criterionforum.org

A Hard Day's Night



Meet the Beatles! Just one month after they exploded onto the U.S. scene with their Ed Sullivan Show appearance, John, Paul, George, and Ringo began working on a project that would bring their revolutionary talent to the big screen. This film, in which the bandmates play slapstick versions of themselves, captured the astonishing moment when they officially became the singular, irreverent idols of their generation and changed music forever. Directed with raucous, anything-goes verve by Richard Lester (The Knack...and How to Get It) and featuring a slew of iconic pop anthems—including the title track, "Can't Buy Me Love," "I Should Have Known Better," and "If I Fell"—A Hard Day's Night, which reconceived the movie musical and exerted an incalculable influence on the music video, is one of the most deliriously entertaining movies of all time.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Richard Lester, with three audio options—a monaural soundtrack as well as stereo and 5.1 surround mixes supervised by sound producer Giles Martin at Abbey Road Studios—presented in uncompressed monaural, uncompressed stereo, and DTS-HD Master Audio on the 4K UHD and Blu-ray
• In the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• Audio commentary featuring cast and crew (dual-format and 4K UHD only)
• In Their Own Voices, a program featuring 1964 interviews with the Beatles with behind-the-scenes footage and photos
• "You Can't Do That": The Making of "A Hard Day's Night," a 1994 documentary by producer Walter Shenson including an outtake performance by the Beatles
• Things They Said Today, a 2002 documentary about the film featuring Lester, music producer George Martin, screenwriter Alun Owen, and cinematographer Gilbert Taylor (dual-format and 4K UHD only)
• Picturewise, a program about Lester's early work, featuring a 2014 audio interview with the director (dual-format and 4K UHD only)
• The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film (1960), Lester's Oscar-nominated short (dual-format and 4K UHD only)
• Anatomy of a Style, a 2014 program on Lester's methods (dual-format and 4K UHD only)
• Interview from 2014 with Beatles biographer Mark Lewisohn (dual-format and 4K UHD only)
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by critic Howard Hampton and excerpts from a 1970 interview with Lester (dual-format and 4K UHD only)

Criterionforum.org user rating averages

Feature currently disabled

I love the focus on Lester, who's criminally underrated as a director, and his various techniques. I was hoping for some Soderbergh involvement (maybe even an excerpt from Getting Away With It), but this set is too loaded to complain all that much.

This is already stacked, but I wonder what the "More!" could be.

Bando wrote:This is already stacked, but I wonder what the "More!" could be.

Maybe some Early Lester rarities to go with The Running Jumping and Standing Still Film and the "piece about Lester's early work"? [-o< Some of the TV stuff would be amazing - does anyone know if "A Show Called Fred" and/or "Son of Fred" still exists? If not early television, then Lester's debut feature, It's a Trad, Dad! would be natural fit, and would make an already essential package even more desirable, but this is probably unlikely, as Sony put it out on an MOD disc not long ago.

RobertAltman wrote:

Bando wrote:This is already stacked, but I wonder what the "More!" could be.

Maybe some Early Lester rarities to go with The Running Jumping and Standing Still Film and the "piece about Lester's early work"? [-o< Some of the TV stuff would be amazing - does anyone know if "A Show Called Fred" and/or "Son of Fred" still exists?

Sadly, there are no extant complete episodes but some footage does survive.

I'm not sure if Apple would licence it out to Criterion but the Maysles' doc What's Happening! The Beatles in the U.S.A. has only ever seen a DVD release edited under the title The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit and would be good to see in its original form.

With only three discs I can't imagine there will be much more, but one can dream

Bando wrote:This is already stacked, but I wonder what the "More!" could be.

All I want the "More!" to be is a new interview with Paul... I don't know if he'd be willing, but it'd be the one thing that could make this release even more essential for me.

bjboyer wrote:

Bando wrote:This is already stacked, but I wonder what the "More!" could be.

All I want the "More!" to be is a new interview with Paul... I don't know if he'd be willing, but it'd be the one thing that could make this release even more essential for me.

He's doing so many other interviews for the US visit 50th this year that I can't see why it isn't possible.

I wonder they're still working with Apple to license the Washington DC concert, which Apple remastered about two years ago. It's only about 25-30 minutes long, but that might still be too much for one disc.

Wonder if the 'I'll Cry Instead' prologue will be making an appearance as an extra on the set. I remember it being an unapproved* adjunct in the 1980's re-release.

* By Richard Lester

I'll reiterate that I really wish they could include the JFK Airport interview. Don't know who has the rights, but that would be awesome.

With or without it, looks like an absolutely stacked release. Can't wait to hear the audio.

Drucker wrote:I'll reiterate that I really wish they could include the JFK Airport interview. Don't know who has the rights, but that would be awesome.

Did the Maysles brothers shoot that?

I can't say I'm going to blind-buy this, but I'm glad Criterion is putting it out. This could be a huge seller for them, plus it is a piece of pop culture that defined it's period in ways that have been gone over to death by now.

flyonthewall2983 wrote:

Drucker wrote:I'll reiterate that I really wish they could include the JFK Airport interview. Don't know who has the rights, but that would be awesome.

Did the Maysles brothers shoot that?

I can't say I'm going to blind-buy this, but I'm glad Criterion is putting it out. This could be a huge seller for them, plus it is a piece of pop culture that defined it's period in ways that have been gone over to death by now.

If you're a fan of the Marx Brothers, I'd recommend a blind buy. A Hard Day's Night is basically a Marx Brothers film without a bad romantic subplot and with genuinely good music. Plus, the inventive direction by Richard Lester. (And it's one of my personal favorites but that means nothing to you)

This release is good for everyone. It's a great film undoubtedly deserving of a place in the collection. It will sell very well and pave the way for other projects.

If 'more' ends up being interviews with Paul and Ringo then it's icing on the cake.

But alas...

Criterion needs to get paid too, and this will certainly sell big time.

So, the website claims that A Hard Day's Night will be presented in a 1.66:1 aspect ratio, instead of the once rumored 1.75:1 (I believe images from the film negative were posted on here, demonstrating that the film was shown in 1.75).

I don't know if you're gonna have an easy time arguing with the director of the film who approved the transfer.

I'm not arguing -- I was just stating a fact, which I did find interesting considering the previous discussion on the forum.

I have a better image that shows a complete frame (including perforations) from another reel, but I can't seem to attach any images to a post, so here's another from elsewhere:



First rule in any reissue project: trust forensic evidence, be dubious of memories even if you're talking to the artist(s) involved. You're still asking him to remember a technical detail from 50 years ago - he's probably had a lot else on his mind since then and I doubt he's had to revisit that detail very often. (I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't have to think about it again until the film's restoration in the late '90s.)

Flyonthewall, this is surely a wonderful film. It's an absolute joy to watch. The music is superb (are you not a Beatles fan?). It's an irreverent delight. Magical Mystery Tour is probably too weird for its own good, and Help! has some wanna-be James Bond-type plot if I remember correctly. But A Hard Day's Night is just right.

It's quite possible that the film was shown matted to 1.66:1 in European theaters (where that ratio was quite common) and to 1.75:1 in American theaters. That would be a standard North American ratio closely equivalent to 1.66:1. I know many disagree, but I believe that in most cases the difference between 1.66 and 1.75 is close to negligible; I don't recall Lester using a lot of precise edge framing in this stylistically freewheeling film.

And it is a great film, perhaps the Anglo-American film closest in spirit and technique to the early features of the French New Wave, and for that reason an important "gateway drug" for a sizable number of Baby Boomers. And it still feels fresh today; I taught it to a bunch of college students a few years back and they all loved it.

Drucker wrote:Flyonthewall, this is surely a wonderful film. It's an absolute joy to watch. The music is superb (are you not a Beatles fan?). It's an irreverent delight. Magical Mystery Tour is probably too weird for its own good, and Help! has some wanna-be James Bond-type plot if I remember correctly. But A Hard Day's Night is just right.

I am a fan, but I've not been as interested in their movies. Plus I'm way more into the later period (starting with Rubber Soul), so if Criterion got to put out Let It Be I'd be way more intrigued and would likely blind-buy that.

If anything, this and Help! are good reminders about how great the music they were already making in their earlier period was, some great deeper cuts on those albums along with the played-to-death instant hits.

mfunk9786 wrote:If anything, this and Help! are good reminders about how great the music they were already making in their earlier period was, some great deeper cuts on those albums along with the played-to-death instant hits.

Help! is particularly great for the way it delves into the deep cuts. That scene of them in the studio miming You're Going to Lose That Girl is simply gorgeous, and I'll always have a soft spot for an obviously freezing George and co. miming I Need You on Salisbury Plain surrounded by the tanks and soldiers. It also helps if you've seen it a million times, because there are some little plot subtleties and not a little fast-paced dialogue that can make the first- or second-time viewer lose track of what the heck is going on.

Honestly, I know it's heretical to say this around other Beatles fans, I prefer Help! to AHDN. Heck, AHDN could be my least favorite Beatle film.

And if you're ever in the mood to see a Beatle-related film that's even weirder than Magical Mystery Tour, see if you can track down a copy of the Ringo-directed Marc Bolan film Born to Boogie. That tea party scene is pretty much the John-shoveling-spaghetti scene times about ten.

Bando wrote: And if you're ever in the mood to see a Beatle-related film that's even weirder than Magical Mystery Tour, see if you can track down a copy of the Ringo-directed Marc Bolan film Born to Boogie. That tea party scene is pretty much the John-shoveling-spaghetti scene times about ten.

Now officially hoping this is the "More!" supplement

Superswede11 wrote:

Bando wrote: And if you're ever in the mood to see a Beatle-related film that's even weirder than Magical Mystery Tour, see if you can track down a copy of the Ringo-directed Marc Bolan film Born to Boogie. That tea party scene is pretty much the John-shoveling-spaghetti scene times about ten.

Now officially hoping this is the "More!" supplement

I bought a really dodgy DVD that may very well be a bootleg at a record store on the south side of Chicago a few years back solely because anything that said Apple Films had to be at least interesting. It was.

It's on YouTube, if you search it out.