Magical Mystery Tour

I was but a mere babe in arms when this film originally played on BBC Television in 1967 (and was trashed by both critics & audiences), so I didn't actually see it until years later, when I attended a Beatles convention, where it was screened with a batch of other Beatle related films. All I can say is...YOWZA! I guess I can see why our British cousins detested it. It was originally slated for a cinematic release, but was brought up by BBC for screening as a Xmas holiday feature (it was actually screened on the 26th of December,1967...and in black & white,no less). It fared so badly that NBC, who had American TV rights for screening it,backed out (no big surprise). It did turn up some years later in the early to mid 1970's, on the midnight movie circuit, playing to mostly stoned out potheads. I guess looking at it some years later, I would say that it is a period piece (check out the costumes that they wore back then). Maybe if I saw it, tripping balls, I would probably appreciate it all the more. Seeing it stone cold sober, it's a pretty lame attempt at a Beatles movie (although I admit, I do like some of the music in it).

Most people's recollections of this is that it's nonsensical self-indulgent and beyond amateurish.

Your memory is not lying to you but that doesn't mean that this is rubbish. If you're a die-hard Beatles fan and managed not just to sit through all eight hours of the Get Back sessions film but actually enjoyed it, you will love this.

It's not really a film, so don't expect anything like 'Help,' the slick, highly polished and properly made comedy. Magical Mystery Tour has none of these attributes. It is essentially an album filled in with what seems like whatever ideas were in the minds of John, George, Ringo and particularly Paul at the time. None of these extended pieces are funny, imaginative or indeed entertaining but for Beatles fans, inexplicably interesting.

It's also a rare opportunity to see on screen the wonderfully eccentric Scottish surrealist comedy-poet, Ivor Cutler.

The problem with most people that don't "get" this little film is that they do not understand the concept of the "day trips to nowhere", which are VERY popular in England. For a small fee, you can hop on a bus and ride around the countryside doing nothing but getting drunk and having fun. And that is all this is about. There are some innovative video segments thrown in for some of the best songs in the Beatles catalog. Rest assured, if you "hated" Yellow Submarine (say wha?), you'll despise this. If you don't mind a half-hour of nonsense, you won't mind this either. Lighten up and dig it.

Such sourpusses out there! Anyone telling you that Beatles fans should pass this movie up is, well...NOT A BEATLES FAN. They are what John Lennon would refer to as a "day tripper". A part-timer. Not in it for the long-haul. Anyone truly fascinated with the Beatles' music and legacy, especially after thirty years hindsight, ought to be downright thrilled that these four amateur filmmakers could pull off such an original, amusing and tuneful homemovie (not to mention long-form video WAY before it's time) on their spare time between recording Sgt. Pepper and the White Album, no less. They got drunk, got on a bus and filmed away. They were free spirits with tons of love, and it shows. They obviously knew exactly what they were doing, and rough edges and all, it's quite charming after all these years. My father took me to see a double feature of Yellow Submarine and Magical Mystery Tour when I was eight, and I just can't believe how it holds up. Love them warts and all. Just as they made "Hey Jude" and "She Loves You", so did they make "Revoluton #9" and "Within You, Without You". Just as they made tight, economical movies, so did they make experimental ones like this. Four Stars(****), if not just because there's nothing like it, and never will be again.

When this was first released in the '60s, it was critically panned and was called the Beatles' first flop. I really never listen to critics anyway, and thought that while the story was pretty goofy, the camera use was pretty innovative for the time, and, after all, it's another chance to see the Beatles playing their songs. Movies like this make me wonder why MTV thinks they invented the music video. "I Am The Walrus" piece has kind of an odd suspense in the way it is filmed.