High School Musical

Honestly, I just randomly gave it a vote. You really can't vote on how good this movie is. Yes I mean it was a very typical Disney channel movie, but I was in elementary school when this movie came out, and everybody my age including myself was obsessed with it; I couldn't even count the amount of times that I watched this movie.

If you've never seen this movie and you're over the age of lets say 12, you're probably not going to like it. This was my childhood though and everybody loved the music and I owned the movie and CD and would always listen to the music. Everyone would watch it and would watch the sing alongs on Disney channel, because I was probably 8 when this movie came out and I am now 15 and Disney channel was everyones life and childhood, so I could never give this movie a bad review, but I really don't know what to give it out of 10 so I just gave it a 7.

High school musical is a Disney movie where you can really only like it if you were young like me when it came out. I haven't seen this movie in forever, and I watched it the other day and still pretty much remember all of the words to every song!

10 years ago this first High School Musical film launched with very little fanfare, and no real big names in it. Little did Disney know that it would capture the imagination and hearts of so many young people, spawn two (at present) sequels and become a lasting phenomenon!

Is it surprising when you watch the actual film? No, not really. It's an hour and a bit of fun, the young cast (and they do look young) all give good performances, and it's enjoyable for all ages.

The make it or break it quality with any musical are the songs, and of the three 'High School' films this is the one with the most iconic songs.

No, it's not Shakespeare. But it is an almost modern version of Grease. I'm not a huge musicals fan, but I enjoyed it.

I'm not sure what it is and maybe I'm blinded by childhood nostalgia, but this movie has something different. Compared to other TV movies this one has surprisingly decent acting, musical numbers pertinent to the plot and not just bursting into song whenever (although there are a couple of songs like that); and lastly a very subtle sort of foreshadowing in the content of the songs they are singing. I never really paid much attention to all the lyrics of the songs but they describe exactly how the characters are without having to tell us. They surprisingly respect the "show don't tell" rule in that aspect.

The message is loud and clear, there's no misinterpretation and that's great for kids. It has uplifiting and feel-good beats to it as well as breaking with the norm and the cliques in high school teaching the younger audiences to be themselves and to not simply choose between black and white. It's a good message enhanced by decent performances with surprisingly decent dialogue and good pacing. I know with what I said it sounds like the movie has nothing wrong to it but maybe I'm sort of biased due to the nostalgia trip it carries everytime I watch it.

For new viewers I say this: don't take it too seriously, I mean, it's not oscar worthy at all and wasn't meant to be released in theaters and therefore had a tight budget. It delivers in what it's selling: an endearing story of a couple who want to be together doing what they love and being who they want to be, struggling to make the rest of the people in their lives see that too. Only enhanced by upbeat and well choreographed music and funny side characters like teachers and other students. A fun watch

I definitely don't fit into the target demographic for Disneys' "High School Musical", and when my friends saw it in my DVD collection they threatened to disown me. At that point I figured I could either (a) say "HOW DID THAT GET THERE?! and quickly distract them by popping in Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket", (b) sheepishly admit that I'm a dork and in serious need of help, or (c) rabidly defend how awesome this movie is, accusing them that if they're too closed-minded to give it a try then their inner child must be dead and rotting in their dark pit of hearts.

I opted for (c).

As I said, this movie is fantastic. Directed by Kenny Ortega, known for many TV stints and music videos but perhaps best known as Michael Jackson's choreographer, you know immediately that this is a flick with some professional music and dancing. But for me, what I really liked was the theme of this movie, something unlike anything I've seen before. And I've been secretly watching teen flicks since the 80s with classics like "Sixteen Candles", "The Breakfast Club" and so on.

Through the ages, most teen flicks, if not all, have focused on one theme: the idea of outcasts & nerdy underdogs rising up and doing battle with the popular kids. True, it's a great theme that every teen (and every adult, for that matter) should understand. Dare to be different. Be uncool, and do it in the coolest way possible.

Here in "High School Musical" we get a reverse twist on that. The star of the movie (played by Zac Ephron) is already one of the cool kids, good looking, smart, sports jock. But he dreams of doing something as totally uncool as singing in the high school musical.

From there the theme materializes. This isn't just another "revenge of the nerds" type story, but instead it's a very individualistic, and dare I say existentialist, take on how to exist in society. Drop all labels, cross all boundaries, do whatever you want. There's a great line in the movie where Zac says to his father, "What if all my friends laugh at me?" and the father responds, "Well then they're really not your friends." Gems like this may be obvious in life, but they bear repeating to kids as well as wayward adults. Are you a 45 year old corporate executive who's afraid to quit your job and be a hairdresser? Watch this movie. Even if your situation is not as extreme as that, we all encounter pockets of resistance based on what people expect of us. And often, it's much harder to climb *down* from a successful position than it is to climb *up* from nothing.

Besides that, the movie is just plain fun. All the character are lovable, even the "villains" who in this case are the scary sister & brother team played by Ashley Tisdale and Lucas Grabeel. They reminded me of something out of an old Tim Burton flick (Edward Scissorhands) with their hilarious portrayal of the proverbial small-town big fish. Another memorable villain is the failed-diva drama teacher who always seems to be one measure away from breaking into "I'm So Pretty" (don't worry, she doesn't). Zac's female counterpart is played by Vanessa Hudgens who also does a great job of depicting the new transfer who doesn't know how or where to fit in.

Like I said, this is a great film with a solid message for all ages, as long as your inner child isn't dead. I'm not sure if this review was of any use to you, but it sure silenced the room when I shouted it at my friends. In short, this movie is for anyone who's not afraid to yell "I love High School Musical!"

"High School Musical" was a movie that can pick you up and make you "dance". The songs were great especially "Get your head in the game". With some dance moves, the movie also added great humor,"love",and for those jocks out there BASKETBALL! The actors rocked the stage and just made the movie a teen can watch and who knows maybe one or two can relate to "Troy"(Zac Efron),"Gabriella"(Vannesa Anne Hudgens),or even "Sharpay"(Ashley Tisdale). Disney has proved itself once again as the movie magnet! Like other movies "Right on Track", "Go Figure", "High School Musical" is a great movie which you can sit with family or with friends and enjoy and you never know when you might be singing along!