Product Description
Meet the Beatles! Just one month after they exploded onto the U.S. scene with their Ed Sullivan Show appearance, John, Paul, George, and Ringo began working on a project that would bring their revolutionary talent to the big screen. A Hard Day’s Night, in which the bandmates play slapstick versions of themselves, captured the astonishing moment when they officially became the singular, irreverent idols of their generation and changed music forever. Directed with raucous, anything-goes verve by Richard Lester and featuring a slew of iconic pop anthems, including the title track, “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “I Should Have Known Better,” and “If I Fell,” A Hard Day’s Night, which reconceived the movie musical and exerted an incalculable influence on the music video, is one of the most deliriously entertaining movies of all time.

Special Features

• New 4K digital film restoration, approved by director Richard Lester, with three audio options—a monaural soundtrack, as well as stereo and 5.1 surround mixes supervised by sound producer Giles Martin—presented in uncompressed monaural, uncompressed stereo, and DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray
• Audio commentary featuring various members of the film’s cast and crew (dual-format only)
• In Their Own Voices, a new piece combining interviews with the Beatles from 1964 with behind-the-scenes footage and photos
• You Can’t Do That: The Making of “A Hard Day’s Night,” a 1994 documentary program by producer Walter Shenson
• Things They Said Today, a 2002 documentary about the film featuring Lester, music producer George Martin, writer Alun Owen, cinematographer Gilbert Taylor, and others (dual-format only)
• New piece about Lester’s early work, featuring a new audio interview with the director (dual-format only)
• The Running Jumping and Standing Still Film(1959), Lester’s Oscar-nominated short featuring Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan (dual-format only)
• Anatomy of a Style, a new piece on Lester’s approach to editing (dual-format only)
• New interview with Mark Lewisohn, author of The Beatles: All These Years—Volume One, Tune In (dual-format only)
• Deleted scene (dual-format only)
• Trailers
• PLUS: An essay by critic Howard Hampton
• More!

DVD
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J2PQYYK/?tag=imwan-20

Blu-ray/DVD Combo
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J2PQZEY/?tag=imwan-20

The above information is for the UK, but I'm making this thread under the assumption that an upgraded DVD and Blu-ray (which this title is in genuine need of) would naturally also be released in the USA.

OMG--A LIMITED EDITION???

Um............. wasn't the last version restored?

I hope its get the Criterion treatment. I still believe the laser disc edition by the Criterion company outdoes any "Hard Days Night" release so far.

Rick A.

Wow, I love this idea.

From Criterion site!

http://www.criterion.com/films/28547-a-hard-day-s-night

Ask and ye shall receive.

I want this now!!!

It can be pre-ordered now! Details are in the first post.

Ordered... Thank you!

So, does that mean my current DVD is..."unapproved."

Seriously--I rescind my previous snarky outburst--I didn't know it was a Criterion release. Their "Quadrophenia" remaster from a couple of years ago was outstanding, as well as "Gimme Shelter". I have never watched the previous deluxe "Hard Day's Night" DVD, so I may well be speaking out of ignorance, but all I know is that what made Criterion's "Gimme Shelter" one of the best rock DVD's ever was that it really wasn't put together to promote the Stones or their catalog, but to put the film and the events captured in the movie in perspective. I would welcome a presentation of "A Hard Days Night" from a similar third-party perspective, rather than as an Apple-sanctioned, McCartney/Starr-friendly, Ono-approved presentation.

I loved HDN, Help & Yellow Sub as a kid; I find them extremely boring as an adult (the films, I still love the Help & HDN albums). Never liked MMT.
LIB may be the most interesting of any of the films to me, though it's obviously no masterpiece.

IMO, it isn't that the Beatles films are bad, it's just that like other rock films of the early-mid 60's (DC5's & Herman's Hermits also) their target audience is children. And at that level they succeed admirably.

That's the thing--it's my understanding that "Hard Day's Night" was the quintessential example of a low budget film made with no real expectations of any sort of cultural resonance outside of soundtrack album sales, but was so successful, critically and financially, that many other films that followed overtly attempted to replicate its formula with little success, probably because they were trying too hard. Criterion has put together some amazing presentations which really put a film in that sort of context, and I hope they do so with HDN as well.

Now that I think about it, Criterion is probably also capable of putting together a fantastic edition of "Let It Be"--one that not only presents the film within the context of all of the 1969-70 Beatle drama occurring away from the cameras, but also delving into the films' absence from official circulation for so many years. Something tells me that THAT won't happen for at least another hundred years or so.

I'm firing up my Blu ray player right now in anticipation.

Just got an mail from Amazon on this. I have no intention of buying it (I bought the last perfect final ultimate oh my god upgraded edition), but I will say that $17 is a very good new release price for a Criterion dvd.

The Blu at $35 isn't such a good price...........

Maybe we will get lucky and cash-in on the twice a year 1/2 price deal.

Rick A.

I considered getting the Blu-ray upgrade...until I saw the price.

The Barnes & Noble 50% off Criterion sale is usually in July, so this should be almost perfectly timed.

One movie where the DVD is fine but if it's gets priced better on Blu.