Friday, April 29, 2005

Help!

"Help!" has always been my favorite Beatles movie. "A Hard Day's Night" is considered one of the great films of all time (let alone Beatle projects), but to me, "Help!" is more entertaining and a lot more fun all around.

"A Hard Day's Night" captures the early 60's British/Beatles scene perfectly. "Help!", on the other hand, manages to not only showcase the Beatles (in color!) at their early worldwide popularity peak, but throws in a 007-type storyline with hilarious one-liners and great guest stars.

I've always felt the concert sequence at the end of "A Hard Day's Night" drags the movie down. It's a tame, stilted performance, and I'd much rather watch live footage of them available on the "Anthology" DVD, "Ed Sullivan" collection, or the "Let it Be" rooftop gig.

"Help!" on the other hand, never drags. Let's hope they release a more robust DVD version, with lots of the cool extras and give this super movie a new life.