A Hard Day's Night

A Hard Day's Night
by Lester, Richard

A Hard Day's Night
List Price: $14.99
Buy Used: from $5.33 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases

Buy A Hard Day's Night at Amazon.com
(Click here)
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD Cover Information

Actor: Deryck Guyler, George Harrison, Kenneth Haigh, Lionel Blair, Wilfrid Brambell
Director: Lester, Richard
Brand: BUENA VISTA HOME VIDEO
Primary Contributor: George Harrison
Primary Contributor: John Lennon
Primary Contributor: McCartney, Paul
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled)
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 87 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-09-24
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Miramax Entertainment

Movie Reviews of A Hard Day's Night

Movie Review: Zany fun
Summary: 5 Stars

Don't expect linear storytelling or a documentary, per se. This film offers a little of both. There's a loose plot in which the Beatles, who have become prisoners of their fame, try to break free and have a bit of fun, much to their manager's vexation. (Each of the Beatles gets at least one delightful little scene in which to shine except, curiously, for Paul McCartney; his "mixer" of a grandfather, played memorably by Wilfrid Brambell, is his surrogate in mischief.) There's all kinds of droll merriment along the way, with some of the Beatles' hits incorporated cleverly, but the real payoff is an extended concert scene at the end. Just a note -- some of the accents, most notably George Harrison's, can be challenging; try watching with the subtitles on.

Summary of A Hard Day's Night

In 1964, the Beatles had just recently exploded onto the American scene with their debut on "The Ed Sullivan Show." The group's first feature, the Academy Award-nominated "A Hard Day's Night," offered fans their first peek into a day in the life of the Beatles and served to establish the Fab Four on the silver screen, as well as to inspire the music video format. Songs: I'll Cry Instead, A Hard Day's Night, I Should've Known Better, Can't Buy Me Love, If I Fell, And I Love Her, I'm Happy Just to Dance with You, Ringo's Theme (This Boy), Tell Me Why, Don't Bother Me, I Wanna Be Your Man, All My Lovin', She Loves You.
The Fab Four from Liverpool--John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr--in their first movie. Nobody expected A Hard Day's Night to be much more than a quick exploitation of a passing musical fad, but when the film opened it immediately seduced the world--even the stuffiest critics fell over themselves in praise (highbrow Dwight Macdonald called it "not only a gay, spontaneous, inventive comedy but it is also as good cinema as I have seen for a long time"). Wisely, screenwriter Alun Owen based his script on the Beatles' actual celebrity at the time, catching them in the delirious early rush of Beatlemania: eluding rampaging fans, killing time on trains and in hotels, appearing on a TV broadcast. American director Richard Lester, influenced by the freestyle French New Wave and British Goon Show humor, whips up a delightfully upbeat circus of perpetual motion. From the opening scene of the mop tops rushing through a train station mobbed by fans, the movie rarely stops for air. Some of the songs are straightforwardly presented, but others ("Can't Buy Me Love," set to the foursome gamboling around an empty field) soar with ingenuity. Above all, the Beatles express their irresistible personalities: droll, deadpan, infectiously cheeky. Better examples of pure cinematic joy are few and far between. --Robert Horton

Art House & International DVD Video

DVD Video
Movies most talked about in Critics Top 150 part 3
High Noon (Two-Disc Ultimate Collector's Edition) ImageHigh Noon (Two-Disc Ultimate Collector's Edition)
LION'S GATE ENTERTAINMENT; Release date: 2008-06-10; DVD
Best price: $10.51
Price in other shops: $19.98
Henry V - Criterion Collection ImageHenry V - Criterion Collection
Image Entertainment; Release date: 1999-06-22; DVD
Best price: $24.48
Price in other shops: $39.95
A Hard Day's Night ImageA Hard Day's Night
BUENA VISTA HOME VIDEO; Release date: 2002-09-24; DVD
Best price: $9.50
Price in other shops: $14.99
Hamlet -  Criterion Collection ImageHamlet - Criterion Collection
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2000-09-19; DVD
Best price: $14.96
Price in other shops: $29.95
Great Expectations (1946) (Criterion Collection Spine #31) ImageGreat Expectations (1946) (Criterion Collection Spine #31)
Image Entertainment; Release date: 1999-01-12; DVD
Best price: $24.37
Price in other shops: $39.95
Grand Illusion - Criterion Collection ImageGrand Illusion - Criterion Collection
GABIN,JEAN; Release date: 1999-11-23; DVD
Best price: $24.00
Price in other shops: $39.95
The Graduate (40th Anniversary Collector's Edition) ImageThe Graduate (40th Anniversary Collector's Edition)
BANCROFT,ANNE; Release date: 2007-09-11; DVD
Best price: $12.99
Price in other shops: $24.98
The Gospel According to St. Matthew ImageThe Gospel According to St. Matthew
Release date: 2003-07-22; DVD
Best price: $16.99
Price in other shops: $29.95
GoodFellas (Two-Disc Special Edition) ImageGoodFellas (Two-Disc Special Edition)
WEA; Release date: 2004-08-17; DVD
Best price: $8.66
Price in other shops: $26.98
Gone with the Wind (Two-Disc Special Edition) ImageGone with the Wind (Two-Disc Special Edition)
WARNER HOME VIDEO; Release date: 2009-11-17; DVD
Best price: $17.49
Price in other shops: $24.98
Similar DVD Movies
Looking Back At The Beatles - 3 DVD Set ImageLooking Back At The Beatles - 3 DVD Set
Release date: 2008-06-15; DVD
Best price: $10.49
Price in other shops: $11.58
The Beatles - Help (Import All Regions) ImageThe Beatles - Help (Import All Regions)
DVD
Best price: $56.00
The Beatles Unauthorized/Fun with the Fab Four ImageThe Beatles Unauthorized/ Fun with the Fab Four
Gaiam; Release date: 2002-08-27; DVD
Best price: $4.30
Price in other shops: $9.98
Beatles: From Liverpool to San Francisco ImageBeatles: From Liverpool to San Francisco
Beatles; Release date: 2005-10-04; DVD
Best price: $5.19
Price in other shops: $9.98
The Beatles Anthology ImageThe Beatles Anthology
EMI; Release date: 2003-04-01; DVD
Best price: $53.70
Price in other shops: $79.98
The Beatles - Yellow Submarine ( Yellow Submarine ) ImageThe Beatles - Yellow Submarine ( Yellow Submarine )
DVD
Best price: $27.99
Yellow Submarine ImageYellow Submarine
Release date: 1999-09-14; DVD
Best price: $56.39
The Beatles - The First U.S. Visit ImageThe Beatles - The First U.S. Visit
Amaray; Release date: 2004-02-03; DVD
Best price: $15.00
Price in other shops: $24.98
Magical Mystery Tour ImageMagical Mystery Tour
Release date: 2006-11-27; Published: 2001; DVD
Best price: $4.25
Price in other shops: $10.98
Help! ImageHelp!
EMD; Release date: 2007-11-06; DVD
Best price: $20.66
Price in other shops: $29.98
Compare prices and read customer reviews for more than one million DVD titles.
Oscar 2005 Winners