A Hard Day's Night (1964)

[ShellOilJunior]

Release: June 24, 2014

Review: https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/A-Har.../97882/#Review

Pre-order:



A Hard Day's Night Blu-ray

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. A Hard Day’s Night, 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 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.

Disc Features

DIRECTOR-APPROVED EDITION:

New 4K digital film restoration, approved by director Richard Lester, with two audio options—a monaural soundtrack and a new 5.1 surround soundtrack made by Apple Records—presented in uncompressed monaural and DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray (dual
Audio commentary featuring various members of the film’s cast and crew (dual-format only)
In Their Own Voices, a new piece combining interviews with the Beatles from 1964 with behind-the-scenes footage and photos
You Can’t Do That: The Making of “A Hard Day’s Night,” a 1994 documentary program by producer Walter Shenson
Things They Said Today, a 2002 documentary about the film featuring Lester, music producer George Martin, writer Alun Owen, cinematographer Gilbert Taylor, and others (dual-format only)
New piece about Lester’s early work, featuring a new audio interview with the director (dual-format only)
The Running Jumping and Standing Still Film(1959), Lester’s Oscar-nominated short featuring Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan (dual-format only)
Anatomy of a Style, a new piece on Lester’s approach to editing (dual-format only)
New interview with Mark Lewisohn, author of Tune In: The Beatles: All These Years—Volume One (dual-format only)
Deleted scene (dual-format only)
Trailers
PLUS: An essay by critic Howard Hampton
More!

http://www.criterion.com/films/28547-a-hard-day-s-night

[klauswhereareyou]

Cool. Weren't there some kind of audio issues with the Miramax dvd (not the original soundtrack or something)??

[OI8T12]

I'm in for this one.

[Walts Ghost]

I'm definitely picking this one up.

[Scottie]

Excellent. Can't wait.

Thanks for the information!

[Rizor]

One of my favorites. Happy that the wait seems to have paid off and it's fallen into the hands of Criterion. Hopefully we get most of the features from the Miramax DVD and previous releases such as Richard Lester's "The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film" and the original mono track. Would be lovely if this release had the cooperation of Apple and Paul and Ringo.

[Page14]

OH . MY . GOD!!!!



Peace and love!

Thank you Shell!

EDIT: I wonder if we'll ever see any of the lesser British Invasion bands' movies on bluray (... like Gerry and The Pacemakers or The Dave Clark Five). Just a thought.

[Egbert Souse]

Originally Posted by klauswhereareyou

Cool. Weren't there some kind of audio issues with the Miramax dvd (not the original soundtrack or something)??

The Miramax DVD used a 5.1 track created from the restored mono mix used for the 2002 theatrical release rather than going to the surviving separate elements (the mono mix, isolated music/effects track, and the 4-track recording masters for songs/music score). It's not horrible, but nowhere near the quality of the 5.1 mixes created for Help! and Yellow Submarine.

[MTRodaba2468]

Excellent news...

[Crimson King]

Hopefully Criterion can get the rights to rerelease Help! And maybe Let It Be!

[baheidstu]

Fantastic news!

[bigshot]

Probably not going to get a 5:1 mix with Criterion.

[Egbert Souse]

Originally Posted by bigshot

Probably not going to get a 5:1 mix with Criterion.

It looks like Giles Martin is preparing a 5.1 mix from the 4-track masters (and other elements). Criterion did include both the original mono and 5.1 mixes for Head and Easy Rider. Mono in PCM 1.0 and DTS-HDMA for the 5.1 track.

[Dragun]

What is the proper aspect ratio for this? I always thought it was perfectly framed at 1.37:1.

[bigshot]

What about Brazil? I know that went to theaters originally with a temp two track mix and they did a 5:1 later for the video release. Did Criterion include the 5:1 on that one too?

[lilboyblu]

Originally Posted by bigshot

What about Brazil? I know that went to theaters originally with a temp two track mix and they did a 5:1 later for the video release. Did Criterion include the 5:1 on that one too?

No, just 2.0 stereo on the CC. The Universal does have the 5.1 though.

[Egbert Souse]

Originally Posted by Dragun

What is the proper aspect ratio for this? I always thought it was perfectly framed at 1.37:1.

1.75:1. Same for Help! and Yellow Submarine. Although, opening to 1.66:1 does not create any problems. 1.37:1 isn't too bad for AHDN, but a few shots have rigging exposed (like the concert) and the final card in the end credits is hard-matted to 1.75:1. The previous 4x3 MPI DVD cropped the sides quite a bit compared to the Miramax DVD.

Originally Posted by lilboyblu

No, just 2.0 stereo on the CC. The Universal does have the 5.1 though.

DTS-HDMA 2.0 Surround, to be exact. Basically 4.0 sound matrixed within two-channel, which is how Dolby Surround worked. I think Head and Easy Rider have PCM 1.0 mono, DTS-HDMA 2.0 Surround, and DTS HDMA 5.1 as options.

[Lemmy Lugosi]

I'm in for one.

[EddieLarkin]

Originally Posted by Dragun

What is the proper aspect ratio for this? I always thought it was perfectly framed at 1.37:1.

As above, it's 1.75:1. The projection instructions in the original leader specified this:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/uplo...1391709817.jpg

[Crimson King]

I wonder if they will include the I'll Cry Instead photo montage the MPI dvd had?