What ever happened to...Hard Day's Night? (1 Viewer)

[Jason_H]

The DVD re-release was due in March, with an all new transfer, then it just disappeared off the map and was never released. I never heard a reason why.
After seeing the restored print in the theatrical re-release at the beginning of the year, I was so excited about it coming back to DVD with such a superb look.

 

[Brook K]

M-I-R-A-M-A-X
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[Jason_H]

Yes...but what did they do to it???

 

[Gui A]

Way back in March/April, the Rumour here was that Apple Corps saw how great Beatles:1 did, and wanted AHDN to be very succesful. The original release date was near the end of Q1, which is the slowest sales quarter. The plan was to hold on to until Q4, Christmas, and create a big ad blitz around it, like they did with One. Hopefully, we'll be hearing a release date soon.

 

[Rob Tomlin]

I've been waiting for this forever it seems. A true Classic of a movie! Too bad Miramax has the rights to it! Are they ever going to release Pulp Fiction in Anamorphic widescreen?

 

[Chris Brunner]

I've actually read that they pulled it back so that they could do a real DEFINITIVE version. Remixing the audio (5.1 even) and cramming it full of extras is what I'm hearing. This film deserves it. Maybe Apple is finally waking up!!!
Let's hope so.
C

 

[Craig S]

Are they ever going to release Pulp Fiction in Anamorphic widescreen?

A Pulp Fiction SE has been rumored to be in work for awhile now. I have a feeling we'll see it in 2002.
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[Gary_E]

This news item brought to you by Abbeyrd's Beatles Page http://www.geocities.com/abbeyrdwebmaster/
New AHDN DVD coming Update (8/23/01) From Sean Courtney:
This past weekend at Beatlefest, Martin Lewis asked for people to go to the video room to watch the movie and...SCREAM! They're planning on adding a separate "scream track" to emulate what it was like to watch "A Hard Day's Night" in theaters in 1964 with all the teenage fans screaming at the larger-than-life images of the Fab Four being projected onto a screen.
Update (8/14/01) Martin Lewis has been hired to produce the AHDN DVD, which will be released by Miramax and Buena Vista Films but has no release date yet. He says plans call for multiple audio tracks (a 5.1 surround version, a digital restoration of the original mono, plus commentaries from cast and crew) as well as original trailers and promo clips.
(7/28/01)
Fans have been wondering why the previously-announced new edition of the AHDN DVD has not been released yet and has not even got an official release date scheduled. We've discovered that the reason for the delay is that the producers are apparently immersed in making sure that it is the definitive release. They are considering a selection of sound mixes, plus large amounts of additional audio and visuals. They are determined to far surpass the briefly available MPI version -- both technically and in respect of content. No further details or release date yet - but we will keep you informed as and when we hear more.
-Gary

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

the briefly available MPI version

I got my MPI copy for $16 at Costco - should have bought them out! The MPI copy itself is quite good - decent video, clear stereo sound. I'm not sure why a major restoration was contemplated. The DVD contains the "Running Jumping Standing Still" featurette that inspired the Beatles to choose Lester as the HDN director.
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[Patrick McCart]

I hope they put a commentary by Richard Lester on the DVD. That, along with the other extras, would make a DVD VERY worth getting.
Did Miramax also buy the rights to Help! ?
The MPI DVD has really good sound (2.0 surround stereo) but the video is terrible. The master is obviously from the TV master instead of a new one (from 16mm). The color is great mostly. The restoration is ok, but the restorer, Paul Rutan Jr. said that the only way to fix the opticals (which were handled poorly by the optical company) was digitally. In 1995, when the restoration was done, digital restoration wasn't very good, so a recent completion of the restoration would be nice.
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[Jeff Adkins]

Not really. Over the past year or so Disney & their associated studios have really gotten their DVD acts together.

Not when they continue to ruin terrific Hong Kong films by editing them and changing the music (and even the language). I hear the upcoming theatrical release of Iron Monkey has scenes missing and a new soundtrack. Not to mention the bastardization of Drunken Master II. What I really love is when people talk about how passionate the Weinstein's are about cinema. Give me a break. It's all about the green with them.
Jeff

 

[Derek Miner]

Patrick,
You may or may not have seen this article:
http://www.salon.com/ent/col/srag/20...rd_days_night/
done at the time of the theatrical re-release of A Hard Day's Night. It mentions the restoration done on Help!, and that some of the original negative was torn, which is probably the only reason any digital work was needed.
I'm not sure what you mean by "TV master." It's true the restoration of Help! was first shown on American Movie Classics, and that the same version in on the MPI DVD. But the AMC money allowed Rutan to create 35mm archive masters and new telecine transfers.
So whatever could come from Miramax probably wouldn't look too much different, if they WERE to buy the rights to Help!...
= Derek =

 

[Alex Shk]

Just as an aside - the following Miramax dvd's went out of print several months back:
Help
The First U.S. Visit
You Can't Do That - The Making of "A Hard Days Night"
and I'm not sure about Magical Mystery Tour - but I do know the 4 DVD set which contained all 4 also went out of print. I picked up the set when I first heard about this. I missed out on the original AHDN dvd, and I don't feel like waiting another 5 years (or better) for these titles. After all - Let It Be has been out of print on all video formats for almost 15 years now....
Ya gotta love Apple. They are the Disney of Rock n' Roll.
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[Edited last by Alex Shk on September 02, 2001 at 08:30 AM]

 

[Dave Hahn]

The DEFINITIVE VERSION of A Hard Day's Night on dvd would have to include a commentary track from Roger Ebert. I understand Mr. Ebert occasionally teaches a film class using only AHDN for reference material. How cool is that?

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[Patrick McCart]

I meant that the transfer looked like it was from the TV transfer because of the lower-resolution. I could tell that the tranfer was from 16mm because of the grain size and quality...
Alex: Those are/were MPI HV DVD's.
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P.S.: There's no P.S.
[Edited last by PatrickMcCart on September 02, 2001 at 12:46 PM]

 

[Gui A]

I always blame Yoko for bad beatles news.

 

[Randy_M]

I have the MPI version of AHDN, and the thing that drives me nuts is that the songs are MUCH louder than the dialog sections..I'm always grabbing for the volume control.
Other than that, the video transfer is terrific, although I would certainly re-buy for some more extras and a fixed sound track.

 

[Derek Miner]

Randy,
This is the way the new Miramax prints played in the theater as well. I don't know the aesthetic reasons they are mixing the movie this way, though.
If they are planning on revisiting the audio again for the DVD, this may be corrected, but I would expect the same soundtrack.
The songs on the MPI disc were in stereo from the album masters, by the way, but the Miramax theatrical release used more correct mono mixes and "enhanced" them for 5.1.
= Derek =

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

The songs on the MPI disc were in stereo from the album masters, by the way, but the Miramax theatrical release used more correct mono mixes and "enhanced" them for 5.1.

I thought the theatrical release was in mono, but I did not see it, so I can't verify. One of the mild annoyances with the mix on the MPI DVD was the absence of a few foley effects during the musical numbers for the reason Derek mentioned above. This is apparently fixed in the new versions.
Regards,
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Ken McAlinden
Livonia, MI USA

 

[Michael R. Cantone]

The one thing I'm hoping for is that any new reissue of A HARD DAY"S NIGHT will be in its original theartrical aspect ratio (1.75:1) instead of being cropped. Oh by the way, why is it that some of the films made in Britain in the 60's were in black and white and in the 1.75:1 aspect ratio? That photography is so wonderful. Was it the filmstock? The way they used the lighting? I have to know
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