 "Magical Mystery Tour" | 2009-10-27 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3EBHHCZO6V2A4 |
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is the cheesy Beatles tribute of 1978,starring the Bee Gees and Peter Frampton. It's quite something--from George Burns' heavy-handed narration, to the moralizing allegory--yet a fantastic soundtrack. Still,it's such a cheesy movie that the Beatles distanced themselves from it. It's a strange disco/funk tribute to the Beatles,and yet it works.
"Sgt. Pepper's" has a simple story,the hero Billy (Humble Pie's Peter Frampton,whom shall be dubbed the Ugly Roger Daltrey,but has aged remarkably well),his childhood friends (the Bee Gees) and his sweetheart Strawberry Fields,form a band. They have to battle Mean Mr. Mustard, the Future Villain Band (Aerosmith,with Steve Tyler channeling Jim Morrison AND Mick Jagger),and sell out to the music mogul (Donald Pleasance,who was also in the remarkable Puma Man [VHS] The movie is about the evils of selling out and commercialism,with a sentimental love story tacked on. If you can bear the sight of Frampton's bare chest,you can bear anything--as stated before,he REALLY has improved with age Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive II So,the wide-eyed hero,the Ugly Roger Daltrey--as opposed to the handsome real one-- snaggle-toothed and skinny,manages to battle evil,and bring about the triumph of love. Billy Preston,who really did sing with the Beatles,ends the movie by turning random people into Catholic religious for some reason. The finale has Dame Edna,Tina Turner,and Carol Channing.
"Sgt. Pepper's" is a true CAMP CLASSIC. It's hard to tell when it's meant to be funny or unintentionally funny. Steve Martin does an over-the-top rendition of "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" while George Burns sings "Fixing a Hole." The music saves the whole movie. The Beatles songs are such enduring classics that if Taylor Swift and Kanye West sang/rapped them at the VMAs,they'd still be great. "Sgt. Pepper's" is MUST-SEE CHEESE!!! Come together,right now,over this! |
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| "The dream is over .. hip hip hooray!!!!!" | 2009-10-17 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1JFHBH6RWE54C |
| On those rainy evenings alone, I curl up on the sofa with hand lotion, tissues, and this cinematic travesty that finally exposed the Beatles as the total frauds they were. The fact that this film angers so many Beatle fans should alone put it on Sight and Sound's international critics list for greatest films ever made (remember, this film was made BEFORE Michael Jackson bought their catalog ... so please direct your venom at your beloved Fab Four if your panties are in a bunch over it). But the film is so much more ... Billy Preston as the magic mystical boogieman bringing Peter Frampton back from the dead while singing "Get Back," Donald Pleasance braying "I Want You" like a contestant on NBC's Dateline with Chris Hanson, George Burns tap dancing with two little girls while singing "Fixing a Hole." The only lowlight is Aerosmith doing "Come Together" which actually had me believe for 3 seconds that the Beatles may have had some talent at this songwriting thing. I'm docking it a star for not having dancing strawberries during "Strawberry Fields Forever." Please, please, please God have some money-mad producer make a musical out of "The Joshua Tree" with Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, and that Peter Allen-lookalike from "High School Musical" putting a techno spin on "Mothers of the Disappeared." |
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 "Sgt. Peppers the movie" | 2009-10-14 |
| - Reviewed By User: AZL7Z7PKQECYZ |
| Having seen this movie back 1978 in the theatre, I was 14 years old. I Loved Aerosmith and still do. I went to see this movie for the music, namley Aerosmith and Peter Frampton, for which I thought was a cutie, growing up, was a hero to a young girl at the time. This movie is a classic to me. Everyone in the movie, The Bee Gees etc. gave a great rendition of Sgt. Peppers. To this day I still love to watch it. I have this movie on VHS and I will be purchasing it on DVD now, so can have both formats. For what its worth....... it's a fun and entertaining flick. Aerosmith, in my opinion sing "Come Together" better than the Beatles!!!! I am proud to say that I had the oportunity to see it in the movie theatre. I would recomend this flick to any music lover and any one who likes a light hearted hero vs villian romp!!! |
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| "I KNOW, IT HAD TERRIBLE REVIEWS ..." | 2009-10-05 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2CLAXVQHY5CZZ |
| MAYBE I JUST LOVE THE MUSIC? IT'S SUCH A GREAT TIME CAPSULE THO & MAKES ME REMEMBER THE LATE 70's EVEN BETTER, LOL. IF YOU LIKE THE BEATLES ALBUM, YOU HAVE TO LIKE THIS MOVIE :D |
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| "Many Thanks" | 2009-10-03 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2QHTF455PRUFJ |
| Thank you just doesn't seem enough for this DVD. The move received very BAD reviews and even I admit it wasn't a good movie. However I am a long time Bee Gees fan and admit I went to see it twice. I have been looking for years but was not able to find a copy. I never thought of looking for it on the internet and was thrilled that Amazon had copies. I placed my order and it seems like the very next day it was in my mailbox. I have had nothing but good luck with anything I bought through the Amazon web site and will continue buying through them. |
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| "it's good--as long as you don't take it too seriously" | 2009-08-05 |
| - Reviewed By ma1963 |
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is certainly not the most artsy film I've ever seen; but it's pretty good entertainment if you just relax and don't expect too much as you watch it. It comes from an era of glitzy excess; these `70s campy, over-the-top numbers come directly from those times. The plot moves along rather smoothly; I didn't get bored and the music was performed very well. Indeed, the plot is told mostly through a web of interwoven songs originally performed by The Beatles; and what we don't get from that we learn from George Burns as he narrates. The casting is good; we even get appearances by Steve Martin and Alice Cooper; Earth, Wind & Fire play themselves. The choreography is outstanding. The cinematography works well and although the special effects look dated they still add something to this picture. The quality of the print is fairly good; it could have been a little sharper but this is a minor disappointment.
When the action starts, we get a bit of background narration from George Burns who also plays the current mayor of Heartland; in fact he does the narration in bits and pieces throughout the film. We learn that the town of Heartland, America sent its special band, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, to end the First World War! The band continued to enjoy success through the decades until Sergeant Pepper died at a local function in 1958; then it's up to his grandson Billy Shears to form the band anew with greedy and jealous Dougie Shears (Paul Nicholas) as manager and Billy's three friends Mark, Dave and Bob Henderson (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb of The Bee Gees) to be the other members of the band.
Great things start to happen when a powerful recording executive at Big Deal Records recruits and signs Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band to a huge contract. All of a sudden they are on the scene in Hollywood although Billy's girlfriend Strawberry Fields (Sandy Farina) misses Billy terribly. Bad things also begin to happen; the band members attract the attention of Mean Mr. Mustard (Frankie Howerd); Marvin Sunk (the 'Sun King') (Alice Cooper) and the organization they work for, the Future Villain Band, or FVB for short (played by Aerosmith).
Then there is the roller coaster ride of events. Mean Mr. Mustard steals the instruments away from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band; and he proceeds to ruin Heartland as well. The band begins to have real difficulty playing their concert venues; and the once happy recording executive is now so stressed out that he's losing his hair! Strawberry Fields herself even runs away from home to find Billy in Hollywood because she is miserable without him in Heartland.
But the plot can still go anywhere from here. What happens to Strawberry Fields when she gets to Hollywood--and after? The complete answer may surprise you. How will the band members get back their instruments, if they can ever get them back at all? And what about Mr. Mustard and his sidekick "The Brute" (Carel Struycken)? No plot spoilers here, folks--watch and find out!
The extras aren't all that much, unfortunately. We get the theatrical trailer and "recommendations" for other DVDs that are tacky advertisements.
Overall, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is all in good fun and you'll enjoy it if you can take it in that way. It's not fine art; but it's not all that bad, either. I recommend this for fans of the actors in this movie; and if you like Beatles tunes performed by other artists you may want this for your collection, too. In addition, people who enjoy campy movies will not be disappointed. |
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