Rating: 
Summary: FUN FUN FUN !!!!
Review: THIS IS JUST PLAIN FUN... BEAUTIFUL CAMERA WORK ON THE GREATEST BAND THAT EVER WAS & ALL IN GORGEOUS COLOR.. THEIR FUNNIEST FILM IS PURE DELIGHT & JUST PLAIN FUN...THE DVD IS A MUST FOR ALL BEATLE FANS !!!THIS IS TRULY A FUN MOVIE ....BUY IT NOW & TREASURE IT ALWAYS !!! THIS MOVIE IS THE BEST WAY TO VIEW THE BEATLES ON SCREEN (THEY WERE LOOKING THEIR BEST IN THIS PERIOD & THE GREAT COLOR CAMERA-WORK DEFINES WHAT THEY WERE !!!) A MUST !!! & THE DVD HAS GREAT EXTRAS!!(REMASTERED MOVIE,5 BEATLE TRAILERS, FILM LOCATION SCENES,PREMEIRE & PHOTO SCENES,BIOGRAPHIES, INTERVIEW WITH THE DIRECTOR & THE COMPLETE OLD CLASSIC "RUNNING JUMPING & STANDING STILL" 11 MINUTE FILM-SHORT ...AS WELL AS CHAPTER STOPS & DETAILED RESTORATION NOTES .... THE BEST BEATLE DVD CURRENTLY AVAILABLE...& ALSO ONE OF THEIR BEST (FEW) MOVIES....MAKE SURE YOU BUY "A HARD DAYS NIGHT" & "YELLOW SUB" AS WELL..
Rating: 
Summary: HELP is funny! I can say no more...
Review: Not much more is necessary other than to note unlike many "movies" produced to showcase talents of a rock band, HELP! has a story. And what a STORY! The guileless, pure-of-heart Ringo becomes target of a nefarious cult of Shiva adherrents who intend to make the Beatles' drummer their cyclical blood offering. Why? The Ringoman wears THE SACRIFICIAL RING. This marks him with the dubious honor of being Shiva's "Playmate of the Year". Leo McKern is excellent as the nefarious cult chief Clang, who relentlessly pursues Ringo...haplessly, if heroically protected by his fellow Beatles...around the world. The chase is accompanied by some good (if you're a fan very good)middle-Beatle songs like "Ticket to Ride"; "You're going to Lose that Girl"; and the title tune. Richard Lester has directed this clever piece of cinema "cats-cradle". With a light-touch, he parodies James Bond movies; quest movies; mad scientist movies, and "bad band" movies that require The Group to squirrel-around frenetically while doing nothing. (The Beatles pretend to ski which is cool because the real SNOW is; also, the snowball fight is exciting, but not graphically violent...) HELP! was produced at the height of Beatlemania, but it doesn't view like a "museum piece". The Beatles were the best...John, Paul, Ringo & George are PLAYERS...there's not a Prima Donna among them in this unselfconsciously goofy film. If you're a fan of tigers, a Western-bred devotee of Shiva, or enjoy stadium sing-along's of THE ODE To JOY (who doesn't?) HELP! is for you because HELP! is funny. I can say no more......(4 and 1/2 stars?)
Rating: 
Summary: A dissapointment
Review: Die hard fans of the Beathes will be the ones interested on this movie. But most Beatles fans never find out anything wrong with their work. Well, if we are honest, we will notice that Lennon's music sometimes sucks (Revolution #9) and that most of their records are not perfect (come on, you hate those experiments by George with Indian music).In other words, when the Beatles are good, they are excellent (95% of the time), but when they are bad, it is ugly (5%). I think "Help!' falls in the five percent. The movie is about cult members and scientists trying to get a ring out of Ringo's finger. You think this will go for about 10 minutes, but too late you find out that's all what the movie is about. I give three stars to the movie only because of the music. However, the songs are pushed within the film, as they are not related to the plot. At one moment, they are playing with snow while singing "Ticket to Ride". This comes out of nowhere. Anyway, the movie is not good, but it is an opportunity to see the Beatles, together, and in witty behavior. Now, that is something that a fan will appreciate, even in a stupid movie as this one.
Rating:
Summary: Colorful Pun-ridden Beatle/Lester Gem
Review: Now that it's been mercilessly ripped off by films like Airplane, and Spice Girls: The Movie and t.v. shows like The Monkees, can this updated pop cousin of Helzapoppin still entertain today's audiences? Maybe. Certainly not like it entertained audiences in 1965 though, that's for sure. I can certainly understand how anyone born after (say) 1965 will not quite understand why this very silly picture is held in high regard by many. It's a pretty goofy film that relies quite a bit on bad puns,corny jokes and pre-MTV video pop star posing. Oh it's colorful and energetic and a lot of fun in a cartoonish way, don't get me wrong. It's also got some great music, with John Lennon's voice at its peak. And if you look at the type of films they designed for previous pop stars : Bing Crosby, or Frank Sinatra or Bill Haley, or Elvis Presley-this film broke all the rules. It's true that Bob Rafaelson and The Monkees t.v. show owe everything to director Richard Lester, and writers Marc Behm and Charles Wood (III), who found the perfect way to present the fab four first in semi-documentary fashion with A Hard Days Night and then in a nonsensical farce that borrows it's everything-but-the-kitchen-sink frenetic style from such films/stage plays like Olsen and Johnson's Helzapoppin (from the 1940's)and the anarchy of the Marx Brothers of course. There's a lot of smarts on display amidst the dumb gags though. Moments in which pop culture icons, and the cult of personality is questioned and lampooned. The first time we see the Beatles, is quite impressive. Neighbors watch the boys return to their row houses and comment how famous but still down to earth and likeable the lads are. Then we go inside their pad and see an interior that had me on the floor in hysterics. Rows of vending machines containing drinks, snacks and sandwiches, John sleeps in a compact sunken bed space in the floor that is equipped with several gadgets, a section of the pad has grass growing in it, and a butler/groupie tries to cut it with chattering teeth. The visual and verbal puns and asides start flying right off the bat, and although many of them are groaners, some are still pretty funny. When the film was first released, it was virtually impossible for audiences to hear much of the film because of the screams from excited fans in attendance. Beatlemania was nearly at it's peak when the film was released. I grew up with the Beatles, and though I was pretty young at the time, my old brother's fanaticism for the Liverpudlian wonders was contagious and I fondly recall the experience of sitting through the film not once, not twice, but three times. A few weeks later I enjoyed it again, --twice. You want to know what the plot is? Leo McKern (the great British character actor) plays Clang, the Indian leader of a cult of Kali worshipers. Ringo has received a ring from an avid fan, which turns out to be the sacrificial ring, the Kali cult needs in order to complete their sacrificial rites. They will stop at nothing to get the ring, which is stuck to Ringo's finger. There are attempts to chop his finger off, there are visits to experts and finally a mad scientist to get the ring off Ringo's finger, but nothing will work. In between the silly comic chases, there are several musical numbers and music video montages. The chase takes the Beatles from England, to snow-capped mountains, to Bermuda. Paul is briefly shrunk to the size of a beanie baby, Ringo is nearly eaten by a Bengal Tiger, and John is nearly run over by a tank. Approximately 7 songs and 90 minutes later the entire film is neatly wrapped up and an ingenious end credit sequence ends the film. Part of my affection of the film is nostalgic and I recognize that a lot of viewers are going to find the film an intermittently witty and utterly silly dumb Beatle ego fest that's only slightly better than a Pauley Shore movie. Oh well. I still love the thing. And remember " Go. . . to. . . the... win-dow! Go to da win-dow!" Chris Jarmick
Rating: 
Summary: no story and childish
Review: I apologize to the beatles fans, I said no story in this film and the film had no sense at all. The beatles were a good band but they couldn't act in the film. They never become a huge film star! the whole story in the film is like a story book children and absolutely childish, though bonus with some nice songs too.... need I say more?
Rating:
Summary: Lots of fun - pre-Panther
Review: Okay, turn off your brain and buy this ticket to a very fun ride. It made a Beatles fan of me (I'm 21)and I loved seeing all the lame and funny gags before either Monty Python or Peter Sellers got hold of them. The Fab Four were gloriously homely and utterly cute as the stumbled, deadpanned and goofed their way through this extremely silly film. And just when you're gasping from trying to groan and laugh at the same time, a beautiful song comes to save the day. All the stars in the sky to this one.
Rating:
Summary: A rockin' and rolickin' good time!
Review: This is just the silliest thing I have seen in a good while! Of COURSE, the music is wonderful; this is only to be expected. The plot is highly contrived and completely implausible, and this is a GOOD thing! This is not a failed attempt at a "good" story; this is ridiculousness in its purest form. The story is basically as follows: Ringo receives an extremely large and garish ring in a fan letter from an "Eastern bird," causing a variety of people to chase him around trying to kill him and/or paint him red. My favorite line, spoken by George: "Hey, it's a thingy! A fiendish thingy!" Also, no one should miss the sight of a tiny Paul clad in a gum wrapper, cowering in an ashtray.
Rating:
Summary: The perfect cure for a boring day!
Review: This is a great movie for the Beatles fan . . . or the fan of great, old, clean comedies. Very kewl movie, outrageously funny!!!!
Rating:
Summary: No Story and it makes no sense
Review: Some fans gush over this film because its the Beatles,but there is no story at all.They try to imitate the charm of A Hard days Night,but it doesn't work.As I watched the last scene on the beach when people just chased each other and then......they just chased each other some more,I thought "what a waste of time".It's as though they turned up and said "turn the cameras on and we'll just improvise".Nothing happens and there is no real ending,but there was no coherent story to start with!When it was first released,the critics panned it and with good reason.It is a terrible film and I am a big Beatles fan so there is no bias here.The only good thing is the music.Buy it only if you are nostalgic.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, goofy, magical, and Fab!
Review: The Beatles used to churlishly dismiss this second film of theirs as reducing them to "bit players" , the big hams. Pay no attention to those silly boys! They were too ripped on pot while making "Help!" to know what was going on. This film is director Richard Lester's favorite, and it's easy to see why. Despite the Beatles' protests, it's a visual and aural treat, crammed with gags, puns, sly absurdist humor, spoofs of film, literature, music, and mores, and, of course, stunning Beatletunes. What more can anyone want? Entertaining fun AND a classic piece of British filmmaking. BTW, keep an eye open for the eerie harbingers of the Beatles' future lives/careers. Indian influences, mystical Stonehenge, tigers, bagpipes, psychedelia, the cameo appearance of the 1969 Beatles, a gun pulled on John (but uselessly, since it's British), thugs invading Beatle homes -- all this and more. Kali is the goddess of change, death, rebirth, and so it is fitting that after this movie, which even takes the mickey out of the Great Goddess, nothing would ever be the same for the Lads.
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