In select cities this week (with 5.1 surround sound for extra psychedelic effect). And while the film was famously born out of a contractual obligation, some distance shows that it is one of the better examples of the Beatles on film (even if John, Paul, George and Ringo aren’t actually in the film until the last few minutes).
This is lightning in a bottle: the Beatles and Beatlemania at their apogee, with all the requisite screaming, racing and mop-top clowning. With the barest of scripts (the Beatles prepare for a television performance and deal with Paul’s troublemaker grandfather), director Richard Lester had a springboard to essentially create the art of the music video. Some numbers (“If I Fell,” “She Loves You”) are the lads “playing live,” while others are stylish, exuberant bursts of kinetic energy (“Can’t Buy Me Love” being the most groundbreaking). There are quality zings (“Turn left at Greenland,” John Lennon says when asked, “How did you find America?”),
Where to watch: Amazon Video, FilmStruck, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu and YouTube
“Let It Be,” Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s fly-on-the-wall documentary of the Beatles’ last days is a considerable downer and has been somewhat locked in the vault. But it is significant not only as a record of the Beatles’ process, but as an end-of-an-era time capsule. The first two-thirds document the band as it works through and records new songs in the studio. The finale is the famous “concert on the roof” at Apple Record
Where to watch: Archive.org
As the Beatles’ catalog hit Las Vegas in Cirque du Soleil’s “Love,” director Julie Taymor put together a different Beatles jukebox musical. Taking 34 songs (and just enough dialogue to tell a story) “Across the Universe” is an anodyne salute to the 1960s that’s visually bold but leaden with story clichés. The film is loaded with Easter eggs for hard-core Beatles fans,
Where to watch: Amazon, Google Play, Hulu, iTunes, Vudu and YouTube
Lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice. Same director, same witty, camera-ready group as those in “A Hard Day’s Night.” But although the color film and mod production design look terrific, “Help!” regrettably gives our foursome too much of a plot. Ringo (the best, or at least most sympathetic, actor in “A Hard Day’s Night”) is wearing a new ring sent to him by a fan. Little does he know that it belongs to an “Eastern cult” and that the wearer is to be disemboweled in a religious sacrifice. Thus begins a great number of silly chase scenes, some better than others. Where to watch: iTunes
Maligned at the time, this hourlong film, made for British television, was shot with no script and no single person at the wheel. Inspired by Ken Kesey’s Merry Pranksters, the Beatles and some character actors go on a wacky caravan adventure manipulated by a group of wizards (also played by the Beatles.) Some moments are sublime,
Where to watch: iTunes
Much as children were scandalized that the Monkees didn’t (at first) play their own instruments, this kid-friendly intro-to-rock cartoon held a similar secret:
Those aren’t the Beatles doing the voices. But some great impersonators nailed the Liverpudlian patter and, thanks to animation’s scripted nature, “John, Paul, George and Ringo” have sharper tongues than in any of their previous onscreen appearances. Outrageous puns and playful put-downs fly at supersonic speed in what’s essentially a series of creative animation set pieces. The mystical Pepperland is under assault from the Blue Meanies, and an aging sailor sets off in his yellow submarine (based on a pre-existing song with Ringo singing lead) to get help-
Where to watch: Amazon, iTunes
Cast Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees to play the in-universe band of the title and concocted a half-baked plot mixing Americana conventions, “Doctor Faustus,” poorly rendered robotics and George Burns singing “Fixing a Hole.” This is one of the great “how did this get made?” movies and that keeps it extremely watchable.
Where to watch: Amazon, Google Play, iTunes and Vudu
