Hard Day's Night-Official Specs (1 Viewer)

[Jeffrey Gray]

I wish they would just put the mono on, instead of pandering specifically to the stereotypical home-theater geek, who may prefer widescreen, but doesn't give a crap about original audio presentation, and just wants to hear loud, bottoming-out bass and sounds bouncing across the room, as opposed to "BIG FAT MONO". I believe that, in all cases, the original audio track should be included, along with a 5.1 track for those who want it.

 

[David Von Pein]

Jeffrey....I agree with you all the way!
However, TAKE A LOOK HERE. DVDEmpire claims the ONLY track on AHDN is Mono! Hmmmmm. (Of course, this also claims we're getting it in 1.33:1, which is inaccurate.)

 

[David Von Pein]

I see that the features listed @ Amazon have now completely changed since Sept. 6........

Aspect Ratio(s):
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.66:1

Discographic Information:
DVD Encoding: Region 1
Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), French

Edition Details:
• Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
• Black & White, Closed-captioned
• Digitally Restored Soundtrack
• "Things They Said Today..." - New Promotional Special
• "Their Production Will Be Second To None" Interviews With The Filmmakers
• "With The Beatles" – Cast
• "Working Like A Dog" – The Production Crew
• "Busy Working Overtime" – Post Production Crew
• "Listen To The Music Playing In Your Head" - Sir George Martin On The HDN Songs
• "Such A Clean Old Man!" – Memories Of Wilfrid Brambell
• "I’ve Lost My Little Girl" – Isla Blair Interview
• "Taking Testimonial Pictures" - Robert Freeman Interview
• "Dressed To The Hilt" – Gordon Millings Interview
• "Dealing With "The Men From The Press'" – Tony Barrow Interview
• "They And I Have Memories" – Klaus Voorman Interview
• "Hitting The Big Time In The USA" – Sid Bernstein Interview
• DVD-ROM FEATURES Includes: Screenplay Viewer, Reproduction Of The Entire First Draft Of The Screenplay, A Hard Day's Night Scrapbook, Roundtable Discussions, Web Access

 

[Steve Meskell]

I'm lucky to obtain my copy today....
First the good news..
The video is top notch cleaner than I have ever seen it.
It is strange seeing it widescreen but I'm use to widescreen now . The packaging is well done it's like the "Pulp Fiction" set.
Now the bad news(not really)
The audio is in MONO(in 5:1) only the songs are spread out(in Mono) in the front speakers and the rears are used for the final concert scene. The songs are the original mono mixes, for example "And I Love Her" is Paul's single track vocal and those who know the differences in the stereo and mono mixes will hear them on this disc. The songs sound good though a few have too much bass IMHO, but on the whole they sound nice and clear. All the non music scenes are placed in the center and sounds very good.
The very bad news is there is no sign of the outtake of "You Can't Do That". I was hoping to get this but as far as I can tell it's not on here.
I wonder where they got the drum track that is used on the menu screen?? It kinda reminds me of Jimmy Nichol's try-out that is seen on The Anthology video.
If you have the capabilities of just having the sound just come out of your front speaker then you can see and hear the movie in its Mono glory.
Overall a good job but not a great job was done IMHO

 

[David Von Pein]

Thanks for the info, Steve!
But, can you tell us if these goodies are on there or not? ........
• Theatrical trailer(s)
• Short: "The Running, Jumping & Standing Still Film"
• A Hard Day's Night scrapbook
• A Hard Day's Night music retrospective

 

[Steve Meskell]

I've been poking around the special features and not come across any trailers or the whole "Running..." they show clips of both. George Martin gives his takes on the songs from the film and there are many clips from behind the scenes that I pretty sure I have never seen..but no outtakes
or deleted scenes.

 

[Kajs]

This release was much more mouth-watering months ago when there were three commentaries attached, and a soundtrack containing the "screaming teens" as might have been (and was, I can assure you from persponal experience) heard in 1964.

I was very excited about this release, up till today. I don't like hours of interviews which seems to be the extent of the special features on this, I wanted trailers, commentaries, the mono mix, etc. I plan on picking up the old Phil Collins making of, so I can get the "You Can't Do That" scene. I really hate talking heads(But I love THE Talking Heads), and it seems that most of the features are just as DVD File Described it:

"...the majority of this material is pure talking heads."

 

[Patrick McCart]

We waited 5 years for this?

Miramax dropped the ball big time...

I guess we'll need to wait for a Vista Series Uberedition?

 

[Jason Guardiano]

I'll cry instead :frowning:
I'll try to pick this up Tuesday

 

[Kajs]

Tonight I ended up ordering:
A Hard Day's Night MPI Release
You Can't Do That: The Making of A Hard Day's Night
The Beatles First US Visit

 

[Steve Meskell]

Kurt,I don't know how or where you ordered the MPI release or how much it cost but despite your disappointment on the extras the movie is the main point and there is no way the MPI version holds a candle to the new DVD. I know of a store where I can get a copy of "The Making of..." and I plan to purchase it basically to get the deleted "You Can't Do That". But don't deprive yourself of owning the "Best" version of the movie that is available(IMHO).

 

[Kajs]

Of course I already preordered the new version. But I still wanted to have the full frame version, "The Running, Jumping & Standing Still" film, the "I'll Cry Instead" opening, the 1982 trailer, and the other newsreel footage, not to mention the "You Can't Do That" performance.

The movie is the main point, but as DVDFile said "Originally shot in 35mm at an aspect ratio of 1.37:1" what's wrong with having that version too?

 

[Enrique B Chamorro]

Another review at;
http://www.classicsondvd.com/hardday.htm

 

[Jeremy_Z]

If you really want the Running Jumping.... short film it is on the HELP! dvd as well by MPI

 

[Craig S]

Kurt, where did you order those titles? I thought they were all out of print??

 

[Kajs]

I got AHDN from Half.com used of course. But "The First US Visit" has already shipped from DVDEmpire.com and the "Making of" is at DeepDiscountDVD.com but its not in stock, so I'm not entirely sure about that one.

 

[Kajs]

Rechecking Deep Discount DVD right now shows an estimated ship date of Sept. 30th.

 

[David Von Pein]

Kurt .... Thanks for mentioning those other BEATLES items (above)! I'm interested in those as well.