Rating: 
Summary: Great and classic entertainment. Timeless.
Review: ABOUT THE FILM ITSELF:One of the biggest reasons film as a medium holds the effect over us the way it does is because it appeals to our emotions in ways some of the other arts cannot. This is because film incorporates sound, theatre, painting, dance and writing. That dry polemic aside,
A HARD DAY'S NIGHT is a fine example of what film can do. By incorporating sound, theatre, painting, dance, music and writing, this film presents one of the purest expressions of joy in cinema history. What made the Beatles successful performers and artists and immortal cultural icons, was their collective personification all of their audiences' hopes and dreams. All wished to be as expressive, free, uninhibited and has happy as they appeared to be. Of course much of this is pure cinematic fabrication, but one cannot fake the explosion of life we see on the screen and hear on their records. No one in history could possibly be talented enough to present such an image without at least a shred of honesty. Those four young men celebrated life and generously shared so much of it with us through their art. A HARD DAY'S NIGHT is a great testament as to what made them so great. Richard Lester, the director, got out of the way and let them be the Beatles. The hand held camera work and editing in this film arguably created the '60's visual Cultural Revolution. It is a perfect marriage of music to image. Without this film there never would have been an EASY RIDER or even an MTV (on second thought, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing). Of course John, Paul, George, and Ringo couldn't completely match their images in their private lives (who could?) and of course they matured and evolved as we all have. But this film inspired many to live, to love and to create. It is such a force of positive life affirming love that it has to be savored and enjoyed. I don't apologize for dripping over it the way I do. It is a great film, on the level with CITIZEN KANE, SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, THE SEVEN SAMURAI and others. A HARD DAY'S NIGHT remains fresh after many repeated viewings. ABOUT THE DVD: The picture is a clear transfer that glows with detail and life. For a black and white film, it vibrates with color. While I am not a technical expert, I am most satisfied with the quality of the sound and picture. It certainly marks a great improvement over the original video tape version although I do miss the formers montage to "I'll Cry Instead". The special features are admittedly lame considering none of the Beatles themselves appear. What we get is a great deal of information that gives new meaning to the word "trivial". I do admit to truly enjoying the anecdotes from screenwriter Alun Owen and director Richard Lester. A certain must own.
Rating:
Summary: great movie, poor dvd
Review: What happened to the remastered sound on this movie. Sounds muted and one would expect the songs to be remastered for 5.1 surround. Not in the same league as the redone "Yellow Submarine. Great movie....for all the hype Miramax did a horrible job on this dvd. Did not receive the treatment a movie of this caliber should get. Look for an old copy of the original dvd release or the laser disc version.
Rating:
Summary: Must See For Anyone-Fan or Not
Review: I had the definite fortune of seeing this film for the first time as a midnight show in an actual theater many years ago. I'd been a Beatlemaniac for several years, and it is hard to describe the feeling of actually seeing and hearing live, moving Beatles after seeing b&w stills of the movie for years in magazines, etc.
This film remains staunchly in my top 10 movies of all time, bar none. Whether a Beatle fan or not,the undeniably-infectious fun of the movie, coupled with the unbelievably charismatic Beatles themselves, make this film a rare example of a truly upbeat "feel good" film.
I won't comment much on the DVD package itself as I've only actually watched the film at this early point. I'm not a psycho DVD-phile, I won't gank about the screen ratios or whatever, the sound seemed merely adequate considering the capabilites of previous DVD's I own, and actually seemed to turn hollow and echo-ey toward the end, and I'm not sure if it was an attempt to make the film sound 'Live' at that point or what.
What is important to remember however is what a great film this is from every standard of measure, giving one an all-too-brief glimpse as to why the world initially went bonkers over these cheeky jokers. Although a work of fiction, Alun Owen has done a fantastic job of delineanating the fabs different personalities in such a way that allows the viewer an abbreviated glimpse into a highly sanitized version of who/what the lads were at this period in their history. A Hard Day's Night is a masterpiece pure and simple, and should serve as a milestone for all future generations. These guys were all that AND a bag of chips. If I've seen the film once I've seen it a dozen times, and I never get tired of a single frame.
So stop reading the Queen (that's an in-joke) and get your copy now!
Rating:
Summary: The Best
Review: This is the best beatles movie, and its also the best DVD of a beatles movie. Picture quality is great, espesially for an old movie. The sound is pretty good too. This is a must have for any beatles fan.
Rating: 
Summary: Should have been so much better
Review: This is a very disappointing DVD re-issue of one of the all-time classic rock & roll movies. First of all, where the heck is "Running Jumping Standing Still"? That was supposed to be included on this release but was not. Instead we get interviews with any number of obscure people (Isla Blair, Gordon Millings) and very little else of interest besides the feature itself. Not that the feature isn't worth owning on its own, but it clearly could have been released as a single disc, given the less-than-essential "bonus" material on disc 2. Secondly, there seems to have been a very odd decision made to show the film in a matted 1.66:1 aspect ratio instead of the original 1.37:1 ratio. This decision smacks of some marketing weasel saying "It's got to be widescreen! People like widescreen now!" but the simple fact is that you're not seeing the entire movie when you watch this disc. Now, I realize that this film was made very quickly and it's not like matting a shot that the director and cinematogapher labored over for six weeks, but at the same time, DVDs should, simply stated, attempt to show the movie as close to the way it was originally created as possible. Full stop. In short, what should have been the definitive version of this great movie has only left me hungry for more.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring, boring, boring.
Review: I like the Beatles, I like British humor (big fan of Python), and I like movies about music. But this movie is so slow and boring, I don't know what the big deal is? Sure, it's great watching the Beatles run around, and you get a sense of their chemistry. And of course, the music is fantastic. But the directing is sloppy, the jokes unfunny, and the invisible storyline painfully tedious. More of a curiosity picture than a movie. For die-hard Beatles fans only. Even the Monkees were better at this sort of thing...
Rating:
Summary: Quit your complaining!!!
Review: This movie is excellent with some really funny scenes in it in addition to the musical numbers. Plus I only saw the VHS version of it that came out last year and for me the quality was still great. The music sure sounds clean and crisp to me and does sound like it's in true stereo, not the fake stereo or mono versions that others have said. I think DVD's are truthfully highly overrated anyway. As long as you have a decent tv and speakers hooked up, even VHS movies look and sound great. I have seen many DVD movies and none of them blew me away because of their sound and picture quality. I'm not saying that We Were Soldiers, Windtalkers, Mr. Deeds, and Spiderman weren't great, but the quality and sound wasn't much different than the countless other VHS movies I've seen. All you DVD fans are nuts in my opinion. DVD is not the wave of the future or other nonsense that others have led you to believe. VHS is still great and worthwhile period. DVD's are only great in that the discs are more sturdy than VHS tapes, but only a few tapes I've had have gotten messed up--with most of them being just fine. Keep your VHS movies everyone and don't let the complainers get you down. A Hard Day's Night is a wonderful movie in every way, especially in VHS!!!
Rating: 
Summary: For the young at heart
Review: I first saw this when I was 11 (in 1975) and went through my own phase of Bay-tel mania as a result. The music is fresh and clean and the Fab 4 are quite appealing. The interview is a scream! ("What do you call your hairstyle?" answer-"Arthur."). Ringo's forlorn walk through the streets to the tune of "This Boy" made this tune run through my head everytime I took a solitary walk for years. The shabby teen show host who tries unsuccessfully to exploit George Harrison rings all too true even today (one can picture this guy as an MTV-American Idol excec). The "clean old man" gives the picture added dimension. However, today's kids might be baffled by the whole thing, and the Fab 4's thick accents require repeated viewing for most people. But it does seem to appeal to the kid in a lot of people with the Bay-tels' freewheeling attitudes and the excitement surrounding their music. Sort of explains the whole phenomenon of Bay-tel mania.
Rating:
Summary: The greatest movie of all time...
Review: As I say in my title, this is my favorite movie of all time. I bought this DVD with high expectations and I got them. Sure, some of the extra features are lame- but can't we just rate this on the film itself?
I think this is one of the funniest films in the history of cinema. It is just so WEIRD. The dialog is fast-paced and all four Beatles shine in at least one scene (my personal favorite is George in the TV executives office).
This is an excellent film, not only for Beatles fans but for anyone who likes a great movie. Have fun!
Rating:
Summary: A decent DVD set for a wonderful movie.
Review: The Beatles "A Hard Day's Night" DVD set is a must have for all Beatles fans if you don't already have this movie on a previous DVD release. The movie itself is excellent. Although I'm American and I don't get all of the British humor (plus the fact that I wasn't around in the 60's), I find it very funny anyway. It's a good mix of comedy and music. I think A Hard Day's Night is the most underrated Beatles album. It's the first Beatles album of completely Lennon/McCartney originals, and I think it's a turning point in the progress of the quality of their songs. Some of the songs are at the wrong speed and key, which is annoying. I wish that would have been fixed, but that's ok. The sound is some kind of fake stereo/5.1 mix. A true stereo mix would have been excellent. These are the biggest let downs of this DVD set. The bonus disc is interesting at times, but quite boring at others. It's an in depth look at the producers, directors, and actors. I'm a Beatles fan, so not everything on this disc is enjoyable to me. However, there's a lot of good information about the movie to be found there. I think George Martin's thoughts on each song from the soundtrack are the most intersting to me. I don't think it's a great DVD set as far as what DVD can do and special features, but the movie itself carries the set to 4 out of 5 stars. If you've never seen this movie, but enjoy the Beatles' music, you should at least see this movie. It's very enjoyable to me and I think most Beatle fans would like it.
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