Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your money!
Review: I can't believe how bad this remasted version is. Every song sounds slowed down and muddied. I know that the songs are in 5.1 stereo sound, but the CD's are in stereo and they don't sound this bad. I waited for this version for three years only to now have to scramble to find the 1997 MPI release. What a waste of time, money, and ultimately the version might ruin people's perception of the movie.
Rating:
Summary: A Hard Day's Night..Hard on the Ears!
Review: It is my considered opinion that whoever is responsible for the "digital remastering" of the songs on this DVD should be shot! Believe me...I LOVE THE BEATLES! That is why I'm so disappointed. For one thing, the levels are totally screwy. But to really hear just how f---ed up the sound is, listed to Paul's vocal on "And I Love Her". Then go and put on the cd or better yet your old vinyl version. You've got hear it to believe it. I'm sending mine back today. :-( Don't waste your money.
Rating:
Summary: I waited so long for THIS??!!
Review: Some things are just inexpicable. DVD gives us the possibility of the sharpest vidoe images combined with the awesome sound of Dolby Digital or DTS. So how excited was I when, finally, the announcement came that A Hard Day's Night was finally going to be given the deluxe treatment.What a joke! Oh, the video quality is just fine, but one would expect that. The big mystery is WHAT HAPPENED TO THE AUDIO??!! Incredibly anemic is the only way I can describe it. I have to turn my volume level twice as loud as on other DVDs to even get a listenable level. But that's only the start. It is in MONO, for God's sake! And that's not all...there is NO dynamic range, no depth to the sound, no quality in the midrange or high end, and a low end that is boomy and without definition. I could get a better sound by setting up an old Radio Shack microphone in a garage..sadly, that is not a joke. But this DVD is. I am going to write Miramax and demand to know what happened. Once again, the Beatles fan has been exploited. Please, if you have not yet bought this, DON'T!
Rating: 
Summary: you all fell in love with the guys from the past!
Review: yes you are! this film is exactly a good nostagia for all die hard beatle fans but some people who do not like beatles, they do not have any interrest in this dvd film. More over the DVD version is not really as good as I thought,...it lacked the system! see all reviewers below, they have the same opinion like us! my question is: why didn't the film company try to color this black & white film? I guess it should have been coloured, haven't it? LET IT BE is a good & last Beatle film...but it wasn't yet released on DVD,....what a big pity is it!
Don't buy this!
Rating: 
Summary: Beatles' Film Debut
Review: A Hard Days Night was produced to capitalize on the Beatlemania craze that was sweeping across England and America in 1964. The fact that a musical act was releasing a movie to piggyback on their success on the record charts was not a new idea. It had been done by Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard, Pat Boone and of course Frank Sinatra. But was new was the approach. Instead of creating characters for the group to act as in some contrived plot that allowed them to perform new songs written for the film, they acted as themselves in basically a day in the life of the Beatles. The results were a surprise to most as the film is extremely funny, well written and well acted. Of course, by playing themselves, the band doesn't have to assume new identities, but their quick wit and wry humor makes for some great scenes and a fun experience. Although some of the humor is dated, the film has held quite well despite being almost forty years old. Director Richard Lester does a superb job in capturing the madness the band was going through at the time. The four Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr are extremely likable and funny in their own way, Mr. Lennon is sarcastic, Mr. McCartney cute and bubbly, Mr. Harrison is deadpan and wry and Mr. Starr a lovable goof. The music is the focus of the film and the songs including "Can't Buy Me Love", "If I Fell", "Tell Me Why" and the title track are rock classic. The extras are great and the DVD is well worth the long wait.
Rating:
Summary: It Automatically gets 5 Stars but...
Review: This is a great movie. A piece of history that everyone remotely connected to or interested in western culture should see. The great Roger Ebert said it best, "One of the great life-affirming landmarks of the movies". I still love the scene where Paul's grandfather pops up during "She Loves You"- a really pure and funny scene. That said the criticisms about the sound quality are unfortunately true. I was expecting a lot more oomph when I heard the opening 12 string Rickenbacher chime for the title song. Now I want to find the original dvd release that everyone is speaking of so fondly here. There are also some bad copies out there. I bought mine right away and had to return and replace it because of some digital freeze frame gobbledegook. The second copy worked fine. But I know of one other person here in Boston who had the same problem. Also what the hell is up with the packaging? This is A Hard Days Night for God's sake. Miramax made it look like those cheesey Millenium Collection cd's. I didn't recognize it at all in the store. Even still I will play it again, and again, and again. Just like I did in 1985 when I first saw it on videotape. This time playing along on my Rickenbacher and 6 string acoustic... pretending to be a Beatle in my living room.
Rating:
Summary: A very dissapointing DVD
Review: A lot of things were said about the release of this DVD. Unfortunatelly the people that were involved in it didn't care about it.Instead of giving us new things they cut out good stuff, such as the "I'll cry instead" intro, the trailers, and the stereo sound....the sound is very dissapointing, and the interviews, especially in disc 2 are quite boring, and don't bring anything new or exciting to what we know about the beatles.I will hold on to my old DVD version of this movie, which has a stereo sound and really more interesting things than this "new" version
Rating:
Summary: A CELEBRATION OF LIFE
Review: The budget was about $500,000 and it took less than four months to complete. But in 1964, when "A HARD DAY'S NIGHT" was released in the US, it was immediately clear that something much more than just a pop culture phenomenon was in the process of unfolding on a global scale. Maybe it had something to do with the first wave of healing that came after the assassination of JFK. Whatever it was, there was some kind of mystical connection to a widely shared emotion that lifted the Beatles and their music to iconic levels of the highest order. And kept them there. There simply had never been anything like them or their songs. As they grew artistically, their music morphed -- celebration, exploration and introspection all became elements of their remarkable catalog of songs. But more than anything else, what struck such a chord in "A Hard Day's Night" was the simple ebullience for life itself. In the film, each Beatle was quickly defined: John Lennon as wry and sarcastic, Paul McCartney as witty and cute, George Harrison as thoughtful and quiet and Ringo Starr as idiosyncratic and outlandish. Not only that, their collective energy, irreverence and self-deprecating wit was perfectly mirrored in the fresh and unexpected film style that pretended to capture a typical day in the life of the fab four. With jump cuts and in camera effects, the faux documentary was not without a dash of farce and a pinch of anarchism. And all in glorious black and white. Clearly, this was not another cheeseball Elvis movie clone. Could it be, well, art and entertainment? In early preproduction, Lennon and McCartney were instructed to write six songs for what was then an untitled film based on a screenplay by Alun Owen. Lennon encouraged the filmmakers to base the title on one of Ringo's witticisms. When that was locked in, he and McCartney came up with the title song overnight. Much credit must go to former Beatles' manager Brian Epstein who was no doubt deluged with film offers. And to director Richard Lester and producer Walter Shenson who backed risky creative decisions that made this film a timeless entertainment that still works its magic on a new generation of Beatles fans. In honor of the 40th anniversary of the release of the band's first single, "Love Me Do," in Great Britain, Miramax is distributing a superb two disc DVD set -- almost three years in the making -- that not only includes a flawless, digitally remastered film transfer, but also "Give me Everything," a companion disc anthology that features hours of rare and new material -- so much in fact that this column does not have the space to detail it. Highest recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Listen to the Other reviews
Review: ... You have to love the Beatles . ... The movie is filmed in black and white, because that's what they had in those days. Those of you who remember the true early days of the Beatles will have already bought this movie. Those of you who are new to the genre, should take the chance. Remember, this movie is a comedy!! Most of the movie is about Ringo being manipulated by Paul's grandfather (a `mixer' i.e. troublemaker), and the way the lads were manipulated by the press. The ultimate plot is their escaping from the presshounds. And the script was purposely written very loosely, allowing for the Beatles to completely adlib the movie. There are off cheek remarks, cockney slang, and the fab Four themselves just running amok prior, during, and after the `tv spot' exposure they found themselves trapped within. this is not `Help', which was a complete romp, but a sarcastic comment on the exploitation of rock stars. Again, this film is A COMEDY! Go with it!! True Beatle fans will own this DVD the day it comes out. They will sing along with it, and dance in front of their televisons while the DVD hums happily. The rest of you will be lucky if it ever shows up on cable, EVER, and curse yourselves when you find out it is hard to find.
Rating:
Summary: What a dissapointment! Great picture, lousy sound!
Review: What went wrong? I was so looking forward to this Dvd release, and when I finally played it, my heart almost stopped from the pain and agony. I thought to myself that finally someone would give this monumental musical comedy film the respect that it deserves. Boy, was I wrong. Now, there are some good points about this version, but there are only a few. First, the widescreen transfer is excellent and very clear and not as dark as the first Dvd version on MPI. Second there are some good extra features such as the original script that can be viewed with the film (as long as you have a DVD rom with your computer). There are so many extras that come with the film that it does get a little monotonous. Interviews with some of the cast, documentaries etc. Now for the drawbacks. The first and most important is the terrible audio. The 5.1 audio is a joke. There is absolutely no discrete signal separation whatsoever. You dont even get the option of choosing the orignal mono soundtrack or the excellent stereo sound that was included with the first DVD release. I had purchased the Yellow Submarine DVD last year and couldnt believe the excellent 5.1 surround sound on that, so I was under the impression that I would be lifted to the highest high (especially with such a highly regarded company like Miramax) when I would hear the begining crash of the title track. Every song on the Dvd sounds like they were recorded in a box. Maybe I should have waited a little while, but these things happen I guess. Hopefully this audio problem will be corrected in the future and it will wind up being a satisfactory version. I also would have like to have a suvenier booklet included since this is supposed to be a collectors edition. No dice. Also one of the biggest disapointments is NO Paul Mccartney or Ringo Starr interviews. They could have provided alot more stories that probubly havent been told before about the making of the film. Altogether a great letdown. Yeah Yeah Yeah? NO NO NO!!!
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