The Bottom Line
- Now in widescreen and Dolby 5.1 sound, the film looks and sounds as fresh as today.
- As a Sixties comedy, not just a Beatles artifact, this DVD is worth buying.
- The music in the soundtrack is among the band's best.
- Loads of previously unreleased special extras, especially in the deluxe edition.
- The extras of the 1997 and 2000 DVD editions have not been duplicated here.
Description
- Release date: November 6, 2007
- Capitol
- DVD (1965; remastered 2007)
- Dolby Digital 5.1
- Widescreen
- 2 discs
- Deleted scenes
- Special edition
Guide Review - The Beatles: Help! DVD (2007)
That said, it is an invaluable artifact from their "middle period," which conventional wisdom now holds as their most satisfying, so attention must be paid. Restoring the film from the original negative (like most films in its day, the unused scenes were discarded) gives this, the lads' first color film, a vibrancy it desperately needs in the digital age; of course, new Dolby 5.1 mixes of the eight soundtrack songs in the flick are as revelatory as the YS "songtrack." (Please finish the albums, George!)
So this is not just anyone's fun romp, historically or artistically, although the daffiness holds up well, especially for Ringo lovers who were overjoyed to see him, finally, as the main protagonist. One unused scene has been discovered and restored (featuring Wendy Richard, best known as the cockney crumpet on TV's Are You Being Served?), and the second disc in this package also includes radio spots, original trailers, docs on the film and its restoration, and reminiscences by cast and crew. The deluxe edition also features a copy of the script annotated by director Richard Lester as well as lobby cards and a theatrical poster. You won't want to get rid of the 1997 or 2000 edition DVDs, if you have them, as this set doesn't reproduce their extras, but this is now the standard to which all Beatle remasters must apply, both visually and aurally.
