June 09, 2013

Help ! Beatles Movie To Be Released On Blu-Ray



The Beatles' 1965 full-length movie Help becomes the latest film from the Fab Four to get go high def with the June 25 release of Help! on Blu-ray. The Richard Lester-directed musical spy spoof follows up last year's Blu-ray releases Yellow Submarine and Magical Mystery Tour and word is that the band's final film Let It Be will also see a Blu-ray release by the end of the year. No word yet on any bonus material. The film was digitally restored and released on DVD with added features in 2007.
The movie featured seven Beatles songs including the title track, "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away", "The Night Before", "Another Girl", "Ticket to Ride", "You're Gonna Lose That Girl" and the George Harrison-composed "I Need You".

From the press release...

The Beatles’ second feature film, 1965’s Help!, is on the way on Blu-ray. On June 24 (June 25 in North America), Help! makes its eagerly awaited Blu-ray debut in a single-disc package pairing the digitally restored film and 5.1 soundtrack with an hour of extra features, including a 30-minute documentary about the making of the film, memories of the cast and crew, an in-depth look at the restoration process, an outtake scene, and original theatrical trailers and radio spots. An introduction by the film’s director, Richard Lester, and an appreciation by Martin Scorsese are included in the Blu-ray’s booklet.

Help!’s Blu-ray edition follows the 2012 release of The Beatles’ digitally restored Yellow Submarine and Magical Mystery Tour feature films on Blu-ray, DVD and iTunes with extensive extras. Help!’s restoration for its 2007 DVD debut wowed viewers, earning five-times platinum sales in the U.S. and praise from a broad range of top media outlets around the world, including USA Today heralding the DVD as “a grand re-release,” The Guardian’s appreciation of the film’s director, Richard Lester, saying “Lester matches The Beatles’ ‘star’ power with smart, colourful visuals and casual surrealism,” The Los Angeles Times’ restoration rave: “With dynamic compression that was standard in the 1960s lifted for the digital age, the full range of the group’s musicality comes through – it’s like several coats of dust have been cleaned off an old master’s painting,” and four-star reviews from Rolling Stone and MOJO with the latter saying, “They really don't make them like this anymore.”

Directed by Richard Lester, who also directed the band’s debut feature film, 1964’s A Hard Day’s Night, Help! follows The Beatles as they become passive recipients of an outside plot that revolves around Ringo's possession of a sacrificial ring, which he cannot remove from his finger. As a result, he and his bandmates John, Paul and George are chased from London to the Austrian Alps and the Bahamas by religious cult members, a mad scientist and the London police.

In addition to starring The Beatles, Help! boasts a witty script, a great cast of British character actors, and classic Beatles songs “Help!,” “You're Going To Lose That Girl,” “You've Got To Hide Your Love Away,” “Ticket To Ride,” “I Need You,” “The Night Before,” and “Another Girl.”

Help!’s Blu-ray package pairs the digitally restored original film with these extra features:

• “The Beatles in Help!” – a 30-minute documentary about the making of the film with Richard Lester, the cast and crew, including exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of The Beatles on-set.
• “A Missing Scene” – a film outtake, featuring Wendy Richard
• “The Restoration of Help!” – an in-depth look at the restoration process
• “Memories of Help!” – the cast and crew reminisce
• 1965 Theatrical Trailers – two original U.S. trailers and one original Spanish trailer
• 1965 U.S. Radio Spots (hidden in disc menus)

The Beatles Help! DVD cover P

In addition to the digitally-restored film, the new disc features outtakes, a 30-minute documentary, an introduction by director Richard Lester and an appreciation by Martin Scorsese.

Beatles fans: Help! will be here soon. Nearly 48 years after its theatrical release, the Fab Four’s second feature film will be issued on the Blu-ray format this June with a stack of extra material.
The Blu-ray edition of Help! will carry the digitally-restored film and 5.1 soundtrack plus an hour of extra features, including a 30-minute documentary on the making of the film, memories of the cast and crew, an in-depth look at the restoration process, an outtake scene, and original theatrical trailers and radio spots.
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Also, there’s an introduction by the 1965 film’s director, Richard Lester, and an appreciation by Martin Scorsese included in the Blu-ray disc’s booklet.
The Blu-ray version is slated to arrive June 21 in Australia, June 24 in Europe and June 25 in North America, the band announced today via the official Beatles Website.
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Help! was restored for its 2007 DVD release, which earned five-times platinum sales in the U.S., according to EMI.
The forthcoming Help! Blu-ray edition follows the 2012 release of The Beatles’ digitally-restored Yellow Submarine and Magical Mystery Tour films on Blu-ray, DVD and iTunes.
Extras on the Blu-ray release of Help!:
  • “The Beatles in Help!” – a 30-minute documentary about the making of the film with Richard Lester, the cast and crew, including exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of The Beatles on-set.
  • “A Missing Scene” – a film outtake, featuring Wendy Richard.
  • “The Restoration of Help!” – an in-depth look at the restoration process.
  • “Memories of Help!” – the cast and crew reminisce.
  • 1965 Theatrical Trailers – two original U.S. trailers and one original Spanish trailer.
  • 1965 U.S. Radio Spots (hidden in disc menus).
Twitter: @billboard











As y'all probably know, "Help!" is heading our way again, now on Blu-ray. The Beatles have control over all their films, except "A Hard Day's Night". With "Help!" due out in June, The Beatles/Apple have released three of their four films on Blu-ray in the course of a year. Here's the schedule:
June 2012: "Yellow Submarine"
October 2012: "Magical Mystery Tour"
June 2013: "Help!"
Can we believe that October 2013 will see the release of the film we're really waiting for: "Let It Be". This writer thinks so.