Should The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night Be Colorized for a New Generation To Enjoy?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by 2141, Oct 1, 2018.

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  1. steviebee

    steviebee Always playing Ese and The Vooduu People

    Location:
    London, England
    I just think there's a certain visual magic in black and white films.
    Were it done, I don't think I'd want or need to see it.

    However, it can be fascinating to see news footage etc in colour, WW2 etc...

    But films....nah. Give me the luminousity of a well-shot monochrome print.
     
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  2. O Don Piano

    O Don Piano Senior Member

    If anyone can’t or won’t watch a film because it’s black and white, then they don’t deserve to watch it!

    Also, why alter any art to make it more palatable to millennials? If they miss out on the Beatles, who cares? The Beatles are a big part of my life and certainly have enhanced it. It’s not terribly important to me to make sure these kids have the same life experiences I have had. Let them enjoy the art and music of their own generation. (If that’s even important to them. It might not be. And that’s okay with me!)
     
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  3. xilef regnu

    xilef regnu Senior Member

    Location:
    PNW
    It's already done.

    [​IMG]
     
  4. Maranatha5585

    Maranatha5585 BELLA + RIP In Memoriam

    Location:
    Down South
    NO! B&W is the coolest.
     
  5. dbacon

    dbacon Forum Resident

    A thought...
    I don’t think b&w cinematography was an artistic decision by Richard Lester. It was an economic decision by Walter Shenson (or United Artists). Had the film had a larger budget it would have been shot in color (green).

    As I said in an earlier post, a colorized AHDN would be interesting to watch.

    However, the original is perfect.
     
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  6. RogerB

    RogerB Forum Resident

    Location:
    Alabama
    No. Nor should they colorize 12 Angry Men or To Kill A Mockingbird.

    Movies are products of their time. Leave them alone. If people don’t watch a classic movie because it’s not in color ...then I...nor anybody else...can help them.

    Just my 2 cents...
     
  7. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise)

    Sure, why not? In order to colorize something they have to obtain the best possible version of the monochrome original to get to maximum range of grey tones to assign colors to. Once they have that, they'll release both versions.
     
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  8. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    A tangential thought I’ve had and have previously thought about starting a thread about but thought was maybe too esoteric a topic even for Sthv (Imagine that!)

    I find it really interesting that there is almost NO colour footage of The Beatles from the year 1964, the year where they were most extensively filmed throughout the world. I think a few bits of fan 8mm from concerts might be the extent of it. (Washington show and maybe others?) Even the 2 earlier years are better represented by colour footage, with the Floral Hall footage from 1962 and the Beatles Come To Town film and the Dezo Hoffman clips for 1963. Isn’t that weird? It always makes 1964 stand out as ‘the monochrome year’ of their career to me, along with the iconic b/w aesthetic of AHDN.
     
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  9. egebamyasi

    egebamyasi Forum Resident

    Location:
    Worcester, MA
    Are there any films that were improved by colorization?
    Color won't change this.
     
  10. Fender Relic

    Fender Relic Forum Resident

    Location:
    PennsylBama
    When I was about 8 or 9, my older sister and her friends had some of the B&W Beatles Topps trading cards and I thought they were drab. I got some packs of the color series and they were fab! I'd watch a color version of AHDN. It'd remind me of that Topps card event in my life. See what I did there?
     
  11. Don Persuado

    Don Persuado Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cincinnati
    HELL No!!!
     
  12. steviebee

    steviebee Always playing Ese and The Vooduu People

    Location:
    London, England
    Country Joe and The Fish?
     
  13. andrewskyDE

    andrewskyDE Island Owner

    Location:
    Europe
    Haha... hehe... hmm....... umm......... No!!
     
  14. bob_32_116

    bob_32_116 Forum Flaneur

    Location:
    Perth Australia
    Lots of people are asking "What's the harm?"

    I think that's the wrong question. it should be "Where's the benefit?" The assumption is being made that young people of today cannot enjoy something that's not in colour. I find that incredibly patronising. Are they that much less clever than I was at their age, in being able to watch a movie in monochrome and understand what was going on? I doubt it. If they watch it and don't appreciate it, the fault lies either with the film storyline itself, or with the temporal cultural gap between the subject and the viewer. If they think it's crap in monochrome, seeing it in colour won't change their opinion.

    Also, the Beatles are/were English, so I object to the suggestion that the film be "colorized" - two Americanisms in one word! If we MUST add colour to it, at the very least let's call it "colourised".
     
    VQR, mando_dan and let him run... like this.
  15. Jerry Horne

    Jerry Horne WYWH (1975-2025)

    Location:
    NW
  16. lrpm

    lrpm Forum Resident

    Location:
    Barcelona, Spain
    Yes, red vinyl
     
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  17. empirelvr

    empirelvr "That's *just* the way it IS!" - Paul Anka

    Location:
    Virginia, USA
    To my mind, yes. Laurel & Hardy's "Babes In Toyland." And only because Stan Laurel always lamented that he didn't push for the film to be shot in Technicolor, which is what he really wanted. That is one of the few instances I could find where budget overrode aesthetic desires, and was shot as if it were a color production (i.e.: sets were in full color as well as wardrobe...instead of colors picked for easy visual translation in B&W.) This was not a case of "using" B&W as a "vision."

    The colorization is okay...as far as that goes, and doing it gave the film an "accidental" restoration. I like it. :hide:
     
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  18. 2141

    2141 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I think the benefit is not necessarily just to younger people; I know I'd like to see it in "colour" as you say ;-) I do think younger people even more than older, may not appreciate b/w as much. They weren't raised with it. I know I've talked to some teens that say they can't stand b/w stuff and won't even watch them. Of course that doesn't apply to everyone, but there is some of that sentiment out there. And again, it's not as if the original would cease to exist. We're talking about just one more option for enjoyment of the movie, no matter the person's age.
     
    Last edited: Oct 1, 2018
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  19. Nems

    Nems Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    It IS considered a Cinematic Classic.
     
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  20. Massproductions

    Massproductions Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    I would be happier if they stopped wasting time messing with old films and put out some decent new films not loaded with CGI in every scene!
     
  21. Al Kuenster

    Al Kuenster Senior Member

    Location:
    Las Vegas, NV - US
    No! Why mess with a good thing.
     
  22. m5comp

    m5comp Classic Rock Lover

    Location:
    Hamilton, AL
    Goodness no!
     
  23. musicfan37

    musicfan37 Senior Member

  24. bob_32_116

    bob_32_116 Forum Flaneur

    Location:
    Perth Australia
    Amen to that.
     
  25. 007james

    007james Forum Resident

    Location:
    nyc
    I'd rather have a black and white version of "Let it Be"
     
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