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Hard Day's Night, A (re-release)

EMAILPRINTMiramax Films

Hard Day's Night, A (re-release) reviews
95
8.9 User Score:

Movie Info

Genre(s): Musical

Written by: Alun Owen

Directed by: Richard Lester

Release Date:
Theatrical: December 1, 2000
DVD: September 24, 2002

Running Time: 85 minutes, BW

Origin: UK

Summary

RATING: Not rated

Starring John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr

A re-release of the 1964 film which chronicles a day in the life of the Beatles, featuring many of their famous songs.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Wit, joy, imagination, and sensational mid-'60s music.

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100

Film.com Robert Horton

Conveys not just a joy in music and The Beatles, but a joy in cinema.

100

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

No movie has had a greater impact on the way people looked. The music of course is immortal.

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100

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

One of the most excitingly contemporary musicals ever made.

100

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

It enables us to recapture exactly the delightful sensations felt all those years ago when we and the world were young and exciting together.

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100

Washington Post Desson Thomson

It doesn't matter how many times you see these images. They're always exciting.

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100

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

As joyously energetic now as the day it arrived.

100

Slate David Edelstein

Watching the opening of A Hard Day's Night is like getting a direct injection of happiness.

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100

Miami Herald Howard Cohen

Lester managed to come up with a movie that not only holds together as a film but one that has proven timeless and rewards repeat viewings.

100

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

It's 85 minutes of screen time that represents one crystallized moment not in the Beatles' career per se but in the parallel career they forged inside all of us, the one that will last beyond any breakup, retirement or death.

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100

Boston Globe Jay Carr

In a crisply restored print, it's as joyous as ever. We loved them - yeah, yeah, yeah. Now we can love them all over again.

100

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Bursting with energy and originality even after 36 years, A Hard Day's Night is easily the best show in town.

100

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

It's inspired fun.

100

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

A non-stop cinematic funhouse impossible to resist.

100

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

They're like gods at play, paragons of pure delight, as they mock and feign their way through a universe of mere mortals. To see the movie again is to realize that they were never entirely of this earth and that they never will be.

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90

TV Guide Frank Lovece

Refreshing, innovative and immensely funny.

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90

Washington Post David Segal

Still a marvel of verve and bone-dry wit, the movie has been treated kindly by time.

88

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

The songs are pure joy, for them and for us.

80

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

You wanna feel all right? This is the holiday movie that will do it.

70

Village Voice J. Hoberman

No previous rocksploitation film had ever done so splendid a job of selling its performers.

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70

Variety Dennis Harvey

A wacky, offbeat piece of filming, charged with vitality, and inventiveness by director Dick Lester.

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70

Chicago Reader Don Druker

Lester serves up a helping of what, on this side of the pond, we came to think of as kicky, mod British filmmaking

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 8.9 (out of 10) based on 23 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

James H. gave it a7:
Rather revolutionary in 1964, it showcases The Beatles at their madcap best. It is a typical day in their lives, screaming fans and wild adventures. I admire the uniqueness of the film and the dry British humor. Very well edited, great music and a must for anyone interested in Fab Four.

Linc Link gave it a10:
WOW!! Hilarious, amazing music...just one of my favorite films of all-time. I actually prefer "Help"(I like both the movie & music better), but comparing the two very different films is certainly an "apples and oranges" sort of exercise. If you haven't seen this, do yourself a favor and enjoy!!! Blessings!!!

Brian K. gave it a10:
Brilliant. Fun. Clever. Witty. Historical. Hysterical. This is the Beatles masterpiece movie. I'm not sure if I enjoyed Lester's humor as much as the quick wit of Lennon, Harrison, Ringo and McCartney. Lennon running out of the train station is one of my favorite scenes (I've been there as a tourist). Harrison's scene with his future ex-wife Patti Boyd (and then stolen from Clapton only to become his future ex-wife) is precious. Ringo's hangover scene and Paul's quick wit are some of my favorite moments in this film. This is a much better film than Yellow Submarine. This shows us how the Beatles making fun of their new found fame are losing their right to privacy and any sense of a normal life they may have had had they not been such a great pop band.

Dan C. gave it a 9:
I loved it, but I loved Yellow Submarine more.

Pat C. gave it a 7:
A stupid movie if not made by four guys everybody loved, and if you take out the music. No critic gave it less than a 7 for fear of being hunted down and attacked. I won't either.

Yoon Min C. gave it an 8:
It did for pop culture what Eisenstein's Potemkin did for the communist revolution. A viscerally refreshing and explosive celebration of Beatlemania, it established much of the stylistic conventions that came to define youth culture in movies and music; and what's more central to pop culture than youth culture? This impact was for good and bad; while liberating the conventions of filmmaking much as Beatles music did for rock and creating a whole new language in the manner of the French New Wave, it also unleashed what might be called the TV Commercial(and later MTV)aesthetic onto the wider culture which no doubt has contributed to the malaise known as the attention deficit disorder. Also, as Lennon stated, the writing was subpar; the Beatles were far wittier and more outrageous on their own. Worse, there is something resembling a plot with throwaway minor characters though Paul's fictional grandfather does kinda grow on us. Still, an undeniable classic of sorts and perhaps the best non-concert Rock movie.

Jack gave it a 10:
I'm no fan of the Beatles but I loved it! Not just for fans -- it's a great pop comedy!

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