A Hard Day's Night (1964)

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

I really love this band you can't imagine how much. the Beatles are a big influence in my life and this since I discovered their music 5 years ago and you can't believe how thrilled I was while watching this movie. and It's not because of its realization, it had an average directing and production nor because it had a profound, multifaceted scenario or story, that's not what this movie is about nor what it's trying to achieve. what A hard day's night's attempting to do is give you an impression of this huge thing that is the Beatles, more essentially when they're not making music, and being normal goofy young men, it feels like being close to and hanging with them. and that's the reason I loved it since I was born ages after the band split and John died, and I was too young to remember Georges the only Beatles I caught up with are Ringo and Paul. so this movie really gives you a rendition of them and who they were. Plus that's not the main reason I liked it, the movie is full of wittiness and funny lines, and some subliminally smutty writing, not the one you'd expect from an early 60's movie and the band did a good job acting they were spontaneous and very attachable and the photography is enchanting and even if you get a little lost at the start because the story goes nowhere at the end it makes up for it with a great presence from the quartet and some transcendent music .

...but they were great entertainers, and this film is great entertainment. This is the best of all of the rock and roll films that feature the actual performers. This picture demonstrates The Beatles at the peak of their popularity in the Summer of 1964- wandering about London- with the ultimate soundtrack in the background. A fascinating homage to Beatlemania when viewed now- over half a century later. The inventive boys from Liverpool are displayed at their sarcastic and witty best in this natural setting. A Hard Day's Night is a great example of the early Beatles musical ability, and work product, being that the title tune was written in about 20min between finishing an American tour, a European tour, a plethora of television specials, recording an LP in Paris in German for the Deutschland market, writing and recording the Hard Day's Night LP as well as making this film all within the same year, and before May of that year. After which, they all went on a month long vacation, recorded another album and began work on the next film. These guys were driven workaholics at this time, and their collective creative synergy has never been seen again.There wasn't anywhere The Beatles could go without being mobbed, thus they spent years boxed up in hotel rooms together to the point where they knew each other so well they often finished each others sentences during interviews. As a group of young men going through that type of stress day in and day out, they had to develop coping skills in order to keep it together, it seems they chose humor as their main tool. This movie shows us a little bit of that. Genius casting is evident in Hard Days Night with the inclusion of Irishman Wilfred Brambell as Paul McCartney's incorrigible Grandfather. Brambell was only 52 at the time but looked 82. At the time Brambell was very well known to British audiences due to the popularity of his television character named Albert Steptoe in a show called Steptoe and Son. Brambell's 1960s character Steptoe was the basis for the Fred Sanford character played by Redd Foxx on the 1970s American TV show "Sanford and Son". Look fast for a 13 year old Phil Collins in the audience as a screaming fan and look even faster for 20 year old Pattie Boyd as a schoolgirl on the train ride.

A Hard Day's Night packs a lot of fun into a movie. Some critics say this film is part documentary, to which I saw just because the famous group plays themselves doesn't make A Hard Day's Night a documentary. It is a quirky comedy and a musical that tries to capture the essence of The Beatles, one of the most influential bands in history.It is enjoyable how many comedic bits this movie is made of. Although it is definitely not the same type of humor throughout the film, some of it seems to pay homage to the Marx brothers. The comedy is all situational or dialogue-based, but none of it seems to be slapstick humor which comes into play only a few times in Marx brothers films. Though you don't find the urge to laugh at it, the first conversation of the film is amusing; Paul McCartney insists the man they sit with on a train is his grandfather, explaining "I'm entitled to two, aren't I" when the other Beatles insist they have seen his grandfather before. It is also amusing when the Beatles never seem to react much to things their managers get into a fuss over.Although it touches on it only in a few parts, this movie also has great commentary on social class. A few minutes into the film, an older gentleman of the upper class shares the train carriage with the Beatles and he is immediately snobby to fit the conditions to his needs, which means the Beatles can't have the window open or listen to their radio. Then, inexplicably, The Beatles are running beside the train asking for their ball back, a great analogy of the situation.Obviously the music in the film must be given thought to as well. The music is simply there when it is used and does not really contribute much to the story. However, the energy of the Beatles is captured with the opening credit sequence in which A Hard Day's Night is playing as well as in a scene with Can't Buy me Love when the four Beatles run around a field with a helipad to escape their "imprisonment due to fame" if only for a brief moment. Some of the music is just there, and some of it conveys energy.The story is definitely not the highlight of the film. It is reflective of the Beatles' life as a band - the reason some may consider it a documentary - but it truly is not a documentary in any sense. It is a fictional story constructed around the idea that the band has an important performance to give. Don't set expectations high for a great story here because it is very straightforward.A Hard Day's Night still has a good sense of energy and a lot of comedy, making this "Beatles movie" a delight to watch.3.0/4.0

The Beatles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr) are traveling from Liverpool to London for a TV performance. They bring along Paul's grandfather as well as their various entourage on the trip as they have fun misadventures.This is simply fun and its success suggests the coming marriage of pop music and video imagery. The dry British humor is fun and it's all about the lads' charm. They sell the material better than any experienced actors. They seem to be really enjoying themselves. In that sense, director Richard Lester is lucky and he's also smart enough to let them go at it. And the music is so great. It is a pop icon of the 20th century.