Landmark band, Landmark movie

Rating: Null/10 (3 June 2001)

I hesitated to add a review for "A Hard Day's Night", since there are already plenty here. What drove me to add my two cents is the "hate/love" nature I gathered from the other reviews. Some folks seem to think this is the best film ever made (which it isn't). while others think HDN is a load of 'dingo kidneys' (which it also isn't).
It's a bit hard to separate this film from the overall impact of the 'fab four' at their height of popularity. Maybe you had to be there/then to fully appreciate the magnitude of The Beatles influence. I was, and can testify that in mid 1964, The Beatles virtually owned the world. I think it was important to be at a 'certain age' to really 'get it'; I was and I did. Be that as it may, "A Hard Day's Night" is a time-capsule that has held up quite well over the years. If I had a nickel for every kid that saw this film and ran out the next day to buy a guitar...
Front and center is the music. Lennon and McCartney were getting their songwriting 'sea legs' during this period. The title cut, "A Hard Day's Night", along with "Can't Buy Me Love", "And I Love Her" prefigure was to become a world-class songwriting juggernaut.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of HDN is that these boys really were charming personalities, and their typically irreverent Liverpudlian deadpan humor is very contagious and engaging. For those who had only seen their 3 show Ed Sullivan stint (Feb. 1964, kicking off the so-called 'British Invasion'), this film proved that the 'fabs' were no flash in the pan.
Yes, there are some stilted moments, but these are far outweighed by delightful pre-Monty Python-esque humor and some genuinely good music performances. Many of the music videos of today owe a lot to the infuence of this film.
A comment about a couple of reviews who pan Ringo Starr's drumming: Ringo didn't play 'flash' drums in the later style of Ginger Baker (Cream) or Clive Bunker (great early Jethro Tull drummer). But 'Rings' laid down a VERY solid groove, whether live or in the studio. Having worked with and listened to many drummers, Ringo can play in my band any day.