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Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $10.49
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The Bee Gees Get 5 Stars, But The Rest...
Review: Since this is now out on DVD, I finally got a chance to see it for the first time in years.

Pros:

--Pretty much any time the Bee Gees are seen or heard on screen by themselves. They play broad comedy very well, and their harmonies are sublime. If this was just a video of them, it'd get a perfect 5/5 from me.

--Aerosmith's "Come Together" is frankly better than The Beatles' original version; Steven Tyler really nails the sleaziness of the lyrics. Ditto Robin Gibb's "Oh Darlin'". Even Barry Gibb's version of "A Day In The Life" is right up there with the original.

--Some of the uses of the music are downright clever ("I Want You/She's So Heavy" for the record company orgy sequence is a really good example of this). The whole introduction sequence is also pretty clever with some fun period arrangements of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" to sound like tunes of the era.

Cons:

--Pretty much any time Peter Frampton is on the screen. Though the genuine despair he shows in Strawberry's room after the funeral isn't half bad. But his singing...ugh.

--The acting in general. Bad. Just plain bad.

--The plot. Yeah, it's supposed to be a farce. That doesn't mean it has to be a brain-dead farce. Blah.

--That ending. Oy.

Overall: Cheesy, but sometimes you just want cheese. 3/5

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: The Downfall of RSO and the Bee Gees
Review: Unfortunately for the Bee Gees and RSO Records, "Sgt. Pepper" proved the turning point in the incredible success story both achieved in the late 70's. RSO was high on the Bee Gees' sucess with "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease" proved to be the mega artistic and commercial success it deserved to be. Then came the ill-advised desire to "adapt" a story to the Beatles' remarkable "Pepper" album and fill it with an all-star cast. Maurice, Robin and Barry have publicly stated that things didn't look good during the filming of the movie, but they were contractually bound to finish this mess that is EXCRUCIATING to watch and an insult to their talents as well as the monumental album by the Beatles used as its inspiration. Just about universally panned, only teenage girls in full-infant pop arousal raved at the time of its release (and apparently still do but now in the guise of 40 year olds with children they cruelly inflict this on) about their faves on screen. The Bee Gees would go on to produce the mega-smash "Spirits Having Flown" (a deservedly artistic triumph for them), but the damage had been done and the follow-up long player "Living Eyes" was doomed to failure despite being the equal of "Spirits". The public had had enough and disco didn't kill them--this movie did, as it did the movie careers of just about everyone involved. RSO slumped on with "Moment To Moment" and finally sold their interests to Polygram when the 80's ushered in more ill-advised fare such as the "Staying Alive" movie and attendant Bee Gees dominated soundtrack. All involved could have learned a lesson from the multi-LP set/movie called "All This And World War II" that had preiviousaly tried to adapt images from the War with cover versions of Beatles songs by famous artists. And while the "Pepper" soundtrack features some nice interpretations of Beatle classics (Robin's "Oh Darling," Barry's "A Day In The Life" and EWF's "Got To Get You Into My Life"), this is countered by dreadful drek such as George Burn's "Fixing A Hole" and Steve Martin's "Maxwell's Silver Hammer". If you can't sing, you don't take on some of the greatest songs ever written so flippantly. The contrived set pieces and plot scenarios as well as el cheapo special effects make the visual aspect of the movie even more of a fiasco than "Can't Stop The Music" (if that were possible).

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: What a wonderful way to watch Peter Frampton & Bee Gees!
Review: It hardly seems possible that it has been 1978 since this film has been released. Although, it may be a bit corney at times, I can honestly say I enjoy watching this movie when I'm feeling low. Being a great fan of Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees, what more could a girl ask for to see them on the screen and singing some of the great Beatles' songs. I have had this VHS for many years and now have my daugther watching it. Yes, I would agree with the critics that this film is not "Oscar" material, but I truly recommend it if you are fans of both Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees like I am. Sit back and just enjoy!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Campy and Cute? Yes, but enjoyable.
Review: I have heard and read many times that this movie should never have been made, which is probably why I have never seen it. But, I recently bought it, and it is a really enjoyable movie to watch. Yes, it is campy, yes it is cute, but if you want to forget your troubles and just smile for a hour +, this is the movie for you. Besides, I really enjoyed just looking at Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, as well as Peter Frampton.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Imaginative, silly, fun
Review: I think this movie gets a bum rap. It was never meant to be a serious movie, nor was it meant to be in any way about the Beatles or their music. It was simply a funny, imaginative fairy tale told using the music of one of the best pop groups of all time (the Beatles); and performed by another of the best pop groups of all time (the Bee Gees). Is it "Citizen Kane"? Of course not! But it's a lot more imaginative than some movies that were big hits. And the Bee Gees make it very easy on the eyes and ears!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Ummmm. yes, a curiosity
Review: I did see this film in the theater when it came out. I loved the Beatles and couldn't believe that the (then) disco BeeGees would mess with their songs. Seeing it in an auditorium with a gaggle of screaming teenage girls was hardly seeing it at its best. Watching the film many years afterwards on VHS is not a much better experience.

The oddity of the film is amazing. No, there isn't any acting, but seeing Donald Pleasance with a toupee or "Cousin Kevin" smirk his way through an hour and a half is interesting, not pleasant. The best part of the movie is at the very end when the "cast" do the Sgt Pepper reprise. Who knew that the "cast" included Johnny Winter, John Mayall, Tina Turner or Wolfman Jack? No one from watching the film.

The songs are doing in a way completely different than the Beatles did--think a slight disco inflection and then, of course, whatever Frampton was doing at the time (this must have been during the "I'm in You" period). It is truly bad.

It is a curiosity, so if you're inclined, by all means see it. If you harbor admiration and respect for the Beatles, pass it by.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Campy Fun!
Review: I like the movie Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and I think the cheesy campy style is fun, I don't always like movies that are cheesy and corny but that is what I love about this movie, it's totally bizarre but it's so much fun and the music is great! Okay so this movie wouldn't be one that would win an Oscar for best movie but who cares, just watch the movie for what it is a lightweight piece of cotton candy fluff that is great escapist fun, just sit back, relax and allow youselves to enjoy the campy humor and then if you like it get the wonderful soundtrack and also the Beatles album, there is nothing wrong with enjoying both the Beatles and this! Btw: I too think it would be so cool to see this movie on DVD instead of just a video which I hear is a format that is going to become obsolete.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A must see for BeeGees fans!
Review: I probably saw this movie about 8 times when it was in the theatre. If you love the BeeGees and/or Peter Frampton this is for you. Beatles fans can forget it but thanks go to the Beatles for writing the music. I also loved the Aerosmith performance in this flick. Keep in mind it is a spoof.. it is meant to be fun and if you just wanna feel good and get a giggle, you have to see it.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: The Worst Movie Ever Made
Review: There is nothing "campy" about this movie, it just STINKS.

Only Robert Stigwood could take the greatest, most important album of the 1960s and turn it into the worst movie of all time.

It was an embarassment to everyone involved. The Bee Gees refused to comment about SGT. PEPPER in interviews during the 1980's and Billy Preston filed a lawsuit to have his name removed from the video box. It wasn't just a bad movie, it killed careers.

When I saw it in the theater with several friends during it's very short-lived general release, I was appalled at the movie's amauterishness. There is no plot, the dialogue would insult the intelligence of a typical 4th grader, and the acting is non-existent. The music is performed in some kind of mind-numbing daze with orchestration straight out of H.R. Puffenstuff.

Towards the end of the film Peter Frampton stands on a roof top contemplating suicide. In the theater two or three people, myself included, began shouting "Jump! Jump!"

It was the only time I've ever been in a movie theater when the audience booed as the final credits rolled.

There are a few short seconds while Aerosmith performs "Come Together" that are kind of interesting. But all of the rest of the movie should have been torn to shreds, burned, and buried in a pit on the dark side of the moon. It is absolute unadulterated GARBAGE.

I rank it 1 star because that's as low as the rating system goes. In reality it deserves negative 46 stars.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: The WORST movie EVER
Review: Only rent or buy this if you enjoy movies that are embarassingly bad (Grease 2, Two of a Kind, Rhinestone). Please do not listen to anyone who remembers this fondly from when they were 7 years old. It is exploitative trash and poorly made. The world did not need the Bee Gees performing Beatles songs. We were all ok with the Beatles version.


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