A Hard Day's Night 4K UHD (1964)

[BunyipPouch]

Note: Amazon now sends ASIN B09JLFXDY2 with a UPC 715515272612 sticker over the case's plastic wrap and tho the case says First printing 2022, the 4K disc itself says SECOND PRESSING 2022 on the disc's label:

A Hard Day's Night 4K Blu-ray B09JLFXDY2 see note ^

A Hard Day's Night 4K Blu-ray B09T75SLSS Corrected issue w/ repressed disc, UPC 715515272612

Originally Posted by from Criterion

Thanks for reaching out and apologies for this disappointing error which affects our recently released A HARD DAY'S NIGHT 4K UHD disc.

We will have replacement discs on hand in March. If you'd like a replacement, please email us back with the following:

Your name and a mailing address that will be valid for at least the next 3 months
A photo of the defective A HARD DAY'S NIGHT 4K UHD disc with your name and date written on the front/art side (using a sharpie or paint marker - you can write this info on the lighter portion of the disc, and take a photo against a light source so your name and date are visible). You do not need to break the disc.
The Blu-ray and DVD of A HARD DAY'S NIGHT are not affected and do not need to be replaced

You're welcome to submit this information closer to March, if you prefer, or contact the original vendor now regarding refund, exchange, or credit options.

A Hard Day's Night 4K Blu-ray Recalled pressing, UPC 715515267212. Replacement discs in March. Update: See Note above.

A Hard Day's Night 4K Blu-ray

Releasing in 2022 from the Criterion Collection

Meet the Beatles! Just one month after they exploded onto the U.S. scene with their Ed Sullivan Show appearance, John, Paul, George, and Ringo began working on a project that would bring their revolutionary talent to the big screen. This film, in which the bandmates play slapstick versions of themselves, captured the astonishing moment when they officially became the singular, irreverent idols of their generation and changed music forever. Directed with raucous, anything-goes verve by Richard Lester (The Knack . . . and How to Get It) and featuring a slew of iconic pop anthems—including the title track, “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “I Should Have Known Better,” and “If I Fell”—A Hard Day’s Night, which reconceived the movie musical and exerted an incalculable influence on the music video, is one of the most deliriously entertaining movies of all time.

• New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Richard Lester, with three audio options—a monaural soundtrack as well as stereo and 5.1 surround mixes supervised by sound producer Giles Martin at Abbey Road Studios—presented in uncompressed monaural, uncompressed stereo, and DTS-HD Master Audio on the 4K UHD and Blu-ray
• In the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• Audio commentary featuring cast and crew (dual-format and 4K UHD only)
• In Their Own Voices, a program featuring 1964 interviews with the Beatles with behind-the-scenes footage and photos
• “You Can’t Do That”: The Making of “A Hard Day’s Night,” a 1994 documentary by producer Walter Shenson including an outtake performance by the Beatles
• Things They Said Today, a 2002 documentary about the film featuring Lester, music producer George Martin, screenwriter Alun Owen, and cinematographer Gilbert Taylor (dual-format and 4K UHD only)
• Picturewise, a program about Lester’s early work, featuring a 2014 audio interview with the director (dual-format and 4K UHD only)
• The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film (1960), Lester’s Oscar-nominated short (dual-format and 4K UHD only)
• Anatomy of a Style, a 2014 program on Lester’s methods (dual-format and 4K UHD only)
• Interview from 2014 with Beatles biographer Mark Lewisohn (dual-format and 4K UHD only)
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by critic Howard Hampton and excerpts from a 1970 interview with Lester (dual-format and 4K UHD only)

[Tylerfan]

Criterion: “Congratulate me boys! I’m going 4K!”

(Now people can stop complaining)

[ShellOilJunior]

The movie premiered in the US (NYC) on this day in 1964. Very fitting it gets a UHD today!

[TheDarkBlueNight]

Originally Posted by Tylerfan

Criterion: “Congratulate me boys! I’m going 4K!”

(Now people can stop complaining)

Sorry, I still have to complain: I just got the regular Blu Ray during the last sale...

[rotatingfish]

I doubt very much this will vary greatly in content from the Japanese 4K which I imported to Ireland, here are the contents, all disc menus are in English:

Disc 1 (4K Ultra HD NO HDR):
A Hard Day's Night (1h 27m 19s)

Audio:
Stereo (English),
Mono (English),
DTS-HD Master Audio (English),
Audio Commentary with Barrie Melrose (2nd Assistant Director & Location Manager), Dennis O'Dell (Associate Producer), Betty Glasow (Hairdresser), Paul Wilson (Camera Operator), Gilbert Taylor (Director of Photography), Roy Benson (2nd Assistant Editor), Pamela Finch {neé Tomling} (1st Assistant Editor), Gordon Daniel (Sound Editor), Jim Roddan (Dialogue Editor), John Junkin (played "Shake"), Jeremy Lloyd (played "Tall Dancer At The Disco"), Lionel Blair (played himself, credited as "T.V. Choreographer"), Anna Quayle (played "Millie"), David Janson (played "Young Boy") & Terry Hooper (played "Casino Croupier")

Subtitles:
Main {dialogue of the film} (Japanese),
Audio Commentary (Japanese)

Disc 2 (Region Free Blu-ray):
Content is identical to Disc 1, except the film is only in 1080p of course.

Disc 3 (Region Free Blu-ray):
"Special"

The supplements play as chapters of one big timeline totalling 3h 10m 52s

1. You Can't Do That! The Making of A Hard Day's Night (1h 2m 12s)
2. Things They Said Today (36m 32s)
3. The Beatles: The Road To A Hard Day's Night (27m 42s)
4. In Their Own Voices: The Beatles on A Hard Day's Night (18m 10s)
5. Anatomy of a Style {1. A Hard Day's Night, 2. I Should Have Known Better, 3. Can't Buy Me Love, 4. And I Love Her, 5. She Loves You} (17m 21s)
6. Picturewise (27m 14s)
7. Trailer {2014 Rerelease, with Janus Films logo omitted} (1m 39s)

Audio: English (all)
Subtitles: Japanese (all)

On a first skim-through, the 4K disc offers a modest but noticeable increase in detail over either the included Blu or the Criterion Blu. There's no HDR, so the improvement isn't as striking as something like Schindler's List, the only black and white (well, 97% black and white) 4K disc I own to reasonably compare it to, this is more like the difference in quality that the similarly HDR-free 4K discs of Song To Song and The Neon Demon have over their respective Blu-rays.

On my humble 5.1 setup the audio mixes sound identical to Criterion's. The minor (to my ears) audio flaw around 34:13 as referenced in Carbo3D & NomadGator's user reviews of the Criterion Blu is still there in DTS-HD & Stereo but not the Mono track.

The audio commentary is identical to Criterion's, in fact the only supplements not carried over from Criterion are Richard Lester's Oscar-nominated 1959 short The Running Jumping and Standing Still Film, a Miramax re-release trailer from 2000 and their generously sized booklet.

I can't read a word of Japanese, but there are some nice photos in the main booklet (which seems to include an essay from Japanese rock group Glim Spanky), and more in one that looks like an orange scrapbook with photos by Bruce & Martha Karsh and some newspaper clippings. There is a slightly more expensive version of this set that includes a T-Shirt which seems to be limited to 500 sets, I opted for the cheaper T-shirt-free edition.

Both the standard Blu-ray discs have a Region A label but play fine in my Region B locked player. While a little on the pricy side, the package certainly gives the Criterion a run for its money, although true completists will want to hang onto their bonus discs from the Region 2 DVD as well.

In a word? Gear!

[gkolb]

^ Thanks for that effort. Very thoughtful.

Can’t wait to get this.

[Mosley likes BFDI]

I hope A Hard Day's Night gets a 4K Blu-ray in the UK from Criterion, that Second Sight UK Blu-ray release looks a bit outdated.

[fighthefutureofhd]

You all can thank me for this. I just gave away my foreign copy of A Hard Day's Night I bought on Blu-ray eons ago (2011, I think). I had it in the original Amazon box it came in all this time and it was super, super dusty. I never even opened it. Man, those were some wild days back then. I had my desk at home covered wall to wall with boxes. The boxes were full of stuff I bought that I had never opened. It was mostly music and books. I think I had about close to 100 or more cds that went unopened. And that's not including the ones I did end up opening. It was probably 200-300 total over all. Of course this was right after my fiancee died. That was a wild 9 years or so. I can't tell you how much I spent, but it was a LOT. I burned through a $20,000 work bonus in about a year or less with nothing to show for it. Retail therapy. Not like it helped any. LOL.

[punisher]

I purchased the vinyl lp even b4 seeing the movie which I did a few days later....and yes I STILL HAVE IT....and in MONO

[stvn1974]

Day one purchase, yeah yeah yeah.

[RoxanneTheThiccWolf]

Great we are getting some Beatles on 4K Blu-ray. Hopefully this will have HDR which the Japanese UHD released earlier this year lacked, which was outrageous considering the expensive price it was charged at. Hope there will also be a UHD of Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine, and Let It Be (which still to this day hasn't even had a DVD release), as well as a UHD of the music videos from the 1+ deluxe Blu-ray.

[Warm Gun]

Originally Posted by RoxanneTheThiccWolf

Great we are getting some Beatles on 4K Blu-ray. Hopefully this will have HDR which the Japanese UHD released earlier this year lacked, which was outrageous considering the expensive price it was charged at. Hope there will also be a UHD of Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine, and Let It Be (which still to this day hasn't even had a DVD release), as well as a UHD of the music videos from the 1+ deluxe Blu-ray.

I missed my chance at getting 1+ cheaply. It never gets discounted by much anymore. Now I'm wondering if I should just wait for a 4K. Though, surely some of the videos would stay in 1080i anyway, because of the limitations of the sources.

[yoloswegmaster420]

You can sell off the Japanese UHD, as this release will have Dolby Vision HDR. Release date is January 18.

[tama]

Originally Posted by yoloswegmaster420

You can sell off the Japanese UHD, as this release will have Dolby Vision HDR. Release date is January 18.

I was concerned this would be an SDRUHD. Glad that wasn't the case.

[Alhlan Ain Ajeeba]

I have to ask,I already have the current blu released a few years back.Is that from a 4k scan?

[tama]

Originally Posted by Alhlan Ain Ajeeba

I have to ask,I already have the current blu released a few years back.Is that from a 4k scan?

Yes.

[zepol]

When is the 1st BARNES & NOBLE Criterion 50% off sale in 2022?!!

[BunyipPouch]

Originally Posted by zepol

When is the 1st BARNES & NOBLE 50% off sale in 2022?!!

July

but there's the Criterion February one-day Flash Sale before that.

[Casual_G4m3r]

I'm really excited for this one. As a music junkie in real life, I have a LOT of respect for The Beatles and their contributions to the music industry as a whole.

Younger audiences may not be fully aware, but they truly were groundbreaking in a lot of aspects. Both in their music (phenomenal songwriting and playing skills) and the production of their records. IMO, even those who aren't fans of the music should enjoy this fun, breezy comedy.

[Deciazulado]

A Hard Day's Night 4K Blu-ray