by Susie Salva
Don’t worry “Help!” is on it’s way. Apple Corp/Capitol Records is releasing “Help!”
2 set DVD fully digitally restored film with a newly created 5.1 soundtrack featuring those lads from Liverpool…the Beatles. The Fab Four, John, Paul, George and Ringo participate in a corny caper as the story follows The Beatles as they become passive recipients of an outside plot that revolves around Ringo’s possession of a sacrificial ring, which he cannot remove from his finger. As a result, he and his bandmates are chased from London to the Austrian Alps and the Bahamas by religious cult members, a mad scientist and the London police.
Directed by Richard Lester who also directed the band’s debut feature film, “A Hard Days Night,” “Help!” made its theatrical debut in 1965. Lester says in an interview on the second disc in the set, “We didn’t want to repeat “A Hard Days Night”. The next logical step would have been to show them in their real lives. But by that point their real lives were X-rated at that time. So the only thing left was to have them become the passive recipient of an outside threat.” Lester has also been deemed the father of music videos.
42 years later “Help” has a witty script and features 7 classic Beatles tracks including, “Help!,” “You’re Going to Lose that Girl,” “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” “Ticket to Ride,” “I Need You,” “The Night Before” and “Another Girl”.
Disc 2, the extra disc features a 30-minute documentary about the making of the film with a spry Richard Lester, the cast and crew and exclusive behind the scenes footage of the Beatles on set. There is also a feature of the painstaking sequence of the restoration process of the original film. It gives you a greater respect for the people behind the scenes that make this film magic. There is also a picture book featured with the 2-disc set.
The Beatles are placed in the movie both in the Bahamas and the Austrian Alps just for the sheer beauty of the environment. This is a fun romp and an enjoyable ride featuring some of their greatest music beautifully re-mastered.
