A Hard Day’s Night in 4K for the US market

In early 2021, The Beatles’ first film, “A Hard Day’s Night” was made available in Japan for the home video market for the first time in 4K (Ultra High Definition disc) by Dreamusic. A USA edition in 4K (Combo: Ultra High Definition + standard Blu-ray disc) has now been announced for that market with a release date of January 18, 2022, by the Criterion Collection.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Richard Lester, with three audio options—a monaural soundtrack as well as stereo and 5.1 surround mixes supervised by sound producer Giles Martin at Abbey Road Studios—presented in uncompressed monaural, uncompressed stereo, and DTS-HD Master Audio.
• One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray disc with the film and special features.
• Audio commentary featuring cast and crew.
• In Their Own Voices, a program featuring 1964 interviews with the Beatles and behind-the-scenes footage and photos.
• “You Can’t Do That”: The Making of “A Hard Day’s Night,” a 1994 documentary by producer Walter Shenson including an outtake performance by the Beatles.
• Things They Said Today, a 2002 documentary about the film featuring Lester, music producer George Martin, screenwriter Alun Owen, and cinematographer Gilbert Taylor.
• Picturewise, a program about Lester’s early work, featuring a 2014 audio interview with the director.
• The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film (1960), Lester’s Oscar-nominated short.
• Anatomy of a Style, a 2014 program on Lester’s methods.
• Interview from 2014 with Beatles biographer Mark Lewisohn.
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.
• PLUS: An essay by critic Howard Hampton and excerpts from a 1970 interview with Lester.

Hopefully, the “You Can’t Do That” feature will end with the full song, it has been known to be missing on earlier releases. And one other thing: So far, only bootleg editions of the film have been able to speed correct the songs. We must admit that we are not counting on an official edition to accomplish the same thing.

So when will we see a 4K edition for the European market and elsewhere?

A popular thing to do these days, is to apply colours to original black and white films. It was done professionally by Ron Howard for his “Eight Day’s A Week” documentary. On YouTube, fans have been having fun colourising scenes from “A Hard Day’s Night”.