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

Criterion hasn't taken the 4K leap, and I'm skeptical that they ever will.

Too much of a niche of a niche for them, though small labels like Arrow have made it work, so... maybe?

 

I agree. I do now want to see a version of AHDN with a techno score, though.

 

I don’t think they need to. The 4K restorations on regular HD Blu-ray look fantastic. I can’t imagine improvement from that.

 

With 4K UHD, the biggest improvement tends to be from HDR. Obviously that wouldn't help the colors of "AHDN" - not unless the OP gets his wish! - but whites, blacks and contrast would get a boost.

But yeah... "AHDN" is a movie that I suspect won't look substantially better as a 4K disc.

Doesn't mean I wouldn't want to see it, but I don't think it'd be revelatory...

 

Yeah, I am specifically talking about black and white films they have done, at least the ones I have watched (as I believe I said previously, I have not seen their AHDN restoration; my one and only viewing of this film was on VHS…). It may also help that I am watching on an OLED, so whites, blacks, and contrast look virtually perfect.

 

I inherited my grandfather's Big Band Memories box. It has reprocessed stereo versions of Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, Bennie Goodman, etc (on Dynaflex, no less). It didn't make me appreciate big band music more. I wish it were mono.

I wonder if he liked the reprocessed stereo.

 

O+

You know friend, it's not so much what you say, your underlying points, about colorization being inevitable, or how one group has no right to dictate what another group chooses or has a right to see. All that is ok. But the nasty demeaning way you talk down to & about "people all in their 70s," & " people that will all be dead" & " this won't be marketed to you"

The way you speak about & stereotype older fans or people is ghastly. You also make it seem that your personal opinions are facts, when they are just your opinions. You complain about old fans trying to control future Beatles product but you seem to be trying to control older fans in the very way you complain about in your post. You also talk about older people as if they or their opinions are less valuable than younger people. You even seek to define what 'older' means as people "people in their 70s" which of course isin't true either. Ringo Starr I believe is 81 years old. And a Beatles fan. But from your definition Ringo is no longer a person or a fan because he is older than all old people in their 70s. Maybe you have some kind of weird George Orwell style euthanasia plan for People like Ringo that are older than all the old people in their 70s. Or maybe you will just pass a law forbidding old people from having opinons.

Besides all that, the people that actually own the rights for altering Beatles films will decide what is or is not done. Even if they are partially or entirely old people. If you had made the same remarks & substituted old people & used black people or gay people or asian people or female people or short people, they would have suspended or banned you from here per the policies & rules & I couldn't agree more.

 

they should colorize the first part of Wizard of Oz first

 

Maybe they can have the first section of A Hard Days Night in b&w and when they get to London it goes colour.

 

I think not but I'd hate to spoil other people's enjoyment. I prefer to listen to Pet Sounds in mono but I can appreciate the stereo version.

 

that sounds pretty cool

 

Recent rumors state otherwise: Criterion 4K UHD coming…

 

Since your first comment about people who saw it when it released are all in their 70s now is not true, I didn't bother with the rest of it.
I was almost 7 in 1964 and I'll be 64 (thank you) very soon. I saw it the first week it was out and thanks to my big brother for that. My kids weren't 1o yet when they saw it and still quote it.
"He's very clean."

 

Yes, it's not a film I can actually watch, maybe in colour I would.
And it won't erase the B&W one!

 

Please note that my prior post was extremely wishy-washy. I said I was skeptical about Criterion 4K but also said "maybe".

I covered all those bases!

 

A thousand times NO!

 

Only if both versions get the Lucas Star Wars treatment!

 

Colorizing isn't analogous to remixing.

If A Hard Day's Night had been filmed in color, but technical limitations of the day forced United Artists to put out the film in black & white, then I'd say go ahead and put out the color version now that better equipment is out there. That would be more of an analogy to remixing an album that originally came out with a bunch of reduction mixes on it.

 

No, it would be like colorizing Paper Moon.

 

Why not go further and dub them so they sound like the following:

• John Lennon: Vegeta from Dragonball Z
• Paul McCartney: Freddy Jones from Scooby Doo, Where Are You?
• George Harrison: John Stewart from Justice League
• Ringo Starr: Patrick Starr from Spongebob Squarepants

 

No.

 

I honestly don't care one way or the other, but I still don't believe that there's a significant audience for this sort of thing. Even if it were colorized, A Hard Day's Night would still feel like a relic from another era to younger audiences.

What ever happened to Modern Dad? He was promising us that the Peter Jackson WWI film was going to usher in a new wave of colorized goodies for the masses.

 

I would be interested in a poll for the perceived target group of this to see what their views are on colourising old films.

I don't really have a view either way - I would continue to watch the original but would happily buy a colour version put of curiosity.

 

Do we think more people would watch Schindler's List if it was in colour?