High School Musical (Blu-ray) (2006)

"...a fun, feel-good "tweenage" musical from master choreographer/director Kenny Ortega.  Andy Dursin, The Aisle Seat
"...for all its ungainliness, its cheesiness, its silliness, "High School Musical" is undoubtedly a great big heap of fun.  David Cornelius, DVD Talk
"I only wish they would have had musicals like this when I was a kid.  ePinions.com
"Featuring an immensely appealing cast and some highly clever, toe-tapping tunes, "High School Musical" should strike the right chord with Mouse fans.  Laura Fries, Variety
"If you have kids, sit down with them and enjoy an hour and a half of toe-tapping fun.  Mike Pinsky, DVD Verdict

Editor's Note Zac Efron and Vanessa Anne Hudgens star in this Disney Channel Original Movie as popular basketball team captain Troy and smart, stunning academic Gabriella. Both shock the members of the social cliques to which they belong when they each decide to audition for the high school's musical. By proving themselves to be brilliant performers, can these two teens lead their peers towards more open-minded thinking and acceptance of one another? HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL is a family-appropriate feature filled with hip music, popular dance moves, and tons of school spirit.

	Bart Johnson
	Chris Warren Jr.
	Monique Coleman
	Vanessa Anne Hudgens
	Ryne Sanborn
	Ashley Tisdale
	Zac Efron
	Olesya Rulin
	Alyson Reed
	Corbin Bleu
	Lucas Grabeel
	David Nessim Lawrence - Composer
	Peter Barsocchini - Screenwriter
	Seth Flaum - Editor
	Gordon C. Lonsdale - Director of Photography
	Mark Hofeling - Production Designer
	Kenny Ortega - Director

7M Pictures 8 of 10
Understandably, I was somewhat unaware of the phenomenon that "High School Musical" became. I was aware of the TV movie because I came home one night, and my wife was watching it. However, I never understood the almost religious fervor that some kids have found themselves in with this movie...Soon, I found out that "High School Musical" was not just some run-of-the-mill TV movie. It is helping to redefine school musicals. Some have called it the new "Grease," although I have to say it's not that great. Still, it is touching a generation of kids the way "Grease" did my generation...The story behind the film isn't anything we haven't seen before. A brainy girl named Gabriella (Vanessa Anne Hudgens) and a basketball jock named Troy (Zac Efron) stumble into each other on vacation and discover that they share a love for singing. However, when they get back to school after break, they have to contend with their separate cliques...This film is about breaking social barriers in high school and following your dream. Again, this isn't something terribly unique...But you have to realize that there are no unique stories out there any more..."High School Musical" is a fun piece, and the music is surprisingly catchy. It's not something that's going to get the Marilyn Manson crowd snapping their fingers and singing along, but it works in its own context. I can see where the mixture of music and teen drama has touched so many kids...Probably the biggest strength of "High School Musical" is its wholesomeness, for lack of a better term. Sure, it's made by Disney, but I never got the sense they were trying to make a wholesome film. Rather, the filmmakers were just trying to tell a story. Sex, drugs and violence just didn't factor into that equation. "High School Musical" is a fine film for families to watch, and you won't get embarrassed. - Kevin Carr

The Onion A.V. Club 8 of 10
The bright, likeable little TV movie High School Musical became a sensation when it debuted on The Disney Channel early this year, drawing hordes of teenager-obsessed pre-teens with its elemental story of caste-jumping and dream-following among sparkling-clean suburban adolescents. Soft-featured cutie Zac Efron plays a basketball phenomenon (sporting a modified caveman 'do not unlike that of Gonzaga hoops star Adam Morrison) who, alongside indistinctly ethnic math whiz Vanessa Anne Hudgens, discovers a latent love for song and dance...All this is presided over by director/choreographer Kenny Ortega, who once helmed the Disney musical flop Newsies, and who has a rabid cult of supporters who've been waiting for him to get another crack at a musical feature. The Ortega fandom is a little hard to explain, since he's never really showed a deft hand at staging musical numbers. The songs in High School Musical range from forgettable teen-pop ballads to rousing show tunes, with two standouts: a big closing number where everyone dances together in the spirit of friendship and tolerance, and a mid-movie showstopper where kids jump up and reveal their secret passions...Still, Ortega maintains a light touch with his generic Hollywood showbiz-kid cast, and he holds to a breezy pace that saves the movie from its predictable plot and flat dialogue. (Hudgens, to a fussy teacher: "Shouldn't that second equation read 16 over pi?" Fussy teacher: "Sixteen over pi? That's quite impossible.") Mostly, High School Musical makes an appealing case for an idealized vision of high school, where individuality is celebrated and even the mean kids know everyone's name. It's all so gleeful and encouraging, viewers may not notice that the story is really about the rich getting richer--or at least the popular getting more popular. - Noel Murray