The first time I saw the Richard Lester film Help! (1965) starring The Beatles was on an old VSH copy taped off of PBS. Since nobody has VCRs anymore I watched it on a TV less than the size of the computer monitor I’m typing on now. Not nearly as clever as A Hard Day’s Night (Richard Lester, 1964) but not nearly as obtuse as the Magical Mystery Tour (Paul McCartney, 1967), the film reached a nice middle ground that provided plenty of laughs and surreal sketches. Thanks to Pitchfork for giving me the heads up on a two-disc edition of Help! available for the first time (officially) on DVD. The film is digitally remastered and boasts a new 5.1 surround sound mix. The second disc has a standard set of extras (documentary, missing scene, cast & crew interview, trailers, etc.) but should be exciting nonetheless. For the truly fanatical Beatles fans (like me) you can drop your dollars on an even more deluxe set that includes the script, a 60-page booklet, poster, and other collector items. On October 30th we can party like its 1965!
My favorite song off of Help! and it’s accompanying scene in the film:
Links:
Pitchfork article
Help! on IMDB
1 comment:
The title threw me cause my dad's had "Help!" on DVD for years, but not the special two-disc dealio. I've seen "Help!" dozens of times. Used to be a fave when we were growing up. I watched "A Hard Day's Night" for class and had to write a paper on it. Good films. I like "Help!" for its goofiness, absurdity, and utter lameness. While "AHDN" shows the Beatles in their real life as the Beatles, "Help!" delves a little bit deeper to reveal who John, Paul, George, and Ringo are.
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