 | |
List Price: $79.98 | | Label: MPI Home Video / Apple
Salesrank: 115001
Released: August 8, 2000 |
| Our Price: $99.96 |
| Used Price: $99.97 |
|
MPAA Rating: G (General Audience)
Media: DVD |
|
| Features:
Box set Black & White Color DVD NTSC | |
Editorial Review:
The Beatles DVD Collector's Set includes:
Help!
Nominated for two British Academy Awards, this 1965 theatrical feature takes the Beatles on a worldwide comedy adventure. After a magical ring gets stuck on Ringo's finger, a group of oriental mystics and a mad scientist stop at nothing to try to get it back. Special features include a fully restored print from the film's original negative, a digitally remastered soundtrack, 15 minutes of bonus footage, Spanish and French audio tracks, and English, Spanish, and French subtitles. Songs include "Help!", "You're Gonna Lose That Girl," and "Ticket to Ride."
Color, approx. 90 minutes, Dolby Digital
Magical Mystery Tour
A musical film fantasy that follows the Beatles on a psychedelic bus tour along the English countryside. It made its British debut on Christmas day 1967. Special DVD features include a fully restored print, a digitally remastered soundtrack, bonus newsreels, a history of the project, and English, Spanish, and French subtitles. Songs include "Magical Mystery Tour," "I Am the Walrus," and "Fool on the Hill."
Color, approx. 54 minutes, Dolby Digital
The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit
An historic, musical ride back in time as the Beatles come to America for the first time on February 7, 1964 and appear on the Ed Sullivan Show. Special features include 13 Beatles performances, a fully restored print, a digitally remastered soundtrack, a Beatles chronology, discography, and other statistics, and English, Spanish, and French subtitles. Songs include "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," "Till There Was You," and "Twist and Shout."
Black and white, approx. 83 minutes, Dolby Digital
You Can't Do That: The Making of "A Hard Day's Night"
The extraordinary evolution of the Academy Award-nominated film that convinced the world that the Beatles could be as influential and memorable as the music they sang. Hosted by Phil Collins. Special features include cast profiles, A Hard Day's Night trivia quiz, biography and discography for Phil Collins, and English, Spanish, and French subtitles.
Color and black and white, approx. 65 minutes, Dolby Digital
Description of The Beatles DVD Collector's Set:
This four-disc set includes two feature films and two documentaries (all previously available on DVD). Help! (1965), in which a religious sect is in pursuit of a sacrificial ring stuck on Ringo's finger, is a broad spoof of the spy flicks of the time, with James Bond-like themes and locales. Songs include "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" and "Ticket to Ride." Only two years later but strikingly different in mood and tone, Magical Mystery Tour (1967) is chiefly a series of psychedelic music videos, including "Fool on the Hill," "I Am the Walrus," and "Blue Jay Way," loosely organized around a plot of a bus trip through the English countryside.
The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit is an 83-minute black-and-white documentary by acclaimed directing brothers Albert and David Maysles that captures the group's trip to the U.S. in February 1964. It includes plenty of songs as performed on The Ed Sullivan Show, of course, as well as footage of the band riding the train or sitting in their hotel room watching television coverage of themselves. A subsequent performance in Washington, D.C., suffers from grainier footage and spotty microphones, but still captures the frenzy of the fans.
You Can't Do That!: The Making of "A Hard Day's Night" is an hourlong documentary that traces the creation of the historic 1964 film. Hosted by Phil Collins, who appeared in the original among a crowd of screaming teenagers, the film features extensive clips and interviews with those involved with the movie (though George Harrison is the only Beatle whose voice is heard). A highlight is "You Can't Do That," a performance that was cut from the original film. Obviously, a perfect DVD set would include A Hard Day's Night itself, but rights issues have kept it out of circulation. --David Horiuchi
The Beatles DVD Collector's Set Reviews:
A Hard Day's Night Behind the Screen 
2009-09-24 - Great insight into the making of a classic film. Very well done; factful let entertaining. Makes watching the actual film that much better.
Magical Mystery Tour and Help 
2008-01-07 - What is important here is both Help! and Magical Mystery Tour. Help! is from the same remastered 1.6 to 1 ratio source as on the new 2 disk set, however this is reduced from that original 1.6 British version to the 1.3 TV image ratio using side to side pan and scan. If you compare this to the new 2 disk set, you'll see that frame for frame the picture and sound is from the same remastered 1.6 source. So you have a choice between this hack job and the hack job on the new set. I prefer this full top to bottom view with the sides cut off in this version to the full side to side view with the top and bottom cut off (fake widescreen) on the new 2 disk set, but it is sad we have to choose between these two. Why they can't release the full 1.6 image is beyond comprehension.
Magical Mystery Tour is the main reason to get this set. It is remastered from the best possible prints of the film and there is no comparison between this beautifully remastered version and the piece of doo doo that is currently out there. The MMT disk also has two interesting vintage 1967 newsreels about The Beatles; their trip to India to study under MM Yogi and the opening of the Apple psychedelic boutique. Get a copy of these films if you can.
"For Those of [Us] in the Cheaper Seats, Clap Your Hands" [for an Affordable Beatles' Collection] 
2006-10-16 - The value of this collection is in some ways priceless. "Imagine" a collection that could get us all five Beatles' films for an affordable price. The two-star rating isn't for the very good release, 'Help' or for the flawed, idiocyncratic, random, but sometimes groundbreaking and interesting 'Magical Mystery Tour' and all of the gravy of the accompanying "rockumentaries". Hopefully, the capitalist version of trickle down economics will materialize--the way it did for C.D. players and Walkman--when the prolitariat will be able to afford all five Beatles' (movie) DVD's, either separately or together. By the way, although the bickering on 'Let It Be' (not included here--or barely anywhere else) is legendary, so is the music. For those who have seen the last Beatle film, the strife is enlightening, but overrated. Can we have that movie, please? (For myself, I only saw it once: At a Mark Lapidos' Beatles' convention in 1980.) I hope trickle down theory works, and someday the rest of us will get the movies we want.
Inside story
2005-09-20 - What a great piece of film. I have to watch it during the day, because it gets me too charged up at night so that I can't sleep. Getting the producers and directors views on working so closely with the 4 are riveting. John has always been my favorite, and their are a lot of candid moments with him. This film shows they were/are human. LG
Fans of the wonderful Beatles will be ecstatic!
2004-01-25 - "The Making of A Hard Day's Night" is a very interesting 'Making Of" (well, of course its a Making Of!) and is hosted by Phil Collins. The Beatles are in their usual charming and funny selves and, YAY, this video introduces a song which was cut out from the film, which is, "You Can't Do That." It is one of my favorite Beatles songs and I just love the guitar intro.
"A Hard Day's Night" is a great Beatles movie and it definitely deserved a "Making Of." The Beatles are very entertaining in it and in this VHS as well. John, Paul, George, and Ringo! Aaah!
The reason why I added a four star is because I would have liked more of the Beatles. After all, they are the main cast. But then, I do understand why they didn't have them in this, because they weren't there at the time and they probably didn't have much of their behind-the-scenes stuff. Also another reason is because I think only a Beatles fan would love it. (Ahem, that reason leads me to the fact that tells me that only Beatles fans would get this...) Some parts were rather boring, but that's the only complaint I have.
My favorite part in this VHS is Abbey Road Studios where the Beatles are composing their songs for the film ("A Hard Day's Night"). John and Ringo are hilarous in it. It makes me laugh just thinking about it. Haha!
All in all, I enjoyed most of this one hour (and 5 minutes) "Making Of" with the writer, producer, director, and cast members of "A Hard Day's Night." I definitely recommend it for Beatles fans.
