Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Magical Mystery Tour Collectors Box Set Blu-ray Movie Review

Roll up for the mystery tour.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 9, 2012

Magical Mystery Tour may have been planned as a sort-of Christmas present to British television viewers in 1967, but the reaction to The Beatles’ self-written and directed special sounded like everyone had instead been given a gigantic lump of coal. American audiences didn’t seem to care even one whit, however, and many younger fans probably weren’t aware that the album that resulted from the project was a quasi-soundtrack, an ignorance that catapulted the disc to the vaunted Number One position in the United States. As reviled as the television film was at the time, it still managed to produce a handful of new Beatles classics, though in at least one case a cover version became much more popular than The Beatles' own rendition. Probably one of the best known songs from the special, “The Fool on the Hill”, which in the Beatles’ formulation was a 4/4 ditty filled to the brim with ocarinas and Paul’s plaintive vocals, became better known as a rather unlikely Top 10 hit (and number one single on the Adult Contemporary chart for six weeks) a few months after Magical Mystery Tour aired in Britain in a radically reworked soft pop-jazz version (in alternating 3/4 and 4/4 sections) by Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66, to this day one of the two or three songs most associated with the Brazilian keyboard master. Magical Mystery Tour fits rather snugly into the surreal British category that would soon house such offerings as Monty Python’s Flying Circus, though it doesn’t quite have the Python troupe’s finesse or in fact same level of humor. But looking at it now from some 45 years on (wow!), Magical Mystery Tour is nonetheless a charming little travelogue that catched The Fab Four at the height of their popularity and youthful charisma and while it certainly is not in the same league as, say, A Hard Day’s Night or even Help!, there’s still something winning about it in its own lo-fi, small scale way.

Magical Mystery Tour does have the barest outlines of a plot, though the through line is a long and winding road (sorry) at times. Ringo and his “Aunt” Jessie (Jessie Robins), The two are inveterate bickerers, and barely get on the “magical mystery tour” bus due to their petty little arguments. There they’re greeted by an unctuous tour guide (who looks for all the world like a Good Humor man) named Jolly Jimmy Johnson (Derek Royle). There’s also a beautiful female assistant named Miss Wendy Winters (Mandy Weet) and the driver Buster Bloodvessel (Ivor Cutler). Clearly this is an alliterative journey we’re about to take.

One gets the feeling that The Beatles’ infamous experimentation with mind altering drugs played an important part in the formulation and execution of Magical Mystery Tour. The bulk of this outing is highly surreal, with some segments weirdly presaging Monty Python’s Flying Circus (a bizarre track contest is awfully like the Upperclass Twit of the Year skit), while others are just plain weird (an army recruiting station where the commanding officer speaks in gibberish). It’s obvious the “plot”, such as it is, is simply a rickety structure to get us from one song to the next. Some of the nascent music videos echo the lyric of the song (as in “The Fool on the Hill”), while others take a more tangential approach (“Flying” plays to heavily filtered landscape scenes that look like they were ported over from a low rent version of the finale of 2001: A Space Odyssey).

The outré qualities of Magical Mystery Tour have probably been ameliorated by the intervening decades since its initial release, and in fact a lot of the special seems rather tame when compared to any number of far weirder contemporary entertainments. The Beatles are all as charming and photogenic as ever, and if the “story” pales in comparison to the musical segments, that’s probably not going to come as a massive shock to most people. Barry Miles contributes a really interesting essay which places the airing of special and the reaction of the British press and public in the context of what had been happening as The Beatles morphed from a phenomenally popular touring unit to something at times decidedly more controversial. Luckily time heals all wounds, and if it can’t be denied that Magical Mystery Tour isn’t exactly a masterpiece, it still contains several classic Beatles tunes, and that’s more than enough to make it a must buy for many fans.

Magical Mystery Tour Collectors Box Set Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Magical Mystery Tour is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of EMI – Capitol and Apple Corps, with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.33:1. According to several online sites, the original negative of this piece was destroyed years ago, and all surviving versions have been mastered from prints. This edition is evidently a newly restored version that just aired again in Britain, though it's unclear if this was still sourced from a print (if anyone has defnitive information, please pass it along and I'll update the review). If that is the case, the print utilized here is in well above average shape, given appropriate expectations. If this actually was sourced from a discovered negative (or even an intermediate element), there are still some general issues to be aware of. There is some noticeably faded color and density issues on display throughout the special, with flesh tones tilting toward the pink side of things and the overall palette looking just slightly pallid some of the time. However, the image is decently (if not overwhelmingly) detailed; that said, there is a noticeable disparity between various sequences in terms of grain and clarity, perhaps a sign that this version has been culled from different sources, as well as different amounts of noise reduction applied to various sequences. (It should be noted that I tend not to have the viscerally negative reaction to DNR that many videophiles do.) Damage is really quite minor, all things considered, with some rough edit points and occasional blemishes dotting the landscape. My hunch is those who have seen inferior previous home video releases are going to be generally thrilled with this Blu-ray, while those expecting some sort of digital perfection culled from pristine elements may be at least slightly disappointed.

Magical Mystery Tour Collectors Box Set Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Magical Mystery Tour has three audio options, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, an LPCM 2.0 mix and a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. Both lossless offerings sound spectacular, especially with regard to the musical elements, which really are offered with brilliant clarity and exceptional fidelity (I'd never even really consciously realized how much Ringo used the kick drum on "Magical Mystery Tour" before l heard these mixes, to give just one example). Dialogue is fairly flat sounding, certainly fine, but obviously post-looped at times. There's not huge dynamic range here.

Magical Mystery Tour Collectors Box Set Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The standalone Blu-ray release of Magical Mystery Tour contains a Blu-ray with all of the on disc supplements listed below. This deluxe edition comes housed in a sturdy slip case with a hinged lid that contains these non-disc supplements:

• A "ticket" to the tour


• 55 Page Softcover Book. This has a lot of interesting info in it, including a recap of the shooting by Barry Miles, as well as day by day recountings of what was filmed. There are supporting cast biographies and some pretty funny (if vicious) quotes from audience polling after the special aired (it was not loved, let's just leave it at that). Copiously illustrated with lots of photos.


• Heavy Cardstock Illustrated Foldout Holder Containing Blu-ray and DVD


• Heavy Cardstock Laminated Foldout Booklet Containing Two 45 RPM EPs. The book contains stills from the special as well as a kind of storybook retelling of its story, as well as lyrics to the songs.

The Blu-ray disc (in both the standalone version and this version) contains these on disc supplements:

• Director's Commentary by Paul McCartney. Truth be told, Sir Paul sounds just a wee bit tired through some of this, but his memory is still quite sharp, even if his anecdotes are often on the trivial side. Interesting as a curio more than a source of fantastic information.


• The Making of Magical Mystery Tour (1080i; 19:03) is a fun and surprisingly informative piece that includes contemporary interview segments with Ringo and Paul. Despite the haphazard format of the special, archival data seems to support the fact that it was in fact more or less planned, at least in outline.


• Ringo the Actor (1080i; 2:24) finds Ringo rather unironically touting his performing skills.


• Meet the Supporting Cast (1080i; 10:55) features some great mini-biographies of several cast members, including some nice archival film of several of them from early in their careers.


• Your Mother Should Know (1080i; 2:41), as with the songs that follow in the supplemental features, appears to be outtakes set to the song.


• Blue Jay Way (1080i; 3:58)


• The Fool on the Hill (1080i; 3:05)


• Hello Goodbye Promo (1080i; 3:37). In black and white.


• Nat's Dream (1080i; 2:01) is kind of like Fellini meets Chaplin and is directed by John Lennon and set to "Shirley's Wild Accordion".


• I'm Going in a Field – Ivor Cutler (1080i; 2:42)


• Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush – Traffic (1080i; 2:41)

Magical Mystery Tour Collectors Box Set Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Beatles fans have a choice to make here, but it probably isn't whether or not to buy Magical Mystery Tour. The choice is whether to get this spendy collector's set or the standalone Blu-ray. This particular set may seem like it's long on swag, but I'd argue the essay by Miles and shooting information are actually incredibly informative, though perhaps not $95 informative. Even loyal Beatles fans are probably going to find themselves in agreement with Sir Paul that the special itself is self-indulgent and no great masterpiece, but it's still very enjoyable in its own patently goofy way. This Blu-ray's image quality is about what most should expect, but the audio is awesome. Highly recommended.