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The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour

The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour

List Price: $19.98
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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Nice music, but so-so film
Review: If you wanna see The Beatles greatest film, buy the ... out of print VHS rarity "Let it Be" off of Amazon's Z-shop, or wait for the (ridiclously slow) 8-years-yet-to-be-released DVD of "A Hard Days Night", or buy the VHS of "Hard Day's Night". This will definatley not appeal to you as a great film, unless if you're a die-hard Beatle-biased fan. But the music is great, and this film does have it's moments; take the wizard scene: that will give you a few yarny laughs, and the (weird but amuzing) spghetti dream.
You won't be ENTERLY dissapointed. It's not a bad film, but needed more chaffe to replace the wheat.
Their was no script to the film, believe it or not, but instead, everything was done through the "magic". But there wasn't really much of that "magic" on this mystery tour, but it is kind of a mystery and a tour.
The plot revolves around The Beatles on a public (though I'm not enterily sure it was public) bus on a tour, with music to about every excibit: from the ancient ruins to a strip tease in an underground bar under a tent.
Weird, right? Kind of a disconnected plot, right? That's what I thought when I popped it in my VHS player. Actually, once you watch it, it's not so weird, but the plot is disconnected before, when, and after you watch it.
Still...worthwhile.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Truly Creative Rock Videos
Review: As both Paul McCartney and George Harrison have stated, it was the Beatles who invented rock videos. The Fab Four created promo films for Ticket to Ride, Paperback Writer, Rain, Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane prior to the release of "Magical Mystery Tour" in 1967. It is the video performances of Blue Jay Way, I Am the Walrus, Your Mother Should Know, etc. which are, without a doubt, the highlight of "Mystery Tour". Admittedly, the movie is amateurish; lacking in plot and void of any sensibility. Taken as a film per se, "Magical Mystery Tour" would rate 1-star. However, taken as a compilation of videos, the film greatly succeeds. (I simply skip the nonsensical parts and head straight for the musical performances.) The music is, of course, absolutely impeccable and the videos are so much more engaging than current MTV fare. In fact, the clip for I Am the Walrus-- with its dancing "eggmen"-- may just be the coolest, most off-beat song promo ever filmed. The spot for Fool on the Hill --with Paul gazing high atop the Pyrennes-- is absolutely beautiful and quite befitting of that elegant song. Also, you just gotta love that silly wizard garb the guys break out for their performance of the title song. On the downside, the DVD itself is subpar. The picture, in dire need of remastering, is inexcusably grainy. Quite frankly, the film looks like a cheap VHS transfer. So why 4-stars for a plotless movie wrapped in a lousy DVD presentation? One word: MUSIC! More specifically, great Beatle music. That is the saving grace of "Magical Mystery Tour".

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Magical Beatle Black out
Review: To me the Beatles are the greatest group of all time. Nobody will ever surpass the Beatles, their music lives on. However, Magical Mystery Tour was something I can't imagine why they did it. I know the Beatles wanted control of their artistic ability especially after Brain Epstein's death. In Hard Day's Night, the Beatles were fun and amusing, in this film they were wierd. I know Beatle humor has always been off beat, but they were really off beat this time. The scene where the Aunt being scowled by her boyfriend in a stoned looking atmosphere was a nightmare. This was the Beatles' farse. The music was great, as all Beatle music was great, but the Beatles' really had no business making this film. They are too great to have done this.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Far out
Review: When this film first aired on television after Christmas in 1967, critics panned it for being incomprehensible gibberish. It certainly wasn't what the folks at home were used to for their holiday television. In hindsight, we can see "Magical Mystery Tour" for what it is: a slightly sluggish but fanciful art film, filled with engaging music videos and bits of offbeat comedy. This film predates MTV by a good 13 years, and includes great Beatles recordings (I strongly recommend the "Magical Mystery Tour" soundtrack album.) It remains today a great period piece, and a pleasant piece of surreal filmmaking.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR---IT TOOK ME AWAY---HARDLY
Review: Magical Mystery Tour is like nothing else i have ever seen. It is very intresting and creative, but only hard-core Beatles fans would like it. This is only for completists also. There is no plot to it. The best parts of it were the musical sequences. My favorite was I AM THE WALRUS sequence. The only reason this got a 3 was because of the music. I do not recommend this one highly, but the songtrack is a killer!!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Magical? Hardly.
Review: I bought this a few years ago when I was a hardcore Beatles fan... and was extremely, extremely dissapointed. If I wanted to watch stoned people act stupid I could go to a club, which I'd rather do than spend the $ I wasted on this film.

Bottom Line: You had to be there to like it.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Painful, in an entertaining way
Review: Speaking as a true Beatle fan who, in my younger days, had a tough time acknowledging that everything the Beatles ever did wasn't perfect, I have to say this is one of the most painful things I've ever seen. But to its credit, you can't NOT watch it once it's on. You're just taken aback by how disjointed and bizarre it is.

Seen as separate music videos, the songs all hold up. They're also slightly remixed from the way they eventually appeared on the corresponding album, so that's kinda neat.

But did you ever think that the best performance of a song in a Beatles film would be performed by the Bonzo Dog Band? (Interesting that Bonzo Neil Innes would later play Ron Nasty in the Rutles, isn't it?)

If you must have this, have somebody buy it for you...

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: If you are not an absolute Beatles fan, save your money.
Review: I saw this movie for the first time in 1977 or 78 at a local public library during a week-long nightly Beatles festival. I always wanted to see Magical Mystery Tour simply because it was The Beatles. I was disappointed, even though I had read it was an embarrassment for the Beatles and was considered their first real failure. The British press trashed it the day after it was shown on the BBC. I did enjoy parts of it, and the music of course is great but, overall it's amateurish and just plain silly. Of course, I went out and bought it anyway when I saw it on VHS last year because, it's the Beatles. The "story" may be silly and the production may be amateurish but, it's still The Beatles and I think it's worth owning just for the fact that it is a piece of their history and it contains some great music.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: BEST BEATLES FILM EVER!
Review: This is probably the oddest film ever created But on the 3rd or 4th time veiwing it,it slowly becomes your FAVORITE beatles film.(especially if your favorite Beatles year is 1967).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: MAGICAL 67' TOUR
Review: ITS NOT A HARD DAYS NIGHT,OR HELP,(OR YELLOW SUBMARINE FOR THAT MATTER)ITS NOT A MOVIE...ITS A 53 MINUTE TIGHLY EDITED FILM OF THE BEATLES IN 1967 IN PSYCHADELIC CLOTHES GOOFING OFF & BEING INNOVATIVE (AS EVERYTHING THEY DID WAS) ITS BASICLY A SERIES OF MUSIC VIDEOS SURROUNDED BY COMIC SKETCHES & VIGINETTES..IN A TIME WHEN THE BEATLES WERE "INVENTING" MUSIC VIDEOS....THIS SHORT FILM IS STUDIED IN FILMSCHOOLS (SPEILBERG HAS CLAIMED IT WAS AN INFLUENCE)..EVERYTHING THE BEATLES DID WAS INNOVATIVE& GROUNDBREAKING...THIS IS NO EXCEPTION..SO TAKE IT FOR WHAT IT IS & BE GLAD WE HAVE IT!!..ITS NOT A MOVIE..ITS A HEAD TRIP..& THE MUSIC VIDEOS ARE CLASSIC & JUST AS SURREAL AS ANYTHING THEY EVER DID...ITS NOT THE BEST THEY EVER DID & DONT BUY THIS UNLESS YOU ALREADY HAVE EVERY OTHER MOVIE THEY DID FIRST (THIS IS NOT A MOVIE) BUT IT IS CLASSIC & IT IS WHAT IT IS...SO TAKE IT FOR WHAT IT IS & YOU'LL LOVE IT...JUST REMEMBER WHEN IT WAS MADE & HOW THAT SEEMED THEN (THEY STARTED THE WHOLE HIPPIE MOVEMENT & THE SUMMER OF LOVE)...THIS WAS A DEFINING PROJECT OF THAT PERIOD & WE SHOULD TREASURE IT FOR BEING AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT THEY WERE DOING AT THAT FLOWER-POWER PERIOD...ITS AS GOOD AS ANY 53 MINUTE MOVIE CAN BE...ITS A HEAD TRIP... NOW LETS TALK ABOUT THE DVD ...THE FILM IS VERY DATED & IT SHOWS...THE QUALITY IS SATURATED & FUZZY..BUT IT IS IN PURE VISIBLE COLOR..& IF YOU ADJUST YOUR PICTURE SETTINGS ON YOUR TV YOU CAN IMPROVE IT....THE DVD IS THE BEST WAY TO VIEW THIS FILM.. AFTER YOU'VE SEEN IT THE FIRST TIME -THE CHAPTER STOPS WILL COME IN EXTREMELY HANDY (IF ONLY TO VIEW THE MUSIC VIDEOS)...THE EXTRAS ARE NOT MUCH IF YOU ALREADY OWN THE "HELP DVD"(WHICH YOU SHOULD BEFORE BUYING THIS)..IT CONTAINS 4 TRAILERS (ITS OWN NOT INCLUDED) & IT HAS A SHORT LITTLE NEWSREEL & VERY SHORT PRODUCTION NOTES & THATS IT...ITS A PRETTY LAME DVD..BUT CONSIDERING THE PRICE OF THE VHS & HOW HANDY THE CHAPTER STOPS ARE (WHICH IS THE ONLY WAY TO VIEW THIS FILM)...THE DVD IS BY FAR THE BEST WAY TO OWN THIS FILM & IT IS WORTH OWNING... JUST MAKE SURE YOU OWN "HARD DAYS NIGHT","HELP",&"YELLOW SUB" FIRST....BUT IT IS ALL HISTORY & IT ALL 5 STAR QUALITY STUFF THATS WORTH OWNING.....SO IF YOU'VE GOT EVERYTHING ELSE...BY ALL MEANS BUY THIS...& IF YOU DON'T THEN BUY THE REST NOW & BE GLAD YOU DID !!!THIS SHORT-FILM STARTED A GENERATION OF ITS STYLE (& STARTED THE WHOLE MONTY PYTHON MOVEMENT)BE GLAD WE HAVE IT & ENJOY IT BECAUSE ...."ITS THE BEATLES"....!!!


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