rant day after day, and want to finally have the chance to let it out to people who are willing to read this. Do I have a life? Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. I'm a theatre major and a music minor who loves the musical theatre now more than I've ever had the chance, and I simply don't have time to see things like HSM as well as don't wish to see it. Futhermore, it seems to me HSM lacked something that a lot of films and musicals released didn't have: HEART. Did I give this film a chance? Yes, I tried, but it just couldn't work for me because, like I said in the beginning, I'm an adult with a wider variety of musical choices other than this one. Much of the choreography shown here looks more like music videos rather than an actual musical production, and Ortega did so much better choreography in Newsies; even you can't deny that!
To the die-heart fans, I hope I didn't take up to much of your time, and it's your choice on whether or not you agree with me, and even whether or not you wish to read this. To the parents, please take the time to read this and take at least a little bit of what I said into consideration. To everyone who grew up in my generation, please read this. If you think you're the only one who wishes for the good old days of television and cinema to return, you're not alone. I, too, wish for the exact same thing. I hope anyone who reads this gains something from what I said and my feelings about the Disney Channel, the films, and what is being presented to today's audience. This empire has never really died to begin with; rather, it goes through periods of darkness followed by rebirth, so maybe we are hopefully in the midst of rebirth from the film and television industries. Have faith.
P.S. Just for the record, I'm looking forward to Camp Rock; I enjoy listening to the Jonas Bros, and the story line looks interesting. |
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 "The extras in the Remix version are worth paying more" | 2008-06-04 |
| - Reviewed By fantasyweaver |
High School Musical is one of the Disney productions you don't have high expectations for. How good can something made for cable be? But it surprises in a big way.
This is a movie about teens trying to find their own identities while feeling the pressure to conform to their own social groups. There's clean romance, humor, and the songs are surprisingly good. It does what every good musical should do: make you tap your toes and want to join in the singing and dancing.
And this is where the extras come in. The Remix version comes with a sing-along option that lets you sing along to all the songs, with the words lighting up as they're supposed to be sung, karaoke style. The second DVD includes a dance lesson for two of the dances in the movie. These dances are pretty hard, but it can be fun to try.
I really didn't think I would like this movie, thought it would be for tweens only. But I was delighted to discover I was wrong. This is a delightful movie to enjoy, sing along with, and dance to with your tween, and the lesson of being true to yourself is such a good one for kids who often feel pressured to fit in with their friends. |
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| "Love this Musical!!!" | 2008-05-02 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1IA6HKJW3HKWB |
| This is the best kid/family fun video to come out for years. We absolutely love it!!!! |
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| "HSM is so effeminate that it will continue modern-day America's unlucky trend of turning young men into NANCY BOYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" | 2008-04-17 |
| - Reviewed By brokenbymymaster |
HSM has been notoriously billed as the "Grease" of this generation to draw a connection between it and this movie's musical roots. That's an analogy that highlights the superficial, "fun" aspect of this movie, but HSM has other praiseworthy attributes. HSM is the type of entertainment that should be mass-marketed to teenagers today because that demographic is cataclysmically in peril of entering into high-risk behavior such as premature sex, gang-involvement, drug use, apathy, violence, idleness, etc.. HSM is a very laudable antidote to this predilection of risky, teen misbehavior because of the values it espouses: healthy activities, pride in oneself, determination, achievement, school involvement, rejecting peer pressure et al.
Because of the way the values espoused are treated, HSM is in danger of being dismissed as a breezy, thoughtless piece of banality and triteness where its values are so rigidly clean-cut they come off as being insincere. In fact, this only scratches the surface of HSM's enormous faults, and aside from the facade of clean-cut values, everything else is in freefall.
Despite Disney's focus on constructive values for teens, a deeper analysis unmasks really harmful influences throughout the movie, influences which are to blame for our society's decay in the form of over-sexualization, vanity, appearance-consciousness, obsession with wealth, and low self-esteem.
All the young starlet-actors, whether its Efron or Hudgens or Tisdale, don't look like the average, normal teenager. Maybe that's because they're many years older than most teenagers, but mostly because they're unnaturally appearance-oriented. Efron's character Troy is someone the vast majority of teens WON'T relate to because he looks like a little Calvin Klein model with his perfect hair and his chiseled face (Efron is currently hyped as a sex symbol by debauched magazine Rolling Stone). The girls (Stripperella Hudgens/Tisdale) are even more loathsome: their faces are repositories for an explosion of makeup and their clothing puts an emphasis on the superficiality of wealth and vanity.
The Sharpay character particularly is a destructive "role model" for young girls because her attire shows exorbitant amounts of skin (too short skirts) and misleads teens to think that one needs expensive clothing to fit in. Though the Sharpay character's supposed to be a lesson against this sort of misconduct by teens due to her being the villain, HSM fails to make this clear enough, and impressionable (read: stupid) teens and those younger will fail to get this connotation. Instead, many teens probably will come away with the misinformation that misbehaving like a selfish, vanity-obsessed Sharpay is praiseworthy--not just since our liberal-infected pop culture pushes those toxins--but because HSM glorifies the villain in Sharpay.
Aside from these unpardonable breaches, HSM also should concern parents for its deadly messages of emasculation and effemination when teenage boys are watching; the themes of feminine dancing and singing are enough to potentially neuter the masculinity of teen boys watching this foulness, which is what liberalism wants anyway. Boys should participate in sports and community service in order to both keep them busy and build character, yet this film indoctrinates teen boys to squander their time with limp-wristed singing and dancing. This shouldn't be totally startling since Disney is culpable for clandestinely indoctrinating young boys to turn effeminate via the overwhelming skew towards female activities in their products--just look at other popular shows on the Disney Channel: Hannah Montana, Raven, etc..
Since HSM has themes/values that are so much healthier and cleaner for teens who are in desperate need of guidance in their impressionable lives, it's with a somewhat heavy heart that I write this next paragraph. I have many friends who are young couples with young kids, so I intimately know what Disney should do to retain its patronage of their demographic, families with children. Many reading this review likely know by now the scandalously lewd expose that hit one of the debauched starlets in this film, Vanessa Hudgens due to her own misjudgments and lust for temptation!!!! Hudgens took stark-naked pictures of herself which where then plastered all over the internet.
Only if one's a moral relativist who excuses hurtful, moral misbehavior could one still support this product after one of its most prominent faces betrayed all the little kids to whom she's supposed to be a role model with her salacious exhibitionism!!!! Speaking on behalf of all my many friends who are couples with young kids, they'll NOT be buying ANY MORE Disney products until Disney redeems their company from the taint left by Hudgens. That is to fire her and show the families with young children that Disney really protects and promotes traditional, conservative family virtues, or else, it appears like Disney only cares about making money. In fact, Disney has gone on record about Hudgens, that the reason they'll not discipline her is not to upset the attraction of youngsters to Hudgens and her popular character.
All the young couples with young kids whom I know are boycotting Disney until they sanitize this uncleanliness left by Hudgens' misconduct. |
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| "HSM Rocks!" | 2008-02-13 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3DOH4HPMMOCFZ |
| I love this movie! It is one of my favorite musicals. It has a great story to it, and doesn't have the sex and violence that most movies have nowadays. I recommend it to everyone! |
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| "Must-buy for any high school musical fans!" | 2008-01-24 |
| - Reviewed By tony___ |
| No matter you have been to the concert or not, this is a must-buy for any high school musical fans. I am a fan of Ashley Tisdale, and I wish this DVD could have included all 3 Ashley Tisdale-solo songs, since this DVD has only one: "We'll Be Together." The plus side (in my opinion) is, if you like Jordan Pruitt, this DVD includes 4 songs from the opening act by her. I wish I could have seen the concert! I love this DVD, and I give it a 5-star. |
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| "Life Saver" | 2008-01-20 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3RVNRMTIBCU7M |
| My cousin wanted this DVD for X-Mas and I looked EVERYWHERE for it, with NO luck. Decided to take a chance and see if they had any on here and thank God Amazon did. She watches it almost everyday!!!!! |
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 "Freaks and Geeks" | 2008-01-17 |
| - Reviewed By skymac2 |
There was a show that ran on TV a few years back called Freaks and Geeks that was a pretty realistic depiction of a day in the life of your average high school student; High School Musical is the antithesis of that series.
High School Musical is full of unrealistic situations, boy band and Broadway wannabe crooning, freaks/geeks/and jocks living in harmony...the movie's a drama club/band camp fantasy. But it's a nice message about respecting every individual for who they are. Very nice.
And my 4 year old daughter LOVES it! In 3 days I think she's watched it 15 times. It's all that's on our living room TV anymore during the kids' waking hours. Pure torture. As a result, my two sons, both under the age of 10, have asked if they can go live with their grandparents.
My daughter sits there happy as ever, singing along...it's really quite adorable if I watch my daughter and not the movie. As for my boys, I catch them actually watching too sometimes, but they'd clearly rather be somewhere else. So I'll just have to trade off sitting with my daughter for a while and hanging with the boys with whatever they decide to occupy themselves with until my daughter gets tired of the movie. I wouldn't trade it for anything.
What? There's a High School Musical 2, and a third on the way? AAAAHHHHHHH! *Sky repeatedly bangs head against the desk.*
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| "Good movie" | 2008-01-08 |
| - Reviewed By User: A27YS469HC6N1F |
| Got this for my daughter, she was the happiest girl alive! She is in love with "Troy"! Nice to have a musical that kids like and teaches good things as well |
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