A Hard Day's Night
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Movie Reviews of A Hard Day's Night
Movie Review: A Hard Day's Night - - Hard Not to Love!!(New DVD-1 star)
Summary: 5 Stars
To quote from a review..."The Citizen Kane of Pop Musicals..." What can you say? The film that has never been equaled or reproduced by any rock act. What set the Beatles apart from other bands then and since, is that there were four distinct personalities in the group, and no matter if you liked them or not, the average rock afficionado can name all four members of the band. A HARD DAY'S NIGHT further enhanced this aspect and at the same time made one of the best rock movies of all time. The film is filmed in a black and white, quasi-documentary style, with great innovative camera work by director Richard Lester. Stripped down, it's a musical comedy based on a 'day in the life' of the Beatles as they are preparing for a press conference and rehearsing for an upcoming appearance on a television program in London. Foregoing the traditional musical where a scene is set up to segue into a musical number, the Beatles play themselves and inject musical numbers at random points with great success and fun. Its not like an Elvis movie where he sings to the bad guy after he beats him up, the musical spots are like modern musical videos. Great classic songs like "Can't buy Me Love", "She Loves You", "If I Fell", "And I Love Her", etc.. are used in the film and a good time is had by all. Pretty good natural comedic performances by the Fab Four . A film that's in a league all its own. Fun!!- - -However, the newly released DVD by Miramax is not a very good in the bells and whistles. It mostly contains interviews from people we don't care about. There should have been deleted scenes and outtakes. Now that would have been better. The most disappointing thing is the soundtrack. In the films climactic concert scenes in the television theatre studio, the audience girls screaming IS MUTED INTERMITTANTLY to keep the integrity of the songs. It sounds and looks as if the Beatles are singing to an empty theatre. Any Beatlephile knows that the screams from the girls was an integral part of their live shows and what made the concert scene in the film authentic...
Movie Review: Classic Movie About a Classic Band
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't believe that there are actually people who haven't seen this movie and would need to read a review. A Hard Day's Night has been a part of my consciousness since I was little, but considering the Beatles' fan base is so wide and varied by age, I guess there might be some young fans who have not seen it. Whether you've never seen it or you've seen it 20 times, this is essensial viewing for Beatle fans and also people who are studying the art of film. Many famous directors sight this film as the first one they ever studied and even say it made them want to be directors. I remember studying it in college film classes. It is noted for it's quick cut away camera work, and innovative lighting.
But of course I am a hard core Beatle fan so I bought this dvd because I just love it. It's their first film, and most people,( I think them included,) think it was their best. But I also like Help because it's in color and it's a beautiful film.
Made in 1964, it features the Beatles at the youngest that most American people remember them.(Paul and George were barely out of their teens at this point) It is still very funny but I think the Beatles were a lot funnier when they were just being themselves in a documentry (like The Maysles Brother's The First American Visit dvd), or in interviews. The diologue is sort of contrived and even though the screen writer traveled with them for months in order to get their speech patterns, I don't really think he was paying that much attention. I don't think he really captured them all that well. Or maybe they were too nervous to be natural. John and Paul come across as nervous and unatural. But they are still wonderful, and the music is really wonderful. This dvd has been remastered and restored of course, so it looks and sounds great.
I remember when A Hard Day's Night was still being shown on tv, so I'm a veteran but you will want to own this and watch it many times. What Beatle fan should be without this?
Movie Review: Hey who's that little old elf?
Summary: 5 Stars
Welcome to an historic moment in Sid the Elf lore. This is our 100th review. And what better way to celebrate the century mark than with The Beatles? Ever since Sid was just a baby elf, the Fab Four have been in heavy rotation in our musical selection. Also as a young elf, Sid loved this film so we decided to commemerate our 100th review with something special as well as awesome. In fact, A Hard Day's Night is so great that it isn't even B and it still got 5 stars from your pal, Sid the Elf.
A Hard Day's Night was the boys' first film and it was successful in every way. It is a "mock-documentry" that dipicts a day in the life of John, Paul, George, and Ringo as they travel by train to a London TV studio for a gig. Of course, all kinds of shennanigans ensue on the trip and upon arrival, most involved Paul's grandfather who's a villain and a real mixer. All four Beatles showed their famous wit and charisma in the film along with surprisingly solid acting chops. This was especially true for Ringo, who got a little more of a showcase than the others. But, he still managed to be B once in the film. During one of the performance scenes, Richard Starkey is missing his skins by a good 6 inches on a close-up; hilarious every viewing.
A Hard Day's Night is one of Sid's all-time favorites. It is an extremely entertaining and extremely funny movie. Throw in a soundtrack comprised of all Lennon-McCartney originals(well, except for the song George and Ringo are rocking out to on Ringo's little radio on the train), and we say this guy's got it. The film shows Beatlemania at its peak and the Boys in the eye of the hurricane. Obviously it's somewhat naive, but one of the things that makes the film so special is that it paints the Beatles exactly how these fans would like to picture them. So, needless to say, this one get a reco from Sid himself. Until next time, some advice from Sid and Grandfather McCartney: Watch your brisket.
Movie Review: A classic, but deserved better DVD treatment
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't bring myself to give this any less than 5 stars. The movie is a timeless classic that hasn't lost anything in the nearly 40 years since its release. I don't think I have much to add to what's already been said time and time again.But this was not what I expected when I heard there was to be a deluxe DVD special edition. I have read that since Miramax was handling this release, not the Beatles' company Apple, they simply were not given access to all the material that could have been included. I've also read that there exists no outtakes or deleted scenes (except for the "You Can't Do That" sequence). Whatever the reasons, the second disc of interviews is frankly kind of boring. I would have far preferred more extensive interviews with George Martin, Richard Lester, and the screenwriter (his name escapes me at the moment) rather than people who were hardly involved at all. The primary creative personel interviews are great to have, but could have been more in-depth. Maybe an "highlights" reel could have been edited together featuring brief comments from all the bit players, and less-involved tech crew.
The half-hour featurette on Disc One is pretty well done, and compliments the film nicely. But there was another Making Of DVD release, now out of print, that was far better and twice as long (worth tracking down).
The MOST aggravating aspect: the DVD-ROM features. I want to read the first draft of the screenplay, but I don't have a DVD-ROM drive. I want access to all the other interesting looking features that are DVD-ROM only. I've seen far better supplemented discs that didn't need to relegate a bunch of cool stuff to DVD-ROM. C'mon! All of the second disc's regular features are talking-head interviews!
But when all is said and done, this is the only in-print edition of the dvd and well worth owning for the movie itself.
Movie Review: Good enough for me at this price!
Summary: 5 Stars
Good quality film and acceptable sound on the first disc.
As for the second disc, the interviews with various tangiential players is for the most part fascinating, above all that with George Martin, although he comes off a bit snobbish. Among other pieces of knowledge he imparts, he explains the significance of "Can't Buy Me Love" and its twelve-bar blue structure. It's a bit surprising how little he thinks of some of the other hits, such as "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You."
Two particularly fascinating bits of trivia for me: the truant "Southerner" boy in the Ringo scene turns out later to have been a regular supporting cast member in the "Keeping Up Appearances" UK TV sitcom, one I've frequently watched. And it's finally made clear why Paul's grandfather is "very clean" (it has to to with Wilfrid Brambell's prior role as the father in Britain's predecessor to our "Sanford & Son": "Steptoe and Son").
We also gain insight into the photography and lighting of the film, and most interestingly, into the groundbreaking directing style of Richard Lester. What is it about HDN that made it so special? Not worrying too much about the directing, the rehearsing... just going with the flow. The very natural and yet unusual camera angles. Many cinematographic techniques first showcased in this film are still used today. I found Lester's reasoning behind inserting early in the film surreal frames like the boys inexplicably running alongside the train in order to prepare the viewer later for the dreamlike, surreal quality of the "I Should've Known Better" sequence fascinating.
Though the bonus features might be considered dry and of marginal interest to some, this edition offers a lot for the buck. I was happy to replace my old worn-out VHS home-recorded copy with this nice DVD package.