“A Hard Day’s Night – 50th Anniversary” released on DVD / Blu-Ray in the US

From A Hard Day’s Night (1964) | The Criterion Collection:

Meet the Beatles! Just one month after they exploded onto the U.S. scene with their Ed Sullivan Show appearance, John, Paul, George, and Ringo began working on a project that would bring their revolutionary talent to the big screen. A Hard Day’s Night, in which the bandmates play cheeky comic versions of themselves, captured the astonishing moment when they officially became the singular, irreverent idols of their generation and changed music forever. Directed with raucous, anything-goes verve by Richard Lester and featuring a slew of iconic pop anthems, including the title track, “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “I Should Have Known Better,” and “If I Fell,” A Hard Day’s Night, which reconceived the movie musical and exerted an incalculable influence on the music video, is one of the most deliriously entertaining movies of all time.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Richard Lester, with three audio options—a monaural soundtrack as well as newly created stereo and 5.1 surround mixes supervised by sound producer Giles Martin at Abbey Road Studios—presented in uncompressed monaural, uncompressed stereo, and DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray

Audio commentary featuring cast and crew (dual-format only)

In Their Own Voices, a new piece combining 1964 interviews with the Beatles with behind-the-scenes footage and photos

“You Can’t Do That”: The Making of “A Hard Day’s Night,” a 1994 documentary by producer Walter Shenson including an outtake performance by the Beatles

Things They Said Today, a 2002 documentary about the film featuring Lester, music producer George Martin, screenwriter Alun Owen, and cinematographer Gilbert Taylor (dual-format only)

Picturewise, a new piece about Lester’s early work, featuring a new audio interview with the director (dual-format only)

The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film (1960), Lester’s Oscar-nominated short (dual-format only)

Anatomy of a Style, a new piece on Lester’s methods (dual-format only)

New interview with author Mark Lewisohn (dual-format only)

English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

PLUS: An essay by critic Howard Hampton and excerpts from a 1970 interview with Lester (dual-format only)

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