Criterion always has done right by the Beatles’ first and best film, dating back to the laserdisc days. Stand by for the latest and greatest, a 4k UHD rendition of “A Hard Day’s Night.”
While the extras will be familiar to owners of the Bluray/DVD combo pack of 2014, the video promises a significant upgrade in images. The 4k UHD offers four times the pixel power of a standard high-definition disc, at least for those with up-to-date TVs and video disc players.
The Criterion Collection’s special edition, due in mid-January, presents the musical comedy classic on one 4k UHD disc in Dolby Vision HDR and one Bluray. Audio options remain the same: uncompressed mono and stereo, and DTS-HD Master Audio (5.1 surround). The (2014) mixes were supervised by Beatles regular Giles Martin.
Also from Martin, the son of Beatles producer George Martin, come three new versions of the final Fabs record “Let It Be,” now shipping in advance of the late-November release of the 6-hour documentary series “The Beatles: Get Back.”
“A Hard Day’s Night” makes most critics’ best-ever lists. The Beatles’ first film is widely considered an electrifying mix of great music and hip comedy, both a time capsule of the swinging ’60s and a timeless entertainment. Roger Ebert called it “one of the great life-affirming landmarks of the movies.”
The film had an odd and somewhat troubled history on home video, but owners of the contemporary Criterion versions have enjoyed the best-in-market product.
Special features include “In Their Own Voices,” 18 minutes of audio clips of the Beatles talking to the press about “A Hard Day’s Night”; a fine short film about Lester’s body of work, featuring an audio interview with the director; “Anatomy of a Style,” a watery piece about the film’s inexhaustible reservoir of hip; and an outstanding video interview with Mark Lewisohn, author of the massive book(s) “Tune In: The Beatles: All These Years.”
Other extra features include the obligatory Lester short “The Running Jumping and Standing Still Film”; the decent Phil Collins-hosted “You Can’t Do That: The Making of a Hard Day’s Night” from 1994; an audio commentary from 2002 featuring various members of the film’s cast and crew but none of the Beatles; a deleted scene; and a trailer. (These were all available on the 2014 configuration.)
The new Criterion “A Hard Day’s Night” streets Jan. 18, for about $40. Those who can take advantage of the 4k UHD should find it an exciting upgrade, a richer and more immersive video experience, but less-up-to-date owners of the 2014 Bluray set won’t be missing out on any new content. The beautiful black-and-white images from “A Hard Day’s Night” have always looked great in modern versions, regardless.
The new “Let It Be” audio sets come in various versions: a single vinyl album with a new stereo mix; a five-CD, single Blu-ray set also with 5.1 surround DTS and Dolby Atmos; a two-CD set; and a four-LP, single EP vinyl package. The stereo versions were “guided by the original ‘reproduced for disc’ version by (producer) Phil Spector.” The sets also include the 1969 mix by famed rock producer and engineer Glyn Johns.
The “Let It Be” super deluxe editions include 27 “unreleased session recordings” — all “sourced directly from the original session and rooftop performance 8-track tapes.”
The “Get Back” documentary series was created by filmmaker Peter Jackson. It debuts on Disney+ on Nov. 25, 26 and 27. Paul McCartney has said the new film “shows the truth about the Beatles recording together,” improving on the often downbeat “Let It Be” film released in 1970 and mostly kept under wraps by the Beatles since then.