A Hard Day's Night (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray + DVD]

I'm only posting the point I haven't seen here though it may be and I missed it. EVERYONE reading this knows what this is, and to a large extent, how it was done, both THEN and NOW. In a way though, I don't because NEITHER myself nor my wife had EVER seen or heard this before last night. So I know nothing of all the 'how terrible it was before' stuff. How is it now for a complete Newbie? Well... I'd say somewhere around "Very Good" but below excellent. Yea, it's B&W that's just baseline info. Most of the comedy is slapstick and some is (by today's standard) 'mildly irreverent'. I'm sure the soundtrack improvements have made it funnier cause you can actually hear every major and mild insult that is thrown around, rapid-fire by 60's standards. Probably why people liked it so much. Pacing was madhouse compared to nearly everything most people had ever seen. And it doesn't seem to drag, really, even by modern standards. Since we'd never seen it before we got some LOL moments which pleasantly surprised me. I knew (from my older sister who saw it a bunch of times when it came out) what was going to happen but my wife almost flipped her recliner at the Ringo's Raincoat gag. That's very well pulled off indeed...So I ordered it not for nostalgia value, but because Beatles' Catalog Audio Upgrades are the 'holy grail' for which I surely will search my entire current lifespan. I knew going in that many of the songs had to be slowed down to match the film for technical difficulties that are as lost to history as Close'n'Plays. OK, I wondered... how's that going to affect the PITCH of the music and singers? Will George Harrison sound like The Lurch Who Lunched On Liverpool?I needn't have worried so much. Probably Giles Martin took a sledgehammer to EMI's remaining analogue deck the day before work started, then told the brass that he'd have to do it all in the digital domain. And that would save them money anyways... it's all good...So to our collective delight (Charles & Di we are!) the songs ARE ever so slightly slowed, but the PITCH is correct! And the song mixes/film matches are, to at least the previously uninitiated, spot on and just what they seemingly should be. In other words for audio, calling it a must have is like saying you need silverware at a new restaurant. God the sound is Divine (if you'll pardon the irreverence).I can think of no possible further improvement that's possible for these Beatle numbers, short of a complete, catalog remix to 5.1 from the session masters, with post production approval from George & John on the Other Side.P.S. on 7/5/14:Sorry I forgot to mention IF you were wondering... The stereo mixes on this version of AHDN are new, like the 5.1s. You don't get ping-pong 'Beatles Stereo' ripping your attention back and forth from one side of the screen to the other. It's a fairly modern (remember Giles Martin only had 2 or 4 tracks of information to use with any of these songs) immersive stereo field showing appropriate reverence for the original intent but 'drawing less attention to itself' than the crude 2-channel releases put out in the 60's.another P.S. on 7/6/14:VERY sorry but I must post a correction... These song remixes ARE in fact slowed in both PACE and PITCH. Giles Martin has said it himself. He did not use digital audio editing to restore the pitch. He stated that such can be DONE, but it is problematic. He didn't SAY this in so many words, but my guess is that he preferred to leave the 'finished product' with imperfections that it already HAD, rather than fix those and introduce new ones that fans might have less patience for. I deem that a wise choice on his part, though clearly, what I deem, is irrelevant. And while you couldn't prove it with MY ears, I'm informed that the pace/pitch issue only applies to the songs the Beatles are rehearsing or performing in the 'theatre' with the 'control room monitors' on them. Songs elsewhere in the film are at normal speed.

The Beatles' first - and best - movie has had a checkered history on home video. First issued on VHS by MPI Home Video in 1984, that label reissued the same title in a  Special Edition VHS (with bonus footage)  in the mid-'90s, followed by a  LaserDisc , and finally,  an early DVD  of the film in 1997. Those releases were based on the 1982 Universal Pictures re-release, with a Dolby Stereo soundtrack.In 2002, Beatles "expert" Martin Lewis released a new version on VHS/DVD, through Miramax, and preceded to ruin it, with a muddy soundtrack and washed-out picture. I paid big bucks for an out-of-print copy of the MPI DVD, and always watched AHDN that way. Until now.The Criterion Collection - a collector's film label - who had released  a short-lived LaserDisc version  of AHDN in the early '90s - has now reissued the film, just in time for its 50th Anniversary, in both a  single-disc DVD edition , and this three-disc set (two DVDs and one Blu-ray disc, both with the same content). The picture is crystal-clear, and the sound quality - stereo, 5.1, and mono - is superb. Some of the movie song mixes are noticeably different, particularly "And I Love Her," which appears for the first time in a complete true-stereo version with a single-tracked Paul McCartney vocal. The stereo album version is double-tracked, as is the U.K. mono version; original U.S. releases have the single-tracked mono version and the double-tracked stereo version.The collection includes a nice collector's book with an appreciative essay by Howard Hampton (though I did not appreciate his cheap shot at The Monkees), and a lengthy 1977 interview with director Dick Lester. Most, but not all, of the bonus features from the previous reissues are included in this new version, including Lester's 1959 Oscar-nominated short, THE RUNNING, JUMPING, AND STANDING STILL FILM, which appeared on the MPI DVD; THINGS THEY SAID TODAY, a 2002 documentary that was on the Miramax release (the supplemental material on the second disc of the Miramax release, GIVE ME EVERYTHING!, was not included);  The Making of A Hard Day's Night , a 1994 documentary with Phil Collins; and several new documentaries - one about Lester's style and influence, another one featuring The Beatles in their own words (set to archival footage), some of which also appeared as "Fab Four On Film," the original unreleased B-side to the 1982 single "The Beatles' Movie Medley" (Capitol B-5100, replaced on the commercial release by the mono mix of "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You" [Capitol B-5107 and Parlophone R 6055]), and new 2014 interviews with Lester and Mark Lewisohn. There is also a commentary track with members of the film crew, assembled by Martin Lewis in 2002.Initially, I was disappointed that the "I'll Cry Instead" prologue from the MPI DVD was not included, but then I read online that Universal Pictures added that prologue to the 1982 Dolby Stereo theatrical re-release without the consent of Dick Lester, producer Walter Shenson, or The Beatles themselves. Lester - who rejected "I'll Cry Instead" as a song selection for the original film - insisted that the prologue be deleted from all future video releases.Interestingly, A HARD DAY'S NIGHT is the only Beatle film not owned by Apple Corps. Bruce and Martha Karsh - the managers of Walter Shenson's estate - own the film, and licensed the rights to Janus Films, who will distribute the film in limited theatrical re-release; Criterion Collection has the home-video rights. On July 5, 2014, I saw the theatrical version of the film at the West End Cinema in Washington, D.C. It was fantastic.Since 2007, there have been restored reissues of  Help! (Deluxe Edition) , Magical Mystery Tour Deluxe Box Set (Blu-ray/DVD/double-vinyl EP) , and  Yellow Submarine  ( previously reissued in 1999 ). Now it's time for Apple Corps to finally upgrade LET IT BE to a proper DVD/Blu-ray release - and I don't want to hear excuses about "damaging the brand" from Paul, Ringo, or anyone else in The Beatles' camp.

My big sister Teresa saw "A Hard Day's Night" in the theater when it was first released in 1964. She said there were a lot of screaming teenage girls in the audience. Teresa turned me on to The Beatles. She had many of their records including the soundtrack to "A Hard Day's Night." Remember seeing them on "The Ed Sullivan Show" along with 73 million other viewers in early '64. I first got "A Hard Day's Night" on VHS and now on DVD. I gave the DVD to Teresa along a few other loved ones. John Lennon , Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. "The Fab Four," were natural born actors. John Lennon liked a movie Richard Lester had made and asked him to direct this movie. He did a fine job. We get to see The Beatles being chased by a mob of female fans, singing on a train and getting ready for a T.V. show. Lennon and McCartney wrote the title theme along with "I Should of Known Better," "Can't Buy Me Love,"( the single went to No. 1 on The Billboard Charts in 1964,) "And I Love Her" and "This Boy," (Ringo's Theme,) are the big hits from the soundtrack. The movie was a hit at the box-office and with the critics. "A Hard Day's Night " also was the inspiration for the hit T.V. comedy series "The Monkees" which aired on the NBC television network from 1966 to 1968 and won the "Emmy" for Best Comedy Series. The Beatles have sold more records than other group and have 12 albums on "Billboard's Top 300 chart, no other artist comes close. "Beatlemania" at is was called is still going strong today.

A good movie about musicians and their music. Light hearted and at times amusing.

Excellent!!

great

Got it quick and in mint condition. Great film as well that I would highly recommend.

The Beatles play themselves in a fictionalized look at a typical day or two in their crazy lives. From the opening chord of the title song and the accompanying image of three of them running away from a mob of fans, to their live television show finale, A Hard Day's Night is 87 minutes of unadulterated bliss.Richard Lester, who had previously worked on British radio and television, made his feature film directing debut with this picture, and he doesn't disappoint. He fares equally well with both the acting sequences and the musical numbers. The raucous style with which he directs is perfectly suited to the zany lives of the Fab Four themselves. Screenwriter Alun Owen based his script on what he and Lester observed from hanging out with the boys. And the editing by John Jympson, with Lester of course, is sensational.The shots contain much detail, with repeated viewings revealing something new each time. Just as memorable as The Beatles characterizations are the delightful supporting cast, particularly Wilfrid Brambell as Paul's dotty grandfather. Also quite memorable are Norman Rossington and John Junkin as manager and assistant to the Fab Four, Victor Spinetti as the television director, and Kenneth Haigh as an ad-man.Of course, the highlights of the picture are The Beatles performing many of the tracks from their third album A Hard Day's Night. All of the songs were written by John and Paul and were their best work to date. Even today, they are still among The Beatles best. My only quibble is with the filmed performance of "I Should Have Known Better", which is on record a solo vocal by John but which on film has Paul singing as well, which he didn't do. All of the other tracks, however, are musically accurate. Beatles producer George Martin composed and recorded several instrumental versions of Beatles songs, which are heard throughout the film and are also worth listening to.

The first shipment from Criterion of the A Hard Day's Night 4K release is defective.At 1:24:43 on the 4K disc, just after "...you’re a swine," the title song begins as The Beatles start to walk out. Then it switches back to the video control room and you can see The Beatles singing "If I Fell" with the blonde woman adjusting the screens again. The video then switches back to The Beatles running towards the helicopter.In addition to the flawed disc (which Criterion replaced at the end of March 2022; contact them on their web site to request a new disc), the sound quality is not very good. Musical numbers all sound muddy and compressed.Criterion is highly overrated.