Rating: 
Summary: Great Songs, Great Sound, Great Animation!
Review: The Beatles originally wanted nothing to do with this film. They figured it would be a knockoff of the old Saturday morning cartoon, so contributed only a handful of songs they didn't consider good enough to release on their own albums. Now that the film has become a cult classic, the surviving Beatles all sing a different tune, and are all fans of Yellow Submarine. The DVD looks and sounds incredible. The songs are as timeless as ever, and George Martin's score is the finest work of his composing career. Happily, the music is available on an isolated track here, so you can hear Martin's WONDERFUL music (compare it to his limp score for "Live and Let Die") and the Beatles great songs in all their digital glory. The special features are mostly nice (play around with the submarine graphic on the opening page), although the commentary by a second-string participant is somewhat dull, and the featurette was apparently transferred from a washed-out original. And it's a good thing the music and animation are so great, because there's really no story or script to speak of. The actors who voice the Beatles do a respectable job, although George sounds nothing like George. Still, with the great songs, great score, and extraordinary psychedelic animation, this is one DVD that every Beatles fan needs to own. I bet Paul, George and Ringo do! All you need is love!
Rating:
Summary: The restoration and DVD is worth the cost, but...
Review: We used to watch this when we were kids, every time it would show on TV, but it never looked =this= good! The restoration and sound quality improvements (in the DVD version) are amazing, though they do seem to have gotten a little carried away with the re-mixing. Sometimes a sound is inexplicably heard only on one side or the other (not exactly matching with the action or over-emphasizing something too much). As for the movie, it's sort of a meandering collection of animated Beatle videos, which sometimes relate to the overarching plot and sometimes not. Obviously, if you don't like Beatles music, or particularly dislike this sort of stylized '60s-era animation, this movie isn't for you. I thought my five-year-old wouldn't care for it, but to my surprise the plot was straightforward enough (good guys and bad guys) for him to appreciate, and he also really likes the music. There's no real bloodletting-type violence in the film (the Blue Meanies attack things which are aesthetic) so some parents may appreciate that change from the typical Disney film.
Rating: 
Summary: I love the beatles but...
Review: I am a huge beatles fan, but in my opinion, this movie is terrible. The story is all over the place and it gets very boring very fast. The movie is about an hour and a half, and it seems to drag on for years. The only saving factor for this film is the great music, but even still, the Beatles have many better tunes than these. I think your money would be better spent on a Beatles CD (perhaps Sgt. Pepper or Rubber Soul) or on Pink Floyd's The Wall, which is worlds above and beyond this sinking submarine.
Rating: 
Summary: Poor Ringo.....poor lad..never did no harm to noone
Review: If you have the slightest appreciation of comedy and/or great music buy this! I'd love to chat but......If I spoke prose you'd all find out I don't know what I talk about! Hey I am only 15 and I can appreciate this film! THAT says something!
Rating:
Summary: Yellow Sub Strikes Back!
Review: Yellow Submarine is a perfect movie for all ages. It's not to complicating for kids and not to silly for adults.With easy sing-along tunes that are easyly stuck in your head,it's no wonder why it's loved by so many.Many have grown to love the Beatles, including me. The Beatles are one of my favorite bands.I have taught myself to play "Yellow Submarine" on both my trumpet and piano. Yellow Submarine teaches us a very important lesson; DON'T LET PEOPLE TAKE AWAY YOUR RIGHTS & MUSIC! I think Yellow Sub and the Beatles are making a come back.More&more people are listening to Yellow Sub and saying; "You know,the Beatles aren't so bad after all." I admire this movie for a few reasons: First,they didn't use the Beatle's voices, it was 4 Liverpoolions doing the voices of them,It was a cartoon, most movies during the 6o's never had cartoons,It is funny as well as silly, It makes me laugh, they have a social problem tied into a fantasy/comedy and the songs rule!I feel Yellow Sub will always be one of the best movies in American Movie History.I hope the Beatle's influence will never fade in this generation or the next. If people are willing to listen and watch Yellow Submarine, maybe they will understand there's more to the song than 4 guys wasting all their money on drugs and living in a green conversion van, maybe they will understand the true meaning behind Yellow Submarine. -Genine Boggiano. "All you need is love"
Rating:
Summary: Great Comeback!
Review: First "A Hard Day's Night", which attracted millions of people back in 1964. Then "Help" premeired to a lesser audiance, but still popular in 1965. Then in 1967, The Beatles bombed out with "Magical Mystery Tour" which they directed all by themself. After that, they said they would never make another film again after that horrible monster. They were so busy making albums and appearances there woul'd be no way they could get time to make any other film even if they wanted to. Fortunally, back in 1964 the boys sighned a contract with United Artists to make 4 films. Busy as they were, they decided to let the company make an animated feature, even though they didn't like the idea. That was the great film titled as "Yellow Submarine". Mostly using songs from earlier albums, they did make a few new songs to have in the movie. Having done their part, now the animators were put to work, creating a weird, swirly, world called Pepperland. Complete with the monsterous Blue Meanies that threaten the world to the frozen Sgt. Pepper bandmates. It's a music extravaganza with bright psycho colors that fill the entire movie, full with George Martin's great orchestra. My favorite part of the film is where John, George, Ringo and Capt. Fred are looking through thousands of colorful doors for Paul, they open one to see King Kong grab a girl out of her bed from the window as she screams. Ringo goes "do you think were interrupting something?", and all the other Beatles shake their heads no as they walk away.
Rating:
Summary: One hell of a trip!
Review: I love the Beatles and this movie does them justice. They may not have done there own voices but the Beatles' wit is definately there. The animation is excellent, and the songs are perfect. The "It's All Too Much" sequence at the end is amazing. This is the best animated film ever made!
Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: When Yellow Sub was re-released, I bought my first DVD, even though I couldn't play it! I finally bought a DVD player, and finally got a chance to see this. I am admittedly new to DVD, but they did an incredible job with this release. All the little additions that the VHS release doesn't have make it a must-have for Beatles' fans. The colors are rich and vivid the Dolby Sound truly does surround you. I am still finding little things that this version offers.
Rating:
Summary: Sheer delight
Review: I know this movie backward and forward. My parents took me to see it in '68 when it first came out, and I've seen it a dozen times since -- from a theater on the US Army base near Hanau, Germany, to the Harvard Square Theater and tiny suburban Boston libraries. I know the soundtrack cold, because I sneaked an Uher into that Army cinema, and taped the show again years later when it aired on network television. My college roommate, the honorable Paul Rosta of Los Angeles, well remembers the night we strode about the campus and I recited nearly all the dialogue from the entire movie. (I say "nearly" because I only just made out one line on this, the thirteenth or fourteenth viewing: "I haven't laughed this much since Pompeii." Other viewers may have occasional difficulty with the British and scouse -- that's Liverpudlian -- accents in the movie ... which are NOT the Beatles', by the way, until they turn up in person at the very end.) The new footage that accompanies the Lennon song "Hey Bulldog" adds little to the movie, either in terms of plot or visuals, and I was surprised to note that a little footage has been taken away, as well: the short sequence that follows the freeing of Sgt Pepper's band from the blue glass bowl, during which the lads sing the first verse of "Baby, You're a Rich Man." George Martin's incidental orchestral music seems to have been mixed very low, which is a shame. It boomed impressively at times in the movie theater. Other than these quibbles, this is the same delightful confection of music and visual dazzle that lifted my spirits repeatedly, year after year. I knew that no matter what mood I took into the theater, this movie would leave me feeling happy at the end. It is hard to imagine the effect upon a person who has never seen the movie before or -- can there be such a thing? -- is not already familiar with the songs. Best visual and aural sequences: "Eleanor Rigby" and "Nowhere Man." I dare anyone to resist their charms. Nevertheless, I will withhold one star for that hypothetical viewer who may be resistant to the negligible plot and characterization, the choppy mulligan stew of animation styles and formats, plentiful bad puns, and the sheer giddiness of it all.
Rating:
Summary: Good DVD
Review: I love the use of many different animation styles. It seems to capture the feeling of experimentation of the time. A great DVD video restoration with plenty of extras including interviews. I didn't know the voices weren't the Beatles, fooled me. The English subtitles let me pick up puns I missed in previous viewing. You even get subtitles in Japanese and Portuguese, which is fun if you're trying to learn the language.
|
