At least in Canada...
I ordered "A Hard Days Night" today from amazon.ca and will post my opinion of the disc when it arrives here is the link...
http://www.amazon.ca/A-Hard-Days-Night-Blu-ray/dp/B002JI94J4/ref=pd_sim_m_4

Here ya go... DVDBeaver's review/comparison (http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare2/harddaysnight.htm).

CC

Alliance and a 1080i film transfer. Enough said.

That review makes it sound decent - especially on the audio front. May have to see if I can find it cheap.

It is decent. I have it and I gave my comments in the Canadian Blu-ray thread.

Alliance and 1080i is NOT enough said.

The Blu-ray is quite clearly more detailed than the DVD. Even in those screen caps, look at the lower set of pictures with boys standing in front of the large "BEATLES" sign and look hard at things like shadow detail in faces and on clothing.

The BD suffers from the same faults as the DVD transfer in terms of speckling and minor scratches. These are things that I can live with in a 45 year old film. As I said in the other thread, maybe SOMEDAY this will get a restoration and a new 1080p transfer. Maybe next year...maybe 2014...maybe who knows.

The DTS-HD Master Audio is glorious.

The extras all seem to be intact except for some DVD-ROM stuff.

Do you want to wait for a U.S. release of a better version? Be my guest. We are allowed to spend out money as we see fit.

Or...are you willing to "risk" all of $19.95 on a Blu-ray today with moderate increase in PQ and significant increase in AQ?

There are people who think paying money for anything less than perfection is a sin and that's fair enough. But I'm 51 years old and I'm not going to live long enough to see every mediocre blu-ray get an eventual perfect release.

uhhh it would be better if it was OAR.
this was filmed in academy ratio 1.37:1
the Miramax dvd on which this is based is the ruined "restored" version that was ridiculously reframed by an 80's revisionist bs decision.
also the soundtrack has been ruined as the original soundtrack has been replaced by stereo remixes.
NO THANKS!

It's not like this Blu-ray release is changing any of that stuff over what was on DVD already.

so that makes it ok?
uhhh I don't think so.
if others don't care then great.
I'll wait for the "real" movie the way it was meant to be seen.
btw: there are "correct" dvds out there that are the REAL movie in the intended aspect ratio.

so that makes it ok?
uhhh I don't think so.
if others don't care then great.
I'll wait for the "real" movie the way it was meant to be seen.
btw: there are "correct" dvds out there that are the REAL movie in the intended aspect ratio.

Enjoy the wait. Now would have been the time to release any Beatles film on Blu-ray and all the studios that have rights to the films passed. Enjoy your DVD.

Something can be found wrong with every release and if people always hold off on buying or watching something because there is some problem with it then they would likely never see or buy anything. Life is short.

In many cases waiting for something better may be endless or many years away.

I saw an original print of A Hard Day's Night (complete with United Artists logo) at MoMA a few weeks ago, and it was framed at 1.66:1 (or thereabouts) and it looked spot on. I've never known MoMA to screen any film at a compromised ratio, so as far as I'm concerned that's the way it was meant to be seen. It was also great to finally hear the original mono soundtrack, which had occasional sound effects during the songs (George knocking over his amp during "If I Fell").

Here ya go... DVDBeaver's review/comparison (http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare2/harddaysnight.htm).

CC

thanks for the link can't wait for it to arrive, to the purist dude I see your point
in a perfect world I would also like a copy of the original version but I'll take this till something more complete comes along...did you buy the remastered cd's
i am curious help and rubber soul stereo mix's were redone by martin in '87
or do you prefer the mono set which has the original '65 mix's

I got the MONO boxset, and it is amazing.
As far as the studios missing a golden opportunity to release some Beatles' films right now--they definitely did.
no doubt about that.
the Beatle's films have always been in a state of shambles on dvd.
"Yellow Submarine" was altered, and is not even in print anymore.
"Let it Be" of course hasn't even come out on dvd officially.
The dvd version of "Magical Mystery Tour" looks wretched.
"Help" is the only one in a fairly recent version.
It is a pathetic situation in all honesty.
the real shame is that the band didn't properly retain the rights to their own films, and thus have not been able to ensure the same quality control like they have in general with their audio on cd.
As far as "Let it Be" I think the band members themselves have played a part in it not being released on dvd yet, but I am not positive.

I think think the "it was filmed at 1.37:1 aspect ratio" argument is pretty pointless. Most widescreen movies made have been filmed that way.

There is little doubt that it wasn't really intended to be seen at that ratio and I doubt if that's the way it was ever projected. It's an old argument. I've seen the "intended" ratio listed anywhere from 1.66:1 to 1.75:1.

Again, if people think that there will EVER be a 1.37:1 version of this movie released then, by all means, save your money and wait for it.

But I'll guarantee you that if this EVER gets a US Blu-ray release, it won't be full frame Academy ratio.



"It was also great to finally hear the original mono soundtrack, which had occasional sound effects during the songs (George knocking over his amp during "If I Fell")."

That was quite prominent and kinda' funny when I noticed it on the BD release. I assume it was on the DVD but I can't recall. I do have the last DVD release but I haven't got around to doing a direct comparison of some of those things.

"It was also great to finally hear the original mono soundtrack, which had occasional sound effects during the songs (George knocking over his amp during "If I Fell")."

That was quite prominent and kinda' funny when I noticed it on the BD release. I assume it was on the DVD but I can't recall. I do have the last DVD release but I haven't got around to doing a direct comparison of some of those things.


what does this refer to?
the bd doesn't have the mono, so what are you talking about?
confused. :confused:

Dang!
Thought the thread was for the Mono Box at 24/192!

Some day we may get "LIB" on DVD...
till then I'm not holding my breath for The Boys movies (done right/sound & picture) on Blu.
Or I'll turn Blu!!!

As far as "Let it Be" I think the band members themselves have played a part in it not being released on dvd yet, but I am not positive.

I know several years back Paul McCartney was trying to scrounge up all known existing elements of this film, presumably for a remastered release, but I'm not sure what happened after that. The elements may have been in such a state of disrepair that it was a hopeless endeavor.