Yes, the boys are gorgeous, so young, so talented, so sexy--and in COLOR this time. The music, as it always was with the Beatles, was innovative for its time, often brilliant. The very silly plot, in which some bad guys want to steal a sacred ring from Ringo's finger, is fun and ridiculous and infectious. But it only takes a close listen to John Lennon's title song, "Help," to know that he was already in distress.

The demands on the Fab Four were getting more and more troubling to each of them. Just on the horizon, if not already begun, was time with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, heavy use of LSD, the John and Yoko saga, Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heartclub Band, and all that was to come until the inevitable acrimonious disintegration of the group.

Viewed in hindsight, therefore, "Help" makes this reviewer sad. It is so seemingly happy and innocent, so "60s," and yet the viewer knows that it all fell apart. I think for those who did not experience the Beatles firsthand, however, this movie has to be a thoroughly enjoyable and wonderful experience. And for the rest of us, it's a trip down memory lane to a time when all things still seemed possible.


Fab film from the Fab Four!   June 18, 2001
J. Gibson (United States)
62 out of 69 found this review helpful

This was the first Beatles film I saw. From the first minutes of the film I was hooked! I became an instant Beatle fan.

A religious cult is after Ringo because he is in possession of thier sacrificial ring. There are several failed attempts to obtain the ring: stealing it at night as he sleeps, grabbing it when he posts a letter, the elevator scene, getting the ring at a restaurant and even sawing around his drum set so he will fall through to the basement as the Beatles record "You're Gonna Lose That Girl". Despite these failures, Clang (Leo McKern), the cult leader, is more determined than ever to get the ring from Ringo!

Ahme (wonderfully played by Eleanor Braun), a priestess of the cult is secretly working with the Beatles to keep them out of harms way.

Added to the mix are two bumbling scientists Professor Foot and Algernon (Victor Spinetti and Roy Kinnear respectively), and a Scotland Yard superintendent played by Patrick Cargill. To Cargill everything is "famous" (the famous Ringo, famous Beatles, famous plan).

John, Paul, George and Ringo are all charming as ever. The settings run from England, to the ski slopes of Austria to the Bahamas.

There are so many funny things in this movie that you can't just watch it one time and catch them all.

The soundtrack to this movie is awesome: "Help!", "The Night Before", "I Need You", "Another Girl", "You're Gonna Lose That Girl", "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away", "She's A Woman" and "Ticket To Ride".

It's such a shame that MPI is no longer producing this movie. I truly hope another distributor will be able to gain the rights so it will once again be available.

It is well worth the trouble of hunting a copy of this movie down because everything about it is timeless.


Here's What's in the Deluxe Edition...   September 5, 2007
Marc Wielage (Northridge, CA USA)
46 out of 69 found this review helpful

So for an extra $75 you get (in addition to the two DVDs):

* a reproduction of Richard Lester's original annotated script

* 8 reproductions of the original theatrical lobby cards

* a reproduction of the Theatrical movie poster

* a 60-page book with rarely seen photographs and production notes from the movie. Both the deluxe book and the standard booklet feature an introduction by Richard Lester and an appreciation by Martin Scorsese.

No doubt it's the book that bumped the price up so much. My rating is temporary, only because it's not out at the time I wrote the review. Most likely a nice (albeit pricey) holiday gift for the die hard Beatles collector.

Unanswered questions: why not a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD high-def release? What mixes are provided of the soundtrack? And why are LET IT BE and several other Beatles films still unreleased on home video (as of late 2007)?


Help me if you can, I'm feeling fleeced   October 30, 2007
D. Hartley (Seattle, WA USA)
28 out of 48 found this review helpful

Another cynical ploy by the major releasing studios to exploit boomer nostaglia (I'm surprised no one has observed the proximity of the release date of this opus to the holidays...)

I already have my copy of the newly remastered "Help!". It is airing on the Sundance Channel as of this writing. The cost of my sparkling, letterboxed, uncut copy?

25 cents for the blank DVD.

You'd think the releasing studio would at least take me out to dinner first, before attempting to bend me over the retail counter.

Wake up and smell the incense, folks.