Why did the Beatles dislike "Help!" the film?

Doubt it mattered much to them either way

 

I think for cinephiles, AHDN is and will always be regarded as the better film, but I've always haf a soft spot for "Help!".

I do agree with Lennon's assessment that they were "guest stars in their own movie," but the dialog is actually pretty witty.

"Do you know what this ring means?"
"Freemason?"

"The gteat train robbery. How's that working out? "

"If I'd had a luger..."

The surrealist touches and the fourth wall-breaking were/are genuinely inventive and radical for the time. For what it's worth, everyone I have ever introduced to the films always prefer AHDN. Spotty friends, I suppose.

 

the only thing that mattered to them was the money earned...they liked money... lot's of it...That's What they want...and they had no qualms saying it.

 

It was akin to being trapped in someone else's nightmare/dream. They were the "stars" in a movie written in such a way as to make their presence nearly superfluous.

 

I've started to watch it on 3 occasions and bailed each time. It's garbage.

 

how far did you get?, the story is OK, but the music is wonderful...skip to the songs. That's what I'd do if I did not like the storyline.

 

Lennon said that they were extras in there own film..

 

You have to admit that's a bit of an over-the-top assessment.
I would have understood the "guest stars" statement, but he made it sound like they showed up late for an audition and they were given walk-on parts at the last minute

 

This is what John said-
John Lennon never really warmed up to Help!, saying, “It was like being a frog in a movie about clams.” He also said, “We felt like extras in our own film".

 

That makes much more sense

 

as a pre-teen when I first saw this in the theater they sure seemed to be enjoying themselves and I don't care about the usual negativity brought upon a favorite time in my youth...Help! was a milestone in my life in living color on the big screen with giant sized Beatles singing their asses off...seeing them playing their songs was mind blowing back then...FOR ME!.

 

they were a pathway for themselves and their handlers to leverage into $$$

 

I watched Help a couple of months ago, and really like some of the lines, but overall feels really loose, like no one is in charge..especially compared to A Hard Days Night, which is a much tighter movie..

 

I would have to agree. From my review:

"There's too much emphasis on story and supporting characters and not enough footage of the Beatles being "themselves". Unlike the first film, they all seem somewhat disconnected from each other here, so while we still get the witty banter, it comes across more as lines read from a page. The supporting characters play much more prominent roles than they had in A Hard Day's Night; at times, it seems like the Beatles are the support, not the other way around. "

I enjoy "Help!" and think it's a fun romp, but it could've been better...

 

These days, I actually enjoy watching Help more than A Hard Day's Night, even if AHDN is technically the better film. The acting in Help is a little less wooden from The Beatles (probably because they were well "medicated") and the story is more bizarre. It looked like they were having fun making the film, so that translates to some added enjoyment while watching. The point, of course, is to give us a loose plot around which to showcase musical performances by the group. They made the plot sufficiently silly so that one isn't too distracted by the improbability of it all.

 

I know, and The Monkees TV show pretty much is a similar thing, except they were probably a bit more medicated than the Beatles.

I know any band would be very reluctant to play in the middle of a field like they did for "The Night Before" and then get blasted.

 

I think "Help!" helped (ha!) plant the seed to let Epstein know they couldn't go at the pace they had been for two years. Before filming "Help!", they always put 100% toward every task that was apart from their music. It seems after filming, they began to not bother hiding the disdain they had for certain commitments.

I like "Help!". it's fun, looks gorgeous, and I agree that Victor Spinetti is great with his role!

 

Help! wound up having a major impact on the Beatles career (and really the way the 60s unfolded) by exposing them George to sitars, which led to Nowegian Wood, Love You To, Within You Without You, The Inner Light, Ravi Shankar, The Maharishi, Across The Universe, The Inner Light, Sexy Sadie, . . .

 

I love the film! It is very entertaining and I love the performance scenes.

 

I meant physically blasted by gunfire, not high
I wish we could edit our posts

 

Help had great music but it was really out there...

 

And Elvis says "Welcome to my world."

 

uh-huh...

 

I probably should have simply checked this out:
From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help!_(film)
"The Beatles did not particularly enjoy the filming of the movie, nor were they pleased with the end product. In 1970, John Lennon said they felt like extras in their own movie.

'The movie was out of our control. With A Hard Day's Night, we had a lot of input, and it was semi-realistic. But with Help!, Dick Lester didn't tell us what it was all about.'

—John Lennon on filming Help!
Ten years later Lennon was more charitable:[8]

'I realize, looking back, how advanced it was. It was a precursor to the Batman "Pow! Wow!" on TV—that kind of stuff. But [Lester] never explained it to us. Partly, maybe, because we hadn't spent a lot of time together between A Hard Day's Night and Help!, and partly because we were smoking marijuana for breakfast during that period. Nobody could communicate with us, it was all glazed eyes and giggling all the time. In our own world. It's like doing nothing most of the time, but still having to rise at 7 am, so we became bored.'

A contributing factor was exhaustion attributable to their busy schedule of writing, recording and touring. Afterward they were hesitant to begin another film project, and indeed Help! was their last full-length scripted theatrical film. Their obligation for a third film to United Artists was met by the 1970 documentary film Let It Be. The 1968 animated film Yellow Submarine did not meet contractual obligations because it did not star the Beatles, and their only live appearance was featured for less than two minutes at the film's conclusion."​

 

I do too...and I get to hear the title song twice...Help! is one of my favorite Beatles songs...