A Hard Day's Night - Best Music Movie Ever

[Screaming Lord Byron]

Just watched the Hard Day's Night DVD, I hadn't seen the movie in about fifteen years. First thing that shocked me about it was how little it had aged, how it manages to capture the spirit of its time while also existing outside of it. It's actually a very surreal movie, with revolutionary (for the time) camera techniques and editing, and it's use of French New Wave touches such as time displacement. The movie catches the essence of the Beatles' lifestyle at the height of Beatlemania, while simultaneously satirising and encapsulating the society in which they live. Even the acting by John, Paul, George and Ringo is unforced and naturalistic, a testament to Alun Owen's script. For a rock and roll flick, this is actually a brilliantly conceived film that can stand up among 'proper' movies. Richard Lester was a truly innovative and inventive director.

[Old and In the Way]

1. Easy Rider

That soundtrack blew me away when the movie was released....

2nd Favorite: "Harder They Come, The Harder They Fall"

[Maple]

2. Oh puleeze

people.

[BlueJazz]

13. Yep..Maple...I know what you're sayin'

.

[mac56]

14. I sure don't.

Care to enlighten me?

[TheZoo]

3. I agree

It's in black and white, good music, and it's got my favorite group.

I rank it just behind (barely) "Yellow Submarine" :-)

[catzies]

7. I agree but I put Yellow Sub after Help!

Help! is in my top 5 watch-it-and-make-a-bad-day-go-away movies. So is Hard Day's Night, too.

[kodi]

4. there are very few perfect movies, AHDN is one of them

agree, the best music.

[LuLu550]

5. the Beatles invented the music video

with Hard Day's Night...long before there was even video...Check out the quick cuts, camera angles; "reality TV" way before its time....
But then I love the Beatles, especially George (RIP).

[Screaming Lord Byron]

6. Yup, George is my boy too. n/t

[LuLu550]

10. I've been meaning to ask you about your username

Is "screaming" a verb or adjective? Is Lord Byron doing the screaming or is one screaming things written by him?

[Screaming Lord Byron]

16. I scream for ice cream.

It's my secret Rawkstar name. That's me doing the screaming. I am Lord Byron. No other!

[NightTrain]

12. No, they didn't

From the July 14, 1958, issue of BILLBOARD magazine:

"Mercury Records is quietly working on a major new technique for getting plugs via the mushrooming media of TV platter shows....The label has produced two three-minute films, one of the Platters and one of the Diamonds, performing their current plug tunes, which they will rush to make available to a list of almost 200 TV deejays....Ed Sullivan had offered to buy the Platters' film for several thousand dollars.... decided not to sell but to reap its value by giving it away to the afternoon teen-age programs."

So as groundbreaking as the Beatles were, they did *not* invent the music video.

[mac56]

15. Even before that -

there were "Soundies", short film loops that played in special jukeboxes. Featured stars of the 40s. There's a great one with Louis Jordan.

Speaking of whom -

Hey NightTrain! How did the blues show go on Saturday?

Add on edit: More on soundies!

http://www.cinema.ucla.edu/collections/Profiles/soundies.html

[Screaming Lord Byron]

17. Man, I never knew that. Cheers.

[OneBlueSky]

8. depends on how you define "music movie" . . .

my personal favorite is "The Last Waltz" . . . do concert flicks count? . . .

[Screaming Lord Byron]

18. 'nother classic. Everything Counts in Large Amounts.

[mac56]

9. Yes! Agree 100%!

"A Hard Day's Night" is not only the best music movie ever made, but is my favorite movie of all time.

[tjdee]

11. They're all very charming in it--easy to see why they were so famous.

I don't know if its the *best* musical movie (eh, the script is kind of hokey in spots, the grandfather kind of...hokey in spots, LOL), but the four guys certainly shine in it.

It's extremely watchable--I was pleasantly surprised at how easily acting came to them, and how much fun they had with it. They were all just adorable, and swoonable, and every bit the guys everyone wished they were. A pleasure to watch, for sure.