Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8463 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-11-05
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Box set, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: German, English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, French
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 92 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
After the world-wide success of A Hard Day's Night, the Beatles and director Richard Lester reunited for a follow-up film, Eight Arms to Hold You. Well, that wasn't the final title; a pleading Lennon-McCartney tune provided the catchier handle: Help! A loose semi-spoof of the globe-trotting James Bond pictures, Help! has always been considered a somewhat disorganised comedown from its predecessor; but it presents "the famous Beatles" even more clearly as the English cousins of the Marx Brothers. The plot has an Eastern religious cult declaring that the new ring on Ringo's finger is the key element in a human sacrifice; they will stop at nothing to obtain it. Meanwhile, a mad scientist (crazed Victor Spinetti, who also appeared in A Hard Day's Night and Magical Mystery Tour) believes that if he has the ring, he could--dare we say it?--rule the world. The songs, including "Ticket to Ride" and "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away", are filmed with gleeful ingenuity, in locations such as the Bahamas, an Austrian ski resort and Salisbury Plain. The relentless nonsense becomes nearly the equivalent of a swinging-60s Alice in Wonderland: for instance, Paul shrinks to the size of a gum wrapper, John fishes a season ticket out of his soup, George wears a top hat on the ski slopes, the lads sing the "Ode to Joy" to a lion. Oh, and the film is dedicated to Elias Howe, "who in 1846 invented the sewing machine". Brilliant. --Robert Horton

Synopsis
The Beatles followed up their debut film, A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, with this fanciful spy spoof. When Ringo adds a new ring to his collection, he's unaware of how important and dangerous this piece of jewellery is. On one hand, a religious cult considers it a sacred object and the wearer must become a sacrifice to their gods. On the other hand, the ring has magical abilities that hold the key to supreme power. Soon the boys from Liverpool are engaged in a slapstick and madcap chase round the world, as a crazed scientist, a pack of crooks, and several religious fanatics set out to capture the band. Watch for the English Channel swimmer who seems to be perpetually lost and appears in nearly every location. Includes Beatles' hits including 'Help!', 'Ticket To Ride', 'You've Got To Hide Your Love Away', and many more.

Customer Reviews

A bit disappointing really
Watched both discs in one sitting last night.

Disc 1 is the film and beyond options for subtitles in various languages there are non extras. It's a sparklng restoration and the sound is perfect. When they're indoors in their terraced house pad for the first time you see that their suits have a light pin stripe. George is reveled as sometimes looking tired a bit spotty.

But the extras disc is vexing. The missing scene is not that - it's folks talking about the missing scene with a few stills. But when you look at the three trailers included, two include another missing scene of the band drivng cars on an beach. The extra docs include some shots with clapperboards that clearly demonstrate that more footage survives - where is this footage? And the two docs about the film (not the one on the restroation) rely on a boring static talking head approach that doesn't make for gripping viewing - although seeing Neil Aspinall without a hat for the first time is quite something. Richard Lester is genial, but most of the folks who talk don't offer anything new. For example, it's said that Epstein wanted filming to take place in the Bahamas - but it is not said why. Couldn't a little extra effort have been put into these extras? It is The Beatles after all.

Just Plain Fun!!!
Despite the frivolous, not to say silly, plot, "Help!" is just plain fun; and, if one gets past the frantic antics, it is full of delightful puns and allusions (Some are very Goon Show.). The adorable four are supported by an A-1 cast, including Leo McKern, who puts as much zest into his role as the evil Clang as he does into that of Rumpole. Victor Spinetti (who was also in "A Hard Day's Night"), chews the scenery as the mad scientist, Foot, and he is ably assisted by Roy Kinnear as the dippy Algernon. Eleanor Bron is outstanding as the mysterious Ahme, who, decked out in an outrageous peacock blue turban and plumes, informs the lads that there is more to her than meets the eye. Each one of us probably has his favorite scene; mine is one in which Ringo is told not to worry about the Bengal tiger which is sharing the cellar with him; all he has to do to calm the beast is sing the "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony; and then all the Beatles and everyone else in the pub above the cellar belt it out in German! Goofy, but so what? It's fun! And besides, the Beatles sing a rollicking rendition of "Hey! You've got to Hide Your Love Away."

The second disk with the commentary is particularly enlightening. Not only are there the very interesting comments of the director, Richard Lester, but there is also a fascinating explanation by the technicians on the intricacies of restoring the film. Wendy Richard, who plays my favorite character, Miss Brahms, in "Are You Being Served?", talks about the thrill of playing her very first role in "Help!," only to discover at the last minute that the scene had been cut (They show bits and pieces of it, but unfortunately, the scene itself seems to be lost).

"Help!" is a film to watch on a summer night when you just want to sit back, relax, and have a good laugh.

NO BONUS SCENE!
Forget what you've read - there is NO bonus scene featuring Wendy Richard and Frankie Howerd. What you DO get is Dick Lester and Wendy Richards talking about the scene accompanied by a few stills. I think it is a disgrace that this DVD was and still is being marketed with the promise of a "missing scene".

This is a great package deserving of five stars but it has been rather spoiled by this con so I can only give it one! What a disappointment.