Magical Mystery Tour

Magical Mystery Tour was the first project by the Beatles after the death of their manager and it shows. This film is disorganized, cluttered, plotless, psychadelic, over the top, and represents perfectly what the Beatles were living through at that present time.

And that's what film is all about.

Like "A Hard Day's Night" a mere three years earlier which captured a day in the life of the Beatles, this film shows what the Beatles were living and experiencing then. Imagine it: you're a famous British rock star who captured the world with Beatlemania, you're on your own now, you're watching and helping shape pop culture around the world, you're sampling the sexual, drug, and youth revolutions of 1967, and you want to capture it on film.

The Beatles tried to do that with this film and it's hit and miss. But where else will you see a performance of "I Am The Walrus"? You can see where each of the Beatles were heading: John wrote the spaghetti dream sequence and was in real life deeply into surrealism. George plays "Blue Jay Way" and his Indian mysticism comes through. Paul contributes "The Fool On The Hill" and supervised the film shoot. Ringo is giving the acting job in the film and went on to star in other 1960s films such as "Candy" and "The Magic Christian".

Many people have dismissed this film as a failure and a mess. Watch through the eyes of the Beatles and it's not so bad after all. When I first screened this movie, I watched it at least six times trying to find out the plot, etc. I failed but had fun watching it. And that's the whole point.

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.

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).

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.

hey this a great movie! the songs are wonderful and the whole thing is so much fun! one of my favorite scenes was when john was playing with that little girl and saying HAVE A GUESS! [what a sweetie!]. it was really cool when the beatles sang i am the walrus. george was fantastic when he sang blue jay way. the beatles are naturally fun and they express it to the extreme here! i guess i can dig why almost everyone hates it but true beatles [like me] will show some compassion and appreciate this movie as the classic it is.