DVD Pick of the Week - Help!: Special Edition
Help!: Special Edition
Let’s cut right to the chase, shall we? - Help! gets a bad rap. Sure, upon its arrival in 1965, it may not have seemed as groundbreaking, as fresh and revolutionary as Richard Lester’s first collaboration with The Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night. And no, it doesn’t capture quite the same pure distillation of the Fab Four’s charm as was crystallized in the earlier black-and-white, “fictionalized documentary” which received a lavish restoration and DVD treatment from Miramax five years ago. Still, sophomore status and lack of interventions from the Weinsteins notwithstanding, Help! is a thoroughly enjoyable romp with an equally impressive soundtrack that should never have taken this long to make it to disc.
Sent a sacrificial ring for his collection by a lovestruck fan somewhere in the Indian subcontinent (it’s fairly nonspecific, not surprising since she’s about to be sacrificed by a bloodthirsty cult – never good for foreign relations), Ringo is suddenly pursued relentlessly by the cult leader (the great Leo McKern) and his henchmen who want to kill him, dragging John, Paul and George along for a wild goose chase that takes them across England, to the Alps and finally the Caribbean. The script, while on the one hand preposterous, is winning and chock full of wisecracks (which the Beatles no doubt improv-ed upon in their own unique way); Lester, meanwhile has terrific fun showcasing locations from Salisbury Plain to the Bahamian coastline, setting up numerous creative and adventurous setpieces for the lads and their fine supporting cast; in addition to McKern, Hard Day’s Night vet Victor Spinetti is back as a mad scientist bent on stealing the ring for himself, and Eleanor Bron is an alluring addition as the sympathetic Eastern beauty who continually helps the Bee-ah-tles escape.
The restored picture and sound quality in Help!’s DVD release is extraordinary, a welcome upgrade for both the film and the excellent handful of songs written for it, which demonstrate the Beatles’ continual growth of songwriters; highlights are Lennon’s wistful “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” and Harrison’s powering “I Need You.” Tho it falls just shy of the Miramax package, Capitol/Apple Corps’s two-disc set includes a smattering of bonus features including rememberances with Lester, Bron and the creative team. For Beatlemaniacs and film lovers alike, an essential set.
Also recommended this week: Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who; The Best of The Colbert Report ; Chinatown: Collector’s Editon; Day of the Triffids ; Doctor Who: The Complete Third Series; Flight of the Conchords: The Complete First Season; MXC Most Extreme Elimination Challenge: Season 1-2; Ratatouille; Seinfeld: The Complete Series; Sesame Street Old School, Vol. 2 (1974-1979); Wings: Seasons 1-5; The X-Files: The Ultimate Collection
— Nicole Campos
