It's awful. Let's get that out in the open immediately. On second thought...it's beyond awful. I've watched it sober and I've watched it - ahem - in an "altered" state or two, and it's still bad. Bad, BAd, BAD.
Bad as in: poorly written, poorly conceived, terribly directed (if you could call it that), terribly acted (if you can even call it acting) and seemingly long (and it's under an hour!). This runaway train of a movie is something I rarely acknowledge to budding Beatles fans because I'm afraid to douse their budding flames.
As a kid, this film was a mystery to me. A mystery because I'd heard of it but was never able to see it. A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, HELP and YELLOW SUBMARINE had the occasional tv airing, but not MMT (ironic, considering it was made for television). [LET IT BE I was able to see courtesy of The Movie Channel on cable, believe it or not, and I did so 25+ times. There wasn't much to air back then on cable I guess!] The one time I was close to seeing it was at a local theater which had slated screenings during the summer at 2:00 p.m. (why? No clue). The problem was that it was only on Wednesdays, and my parents just weren't available for drop-off at the local cinema.
When I finally did see MMT it was on laserdisc, a laserdisc which had amazing stereo sound but so-so picture transfer. The framing always seemed to be a bit off as well. [Was MMT shot in the standard Brit aspect ratio of 1:66 x 1? I don't know, but that sure would account for what I believe are cropping issues.] The music sure did sound great coming through my stereo I have to say, and I still play that laserdisc just to hear the songs sound so good. How they sounded coming through a tinny tv set in late 1967 I can only imagine! To be fair though, I've never heard anyone really complain about the limited technology involved in watching the Beatles on tv back then. "Sure the Ed Sullivan appearance was amazing! Too bad about the sound though." I THINK NOT!
But back to MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR. In the DVD for THE BEATLES ANTHOLOGY Paul defends it by saying (1) he'd heard that Steven Spielberg cited it as an influence and (2) it's the only extant performance of "I Am The Walrus." Has anyone ever been able to corroborate (1)? I'd love to see where that was referenced. And as for (2)...I wouldn't call it a "performance;" it's really a lip-sync'd clip with some heavy editing (it's not tied to the film in any way, that's for sure!).
So don't let anyone ever tell you that MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR works on any level as a movie. Because it doesn't!
All comments welcome.
Best,
Jeremy Boob
Bad as in: poorly written, poorly conceived, terribly directed (if you could call it that), terribly acted (if you can even call it acting) and seemingly long (and it's under an hour!). This runaway train of a movie is something I rarely acknowledge to budding Beatles fans because I'm afraid to douse their budding flames.
As a kid, this film was a mystery to me. A mystery because I'd heard of it but was never able to see it. A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, HELP and YELLOW SUBMARINE had the occasional tv airing, but not MMT (ironic, considering it was made for television). [LET IT BE I was able to see courtesy of The Movie Channel on cable, believe it or not, and I did so 25+ times. There wasn't much to air back then on cable I guess!] The one time I was close to seeing it was at a local theater which had slated screenings during the summer at 2:00 p.m. (why? No clue). The problem was that it was only on Wednesdays, and my parents just weren't available for drop-off at the local cinema.
When I finally did see MMT it was on laserdisc, a laserdisc which had amazing stereo sound but so-so picture transfer. The framing always seemed to be a bit off as well. [Was MMT shot in the standard Brit aspect ratio of 1:66 x 1? I don't know, but that sure would account for what I believe are cropping issues.] The music sure did sound great coming through my stereo I have to say, and I still play that laserdisc just to hear the songs sound so good. How they sounded coming through a tinny tv set in late 1967 I can only imagine! To be fair though, I've never heard anyone really complain about the limited technology involved in watching the Beatles on tv back then. "Sure the Ed Sullivan appearance was amazing! Too bad about the sound though." I THINK NOT!
But back to MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR. In the DVD for THE BEATLES ANTHOLOGY Paul defends it by saying (1) he'd heard that Steven Spielberg cited it as an influence and (2) it's the only extant performance of "I Am The Walrus." Has anyone ever been able to corroborate (1)? I'd love to see where that was referenced. And as for (2)...I wouldn't call it a "performance;" it's really a lip-sync'd clip with some heavy editing (it's not tied to the film in any way, that's for sure!).
So don't let anyone ever tell you that MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR works on any level as a movie. Because it doesn't!
All comments welcome.
Best,
Jeremy Boob
8 comments:
In Anthology, Paul didn't say Steven Spielberg was "influenced by MMT, he said it was "a film we had to take note of". Every time I see that clip I think "Yeah, he had to watch it to know how NOT to make films".
Enjoy your blog - Rick
MMT definitely remains a curiosity piece. I have it on DVD and watch it once every 2-3 years when I want to get another dose of the Fabs' far-out British humor and watch them at their quirkiest. Who could forget John, dressed as a waiter, robotically shoveling spaghetti with such devilish glee onto Ringo's 'aunt'? I don't care a whole lot for MMT, but it's clearly imaginative -- even it it's imagination run amok!
I lived in Portalnd on 12/8/80, and within a couple weeks a little art house theatre showed a double feature of MMT and "How I Won the War". Seeing both for the first time - both made an impression on me for their unimpressive qualities. Definitely not the "everything they touch turns to gold" feeling.
The only specific memory I have about HIWTW, other than how really uninteresting it was, was seeing John, weeks after his death, taking a shell, lying on the ground wounded, and saying "I knew this would happen. You knew it would happen too didn't you?" Seemed very prescient at the time. You can see that scene here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm5Kp-qiRm4
I love how the Fabs try to blame the failure of the MMT film on the BBC because it was aired in B&W, as if the color version is a visual masterpiece that had been neutered. MMT is just a trainwreck excuse for stinging together a bunch of music videos. Personally, I'd rather watch The Monkees' Head. It's funnier and more visually interesting (even if the music isn't as good).
That said, MMT is Citizen Kane compared to Let It Be. I love The Beatles, but the whole "fly on the wall" thing is a complete bore. At least MMT tries to do something cinematic. LIB is just an hour and a half of the boys awkwardly dicking around in the studio, occasionally interspersed with some excellent performances. Don't even get me started on the hours and hours of bootlegs of these sessions. Ugghh....
Now, if you really wanna talk trash about Beatles movies, let's imagine how much this movie would have sucked.
I could not disagree with all of you more. No, it is not a great movie. It has no narrative. It is a vehicle for their music, and it works quite splending that way. I would never let go of my copy.
Agreed, and I also agree with Greg: Let it Be is a terrible movie.
Even under that "as nature intended thing", they could have made a better movie. It is poorly directed, if there's any direction at all, and its editing is absolutely awkward. Let it Be is trash. But sometimes I wonder what a better director would've done with all the raw material left.
Horrible? Why it's not master piece of cinema, it is definitely a period piece. The sequences of I Am The Walrus, Your Mother Should Know, and the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah band are priceless and inspired. Sure the film could be re-edited, you wonder what they still have left over in those film canisters. At its worst it's an extended music video. Again, the Beatles were way ahead of their time. You just haven't caught up yet. Give yourself a few more years.
Buster
"MMT" isn't the greatest little film on the planet - neither is "Let It Be" or even "Give My Regards To Broad Street". BUT it IS on par with the new video imagery and stylings of the day of, say, the Strawberry Fields video or the Penny Lane video. In fact you could edit those INTO "MMT" easily as extra songs. Perhaps British ideals and humor do NOT transfer easily to American audiences. But for "MMT", Let It Be" & "GMRTBS" it is a part of that period of The Fabs career. "Hard Day's" and "Help!" were very Hollywood polished and out of the groups' hands. Same for "Head" by The Monkees (which I love for its' biting satires!) whereas the other films are more personally involved. I'm not sure what to make of "MMT" but perhaps the "magic" is the "mystery" of each person's personal "tour" and take on the creation?
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