I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978) Fabulous Films - May 2016

[samdvd1]

http://www.fabulousfilms.com/products/340

The year is 1964, The Beatles are about to arrive in the U.S., and young America has gone completely wild. Hoping to be part of this historical moment are six hysterical New Jersey teenagers who will stop at nothing to see the Fab Four in person. Embarking on the wildest road trip of their young lives, the friends reach New York City, where they are determined to beat the odds and see the band in their first Ed Sullivan show appearance, in this delightful coming-of-age comedy from Oscar®-winning* director Robert Zemeckis.

EXTRAS:
Commentary with Writer/Director Robert Zemeckis and Writer Bob Gale, Photo Gallery.

Looks like another world wide debut from Fabulous...

[cash_black]

pretty keen, waiting for a review

[Foggy]

Got this recorded from Film4.

[Mose Harper]

Amazon apparently shipped my copy on the 20th, but I still haven't gotten it yet.
Most of my Amz UK orders arrive between 7-14 days, with 10 being about the average.
This is by far the longest it's ever taken.

Annoying too, because this is one of the releases I've been most looking forward to this year. I couldn't believe Universal didn't capitalize on the 50th anniversary of their first US visit two years ago so I've been resigned since that this might not see the light of day for a while. Kind of sad though to see there are only a few of us who care about it.
For me, it's one of the more charming/disarming nostalgia teen comedies to come out of the 70s. Great case, great period detail.

I'm on pins and needles waiting to see if this is going to be from the Universal that gave us Xanadu and Jaws 2 this year- or if it's going to be the Universal that's been notorious for scrubbed and sharpened eyesores in the past like Cat People and the first Thing. I don't expect a new master- but neither of the first two did either and both of those looked (and sounded) wonderful.

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by Foggy

Got this recorded from Film4.

I think the F4 version cut some of the mild swearing. I remember seeing it a couple of years back. Was actually disappointed, apart from the soundtrack the film was really poor.

[Mose Harper]

Finally got this delivered yesterday and just got finished watching it.
It's clearly from the older circa 2004. On the plus side, it hasn't been scrubbed and the colors come through well. On the minus side, it's got a little bit of edge enhancement baked in (minor and only really noticeable in certain instances) and for some reason the main title credits display severe aliasing (jaggies). The latter is really the only thing that really bugs me about it.

I still love the film. Nancy Allen is in her prime and she, Wendy Sperber, and Bobby De Cicco are all utilized far more effectively than they would be a year later under Spielberg for 1941. The comedic chaos is crafted a lot better (and more appropriate) to me here than in the latter film.

Not a perfect release, and not as natural looking as Xanadu and Jaws 2 - films made in the same era and also utilizing older masters.
But still a decent improvement over the DVD on a large screen. And given the lack of interest here, I guess that's the most a fan like me can really hope to expect.

[5th-beatle]

Originally Posted by Mose Harper

Finally got this delivered yesterday and just got finished watching it.
It's clearly from the older circa 2004. On the plus side, it hasn't been scrubbed and the colors come through well. On the minus side, it's got a little bit of edge enhancement baked in (minor and only really noticeable in certain instances) and for some reason the main title credits display severe aliasing (jaggies). The latter is really the only thing that really bugs me about it.

I still love the film. Nancy Allen is in her prime and she, Wendy Sperber, and Bobby De Cicco are all utilized far more effectively than they would be a year later under Spielberg for 1941. The comedic chaos is crafted a lot better (and more appropriate) to me here than in the latter film.

Not a perfect release, and not as natural looking as Xanadu and Jaws 2 - films made in the same era and also utilizing older masters.
But still a decent improvement over the DVD on a large screen. And given the lack of interest here, I guess that's the most a fan like me can really hope to expect.

Thanks for the review. Is it a Region-B or Region A-B-C disc?

[Hank the Tank]

Brad here. Well this represents a first for me in several ways. First and most important, I've officially have gone region-free (the Cool Kids Club) as I have set up my new Sony BDP-S7200 region free player on the 70. And as of yesterday, (right before being taken to see Star Trek - Beyond (2016) as a birthday gift (I can now safely read that thread), I screened my first Region B locked Blu-ray, I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978). This was the first time I had seen this movie since 1978 when as a fresh-faced 18, I took my then girlfriend Patti (15) for our first date. The catch, I had to take both her little sister Penny (13) and Denise (12) along as well (had my mom's luxurious 75 Olds Cutlass Supreme). Oh what a "fun" first date that was (precious memories).



And now some notes on this film (and a Wiki Page link):


Imagine a film being made by a team of Steven Speilberg, Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale. Imagine too that this film had full rights to about 17 original Beatles songs (how they managed this I have yet to discover as how Fabulous Films managed to obtain these same rights for this UK Blu-ray release. Needless to say music rights would make it very difficult , and expensive for a U.S. release). And imagine despite all this, the film was a box office flop. Incredulous???
Well one might also categorize this film as everyone has to start out small somewhere and this was definitely true for future film producing legends Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale at this time (1978) in their careers.

Quite a few plot devices in IWHYH found their way into future Zemeckis/Gale films including most notably Back To The Future (1985). One example, note the similarity between Doc Brown's lightning storm adventure at the clock tower in BTTF and character Tony Smerko's TV tower adventure 7 years earlier in IWHYH).

A few then-unknown actors & actresses got a start in this film. Wendie Jo Sperber (later seen as Marty McFly's sister in the BTTF films) got top billing as Rosie Petrofsky, one of the main characters (sadly Wendie passed away in 2005). Also getting top billing was Theresa Saldana (whom we sadly lost recently in June 2016) as Grace Corrigan.

Playing himself was noted DJ and radio personality from the 50s, 60s and 70s, Murray Kaufman (Murray the K) who would sadly pass away only 4 years after this film was made.

Eddie Deezen, playing Richard "Ringo" Klaus, a nerdish male Bealtes fan who would play nerd-type characters in other films, notably Wargames (1983) and 1941 (1980).


One minor role of note, playing a young-looking hooker was future Meatballs (1979) and Cheerleaders Wild Weekend (1979) star (and one of my biggest actresses crushes from the days of my youth), Kristine DeBell. Kristine is still quite active in the entertainment industry today (see her public FB page).

As I mentioned earlier, how Fabulous Films got full music rights for this Blu-ray release I do not yet know but I get the impression that music rights issues are much easier to deal with in the U.K. as opposed to the U.S. (witness music rights for the U.K. release of the TV series Quantum Leap as opposed to the U.S. releases). Interesting too how Bob Gale & Robert Zemeckis got rights to use Beatles music in their film back in 1978, perhaps both had a friendship with one or more of the Beatles (all were still alive at this time). Also consider that The Beatles and their music was a central part of this story. As this film has never seen any U.S. release that I know of (VHS, LD or DVD, someone educate me if I'm wrong) I don't anticipate a U.S. release soon. You'll have to go region-free in order to enjoy this quite entertaining film and first effort from Robert Zemeckis & Bob Gale.

Technical Notes on the Blu:
Viewed on: Vizio 70 E-Series (2013) from a Sony Region-free BDP-S7200.
PQ 4.75 out of 5. Very excellent transfer. Not much I can add to that.

Audio: Quite excellent as well but I'd love to hear some expert audiophile opinions from any experts who get to see this Blu.

Recommendation: Highly Recommended.

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Wiki Page (Spoiler alert)
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[Jack Webb]

This has been available in the U.S. on VHS, LaserDisc and DVD. I've owned them all. Still have the DVD.
Warner for some reason had the original VHS and LaserDisc rights. Universal put out the DVD themselves. You can google images of these releases if you're curious.

[5th-beatle]

No plans for a Region-A release in the near future, then?

[Twist]

Please, does this UK edition include subtitles?