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

[Egbert Souse]

Excited for this since while the 2014 Blu-ray is excellent, I'm always up for more classic B&W in 4K and it's one of my all-time favorite films. For those on the fence or haven't seen it before, you're in for a really special film.

And if anyone needs some nudging, this is a 4K release of a film shot by the legendary cinematographer Gilbert Taylor. If you're not familiar with him, these are some of the other films he shot:

The Dam Busters
Dr. Strangelove
Repulsion
Cul-de-sac
Macbeth (Polanski)
Frenzy
The Omen
Star Wars '77
Flash Gordon

Originally Posted by Shawn1968

I’ve lost track of the various audio formats in this movie’s home video releases; will this forthcoming Criterion 4K UHD disc use the original mono (and not a fold of a stereo mix, nor a modern mono remix or some other manipulation relative to the original audio)? I’m referring to both the songs as heard in the film and the dialog etc.

The original mono tracks seem to be poorer quality, which is why the 2014 restoration needed a full reconstruction of the mono from multiple sources. The original prints had the soundtrack boosted too much to make them louder and it also seems like Richard Lester's mixing preferences were at odds with UA or the producers. The liner notes certainly indicate the three tracks were mixed specially, not just folded down from 5.1.

Only nitpick I have is that the harmonica intro to "I Should Have Known Better" doesn't have the edit fix that was applied to the UK mono album mix, but not the UK stereo. Of course, that edit may have only ever been applied to the mono album and the film always used the "raw" version to fit in with the documentary style.