7.9 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
The year is 1964 and four young lads from Liverpool are about to change the world—if only the madcap world will let them out of their hotel room. This boldly contemporary rock 'n' roll comedy unleashes the fledgling Beatles into a maelstrom of screaming fans, paranoid producers, rabid press, and troublesome family members, and reveals the secret of their survival and success: an insatiable lust for mischief and a life-affirming addiction to joy.
Starring: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Wilfrid BrambellMusic | 100% |
Musical | 37% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.75:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.75:1
English: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (1 BD, 2 DVDs)
DVD copy
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Nominated for two Academy Awards, Richard Lester's "A Hard Day's Night" (1964) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include original rerelease trailers for the film; documentary film produced by Walter Shenson; Richard Lester's early short film "The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film" (1960); audio commentary featuring various members of the film's cast and crew; exclusive new video piece featuring story editor and screenwriter Bobbie O'Steen and music editor Suzana Peric; Martin Lewis' documentary "Things They Said Today" (2002); and a lot more. The release also arrives with an illustrated booklet featuring an essay by critic Howard Hampton. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Relaxing
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.75:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Richard Lester's A Hard Day's Night arrives on
Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray release:
"Approved by director Richard Lester, this new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on a Scanity film scanners from the 35mm original camera
negative and two 35mm fine-grain master positives. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, and jitter were manually removed
using MTI's DRS and Pixel Farm's PFClean, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for small dirt, grain, noise management, and flicker.
Transfer supervisor: Russel Smith.
Colorist: Sheri Eisenberg/Colorworks, Culver City, CA.
Additional 4K scanning: Deluxe London."
Recently restored in 4K, A Hard Day's Night looks gorgeous on Blu-ray. Indeed, there are dramatic improvements in every single area we tend
to scrutinize in our reviews, from image depth and clarity to contrast stability and overall image stability. The overwhelming majority of the close-ups
impress with terrific depth, while the large panoramic shots boast exceptional clarity and fluidity (see screencaptures #2 and 11). The outdoor footage,
in particular, is always enormously vibrant. Contrast levels remain stable throughout the entire film. Grain is well refined and evenly distributed.
Additionally, there are no traces of compromising degraining corrections and sharpening adjustments. Quite predictably, the film has a solid and
enormously pleasing organic appearance. Lastly, it is very easy to tell that large debris, scratches, cuts, stains, and damage marks have been carefully
removed as the film now looks incredibly clean and healthy. To sum it all up, this is indeed a very beautiful presentation of A Hard Day's Night
that will likely remain the film's definitive presentation on the home video market. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release.
Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Fee player in order to access its content).
There are three standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0 (Mono), English LPCM 2.0 (Stereo), and English DTS-HD Master Audio
5.1. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.
I viewed the entire film with the lossless mono track and was enormously pleased with it. It has excellent depth, very pleasing clarity, and good range of
nuanced dynamics. The music and the dialog are also very well balanced (there are no sudden spikes or drops in dynamic activity). The dialog is clean,
stable, and exceptionally easy to follow.
I tested select sequences with the stereo track and the new 5.1 track made by Apple Records. Both offer improved nuanced dynamics, though only the
latter noticeably opens up the film in select areas. For the record, there are no problematic pops, cracks, background hiss, audio dropouts, or
distortions to report in this review.
Recently restored in 4K, Richard Lester's legendary film A Hard Day's Night looks spectacular on Blu-ray. I was equally impressed with the three lossless tracks that are included on Criterion's upcoming release. One of them is a new 5.1 surround soundtrack made by Apple Records that essentially gives the film an entirely new identity. The release also comes with a terrific selection of supplemental features, some of which were produced exclusively for it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
1964
see notes about UPC, sticker
1964
2nd Corrected UHD Pressing UPC Sticker 715515272612
1964
1964
The Beatles
1965
The Beatles
1967
The Beatles
1968
1962-1970
Deluxe Edition | ~90m Bonus disc
2016
1967
2003
1996
Remastered
1968
1978
2012
1956
1986-1987
2009
2011
25th Anniversary
2009-2010
Teatro alla Scala | Special Edition
2007
2014
40th Anniversary Edition
1980
2007