Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

A Hard Day's Night Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 2, 2014

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

Richard Lester’s pseudo-documentary A Hard Day’s Night has that unique energy that is present in many of Jean-Luc Godard’s early films. It is so overwhelming that it is almost irrelevant where the film wants to go and how it wants to get there.

The film beings in Liverpool, where George, John, Paul, and Ringo board a train together with their manager Norm (Norman Rossington) and Paul's grandfather (Wifred Brambell). They are on their way to London, where the Beatles are scheduled to perform live on a popular TV show. While traveling, the boys try to relax but are frequently annoyed by pretentious adults and distracted by beautiful young girls.

In London, the boys are constantly on the move -- they meet curious reporters, talk to excited producers, and routinely try to avoid large crowds of screaming girls. They never seem to have any free time to rehearse or entertain themselves.

Hours before the band is to perform live, Ringo disguises himself with a trenchcoat and disappears. The show’s producer (Victor Spinetti) panics and everyone goes on the streets looking for Ringo.

The film was scripted but it frequently looks and feels like George, John, Paul, and Ringo are simply being themselves while Lester’s camera observes them from afar. The magic is in the careful framing and editing. The entire film is essentially a large collection of uneven episodes blending behind- the-scenes footage with music clips that remind of the various music mockumentaries MTV popularized. However, these episodes are so effectively framed and edited that the energy they sustain until the final credits roll makes it quite easy for one to believe that George, John, Paul, and Ringo might have been unaware that Lester’s camera was filming them.

Quite predictably, the music is superb. There are fabulous performances of such classics as “A Hard Day's Night”, "Tell Me Why", “If I Fell”, “And I Love Her”, "Can't Buy Me Love", and "I Should Have Known Better".

A Hard Day’s Night was the third studio album the Beatles recorded and the first to be recorded entirely on four-track tape. Initially, side one of the LP featured the songs that were used in the film’s soundtrack, while side two featured songs that were composed for the film but were not included on the soundtrack.

In the U.S., a different version of the album was released. In addition to the songs from the UK version, there were four instrumental tracks from the film's soundtrack performed by George Martin's Orchestra. The U.S. version of A Hard Day’s Night was released a month before the UK version (in late June 1964).

The original soundtrack of A Hard Day’s Night was in Mono. However, because the studio album was recorded entirely on four-track tape, consequently a Stereo version of it was created. Criterion’s Blu-ray release of A Hard Day’s Night comes with three different audio options: Dual Mono (LPCM 2.0), Stereo (LPCM 2.0), and new 5.1 surround soundtrack (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) made by Apple Records.

A Hard Day's Night Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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).

A Hard Day's Night Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

A Hard Day's Night Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailers - two trailers for A Hard Day's Night.
  
  1. 2000 Rerelease trailer. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080i).
  
  2. 2014 Rerelease trailer. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• Anatomy of a Style - in this video piece, story editor and screenwriter Bobbie O'Steen and music editor Suzana Peric discuss the unusual editing and framing of the music sequences in A Hard Day's Night. In English, not subtitled. (18 min, 1080p).
  
  1. "A Hard Day's Night"
  2. "I Should Have Known Better"
  3. "Cant Buy Me Love"
  4. "And I love Her"
  5. "She Loves You"

• In Their Own Voices - this video piece features behind-the-scenes stills, footage from the making of A Hard Day's Night, and clips from audio interviews in which the members of the Beatles share their impressions of their first film. The interviews were conducted during the British band's 1964 American tour. In English, not subtitled. (18 min, 1080p).

• "You Can't Do That: The Making of A Hard Day's Night" - this 1994 documentary, produced by Walter Shenson (producer of A Hard Day's Night) and narrated by Phil Collins, features clips from archival interviews with Roger Ebert, Peter Noone (lead singer of Herman's Hermits), Roger McGuinn (founding member of The Byrds), cast member Victor Spinetti (the nervous TV producer), wardrobe designer Julie Harris, screenwriter Alun Owen, and Debbie Gendler (New Jersey Fan Club President), among others. Also included is an outttake performance. In English, not subtitled. (63 min, 1080i).

• Things They Said Today - this documentary focuses on the production history and success of A Hard Day's Night. Included in it are clips from interviews with David Picker (VP Production & Marketing, United Artists Corporation/1962 to 1964, Sir George Martin (The Beatles' record producer), Tony Barrow (Beatles publicist/1962-1966), producer Walter Shenson, and director Richard Lester, among others. The documentary was produced by Martin Lewis in 2002. In English, not subtitled. (37 min, 1080i).

• Richard Lester -
  
  1. The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film - this film was shot by Richard Lester in 1959 for approximately seventy pounds and it was nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, Live Action Subjects. It features Richard Lester, Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, Graham Stark, and Bruce Lacey. B&W. Music only. (12 min, 1080i).
  
  2. Picturewise - this new video essay focuses on the production history of A Hard Days Night and Richard Lester's directing style. The essay, which is narrated by actor Rita Tushingham, features raw footage from the shooting of A Hard Day's Night and a new audio interview with Richard Lester. The essay was written and produced by critic and filmmaker David Cairns exclusively for Criterion in 2014. In English, not subtitled. (28 min, 1080i).

• The Beatles: The Road to A Hard Day's Night - in this new video interview, Mark Lewisohn, author of The Beatles: All These Years, Volume 1 -- Tune In, discusses the British band's glamorous career and its enormous impact on the music business. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in 2014. In English, not subtitled. (28 min, 1080p).

• Commentary - this audio commentary was created from material produced by Martin Lewis in 2002 and features actors John Junkin, David Janson, and Jeremy Lloyd; cinematographer Gilbert Taylor; associate producer Denis O'Dell; second assistant director Barrie Melrose; assistant editors Pamela Tomling and Roy Benson; and others.

• Booklet - an illustrated booklet featuring an essay by critic Howard Hampton, excerpts from a 1970 interview with Richard Lester, and technical credits.

A Hard Day's Night Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.