A Hard Day’s Night – back cover

A Hard Day’s Night – back cover

Criterion Press Release (much the same as yesterday’s blog post):

A HARD DAY’S NIGHT (DUAL-FORMAT BLU-RAY/DVD Edition & DVD Stand Alone Edition)

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 slapstick 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 (Help!) 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.

1964 • 87 minutes • Black & White • Monaural/5.1 surround • 1.66:1 aspect ratio

DIRECTOR-APPROVED DUAL-FORMAT BLU-RAY AND DVD SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• New 4K digital film restoration, approved by director Richard Lester, with two audio options—a monaural soundtrack and a new 5.1 surround soundtrack made by Apple Records—presented in uncompressed monaural and DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray

• Audio commentary featuring various members of the film’s cast and crew

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

• You Can’t Do That: The Making of “A Hard Day’s Night,” a 1994 documentary program by producer Walter Shenson

• Things They Said Today, a 2002 documentary about the film featuring Lester, music producer George Martin, writer Alun Owen, cinematographer Gilbert Taylor, and others

• New piece about Lester’s early work, featuring a new audio interview with the director

• The Running Jumping and Standing Still Film (1959), Lester’s Oscar-nominated short featuring Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan

• Anatomy of a Style, a new piece on Lester’s approach to editing

• New interview with Mark Lewisohn, author of Tune In: The Beatles: All These Years—Volume One

• Deleted scene

• Trailers

• One Blu-ray and two DVDs, with all content available in both formats

• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Howard Hampton

• More!

Press image. Photo: ©2014 Criterion/Apple Corps Ltd

TITLE: A HARD DAY’S NIGHT (DUAL-FORMAT BLU-RAY/DVD EDITION)

CAT. NO: CC2363BDDVD

UPC: 7-15515-11741-8

ISBN: 978-1-60465-845-3

SRP: $39.95

PREBOOK: 5/27/14

STREET: 6/24/14

TITLE: A HARD DAY’S NIGHT (SINGLE-DVD EDITION)

CAT. NO. CC2372DDVD

UPC 7-15515-11851-4

ISBN 978-1-60465-854-5

SRP $19.95

PREBOOK 5/27/14

STREET 6/24/14

The release is now available for pre-order from Amazon.com: Blu-ray & DVD Dual format   or DVD