| Help! (Deluxe Edition) | 
 enlarge
| Director: Richard Lester
Actor: The Beatles
Studio: Capitol
Category: DVD
List Price: $134.99
Buy New: $39.74
You Save: $95.25 (71%)
New (57) Used (4) Collectible (3) from $28.59
Avg. Customer Rating:  329 reviews
Sales Rank: 18536
Format: Box Set, Color, Dvd-video, Limited Edition, Ntsc, Surround Sound
Languages: English (Original Language), Portuguese (Original Language)
Rating: G (General Audience)
Number Of Items: 2
Running Time: 149
Aspect Ratio: 1.75:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 11.9 x 8.8 x 2
MPN: C9BH-09519
EAN: 5099950951994
ASIN: B000VPUIA6
Theatrical Release Date: August 25, 1965
Release Date: November 6, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: FACTORY SEALED SHIPS IMMEDIATELY
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Disc 1 (96 minutes)-HELP! Theatrical MovieDigitally restored and newly created 5.1 soundtrack.Disc 2 (57 minutes)- The Beatles in Help! 30 minute documentary about the making of the film with Richard Lester the cast and crew. Includes exclusive behind the scenes footage of The Beatles on set.- A Missing Scene Featuring Wendy Richard- The Restoration of Help! An in depth look at the restoration process- Memories of Help! The cast and crew reminisce- Theatrical Trailers 2 US trailers and 1 Spanish trailer- 1965 US Radio Spots - Hidden in disc menusDeluxe Package also includes:- a reproduction of Richard Lester s original annotated script- 8 lobby cards- poster- 60-page book with rarely seen photographs and production notes from the movieSystem Requirements:Run Time: 149 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY/SHOWBIZ Rating: G UPC: 5099950951994 Manufacturer No: C9BH-09519
Amazon.com
After the worldwide success of A Hard Day's Night, the Beatles and director Richard Lester reunited for a follow-up film, Eight Arms to Hold You. Well, that wasn't the final title; a pleading Lennon-McCartney tune provided the catchier handle: Help! A loose semispoof of the globe-trotting James Bond pictures, Help! has always been considered a somewhat disorganized comedown from its predecessor; but it presents "the famous Beatles" even more clearly as the English cousins of the Marx Brothers. The plot has an Eastern religious cult declaring that the new ring on Ringo's finger is the key element in a human sacrifice; they will stop at nothing to obtain it. Meanwhile, a mad scientist (crazed Victor Spinetti, who also appeared in A Hard Day's Night and Magical Mystery Tour) believes that if he has the ring, he could--dare we say it?--rule the world. The songs, including "Ticket to Ride" and "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," are filmed with gleeful ingenuity, in locations such as the Bahamas, an Austrian ski resort, and the Salisbury Plain. The relentless nonsense becomes nearly the equivalent of a swinging-'60s Alice in Wonderland: for instance, Paul shrinks to the size of a gum wrapper, John fishes a season ticket out of his soup, George wears a top hat on the ski slopes, the lads sing the "Ode to Joy" to a lion. Oh, and the film is dedicated to Elias Howe, "who in 1846 invented the sewing machine." Brilliant. --Robert Horton
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 324 more reviews...
 Great film, questionable DVD package September 12, 2007
99 out of 104 found this review helpful
Everyone knows the film and loves it, that's why we're here checking it out on this page. But what about this DVD package? If you look at the price, you have to question is it really worth it.
When I first read about the Deluxe Edition, I thought the price would be around $50 like most other Deluxe Edition DVDs out there. At $95, this is way too much for what they're offering. Yes, you get all this:
- a reproduction of Richard Lester s original annotated script
- 8 lobby cards
- poster
- 60-page book with rarely seen photographs and production notes from the movie
... but unless they are signed by at least one Beatle, I wouldn't pay that much. Yes, Richard Lester's annotated script is great, but wait awhile and you'll probably find a reproduction online sometime. The lobby cards and poster are great, but those are not the main reasons for the price inflation. The 60 page book would seem to be the main reason for the price hike, but look at other Beatles books out there. The paperback version of The Beatles Anthology has 368 pages, weighs 2.2 pounds, and has over 1,300 photographs. The price? LESS THAN A THIRD of what this Deluxe Edition of Help is going for.
Yes, all these extras are nice, but it's not worth the price, and I'm a huge Beatles nut who buys everything they make. At this moment, I'm going to buy the regular edition which has been restored with great picture and a 5.1 soundtrack. Plus, the second disk has great extras (could be better if they had Paul or Ringo commenting) that will suffice. Especially for the price.
Drop the price on this Deluxe Edition, guys. If you do that, people will buy.
 A Hint of Things to Come July 12, 2002
92 out of 126 found this review helpful
Released only a year after the critically acclaimed "A Hard Day's Night," this film has a subtle edge to it, which in hindsight is quite poignant.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
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
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
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.
|
|
|
