The Beatles: Yellow Submarine [VHS]

BOTTOM LINE: This is a cool film, perfectly safe & suitable viewing for the entire family. A positive message, some classic Beatles tunes and mesmerizing animation make this a blast. This is a great way to introduce your young ones to some terrific music; they may quickly find it among their new favorites. 5 STARS for the marvelous magical mystery movie, the Beatles' YELLOW SUBMARINE! THE STORY: The evil Blue Meanies declare war on the peaceful world of Pepperland because they can't stand music, thrive on disorder and, well... just because. The Beatles are brought to Pepperland aboard the trusty Yellow Submarine and, disguised as Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (whom they eerily resemble), the Fab Four battle the Blue Meanies with the all-healing power of their groovy music. THOUGHTS: After catching only snippets of this film over the last 40 years, I finally plunked down some dough and bought myself a copy and sat and watched it from beginning to end. As soon as it was over I went through all of the supplemental material and then watched it again. What a wonderful film this is! Hard to believe that the same animation team that produced the pedestrian Beatles cartoon show for ABC television also did this amazing flick. Obviously the era in which it was made & released almost dictated that it be a psychedelic assault on the eyes, but in so many ways YELLOW SUBMARINE isn't just a "smoke some dope and trip out on this thing!" film. As the movie goes along, it all becomes rather a beautiful work of art in motion. In many ways, much of the visual style is heavily reminiscent of the crude-ish animation on the old Monty Python series. In many other ways it is unlike anything I've ever witnessed in animation - before or since. Of course it features some classic Beatles tunes, along with three made just for this film. They all sound clearer and more incredible than I've heard them before. THE BLU-RAY: Fans of this film should rejoice; you'll be amazed at how incredible it looks & sounds. YELLOW SUBMARINE was painstakingly restored by hand, one frame at a time, by a small team of dedicated folks. The impressive results make this well worth the investment. It looks pristine & perfect. The only gripe I have is about the dialogue, and it's a minor one. It's a little on the soft side, and much of what is said seems rather mumbled. Turning on the subtitles on my second go-round helped tremendously. (The subtitles looks really nice, crisp & sharp, by the way.) There are lots of great bonus content included on this Blu-ray, including new interviews with a few of the voice actors & film crew, a feature-length commentary track with the animation director & producer, a vintage making of featurette and the film's theatrical trailer. There's also 3 storyboard sequence breakdowns and several behind the scenes photos. But wait, there's more! In addition to the supplements on the disc itself, the packaging includes an informative 16 page booklet, four 4"x6" cell transparencies, (one of each of John, Paul, George and Ringo) and even a cool little sheet of stickers featuring characters from the film!

Although I own both the 1988 Yellow Submarine [VHS ] and the 1999 DVD version of Yellow Submarine , I finally saw the film on the big screen in Fairfax, VA, for the first time today, and it was fantastic! The print was the best I have ever seen, and it is brand-new, not a reissue of the 1999 version. The soundtrack was excellent as well; though some of The Beatles' songs had strange-sounding mixes, that was probably the fault of the theater sound system. I am really looking forward to receiving the new DVD in June. I will add to this review after I have a chance to watch the new DVD. Stay tuned... UPDATE: I have now watched all of the new DVD, and the picture quality on the new version is much sharper and less grainy than the 1999 release; the soundtrack is much improved as well. There are some differences between the two versions, which I will discuss now. AUDIO OPTIONS: 1999: English 5.1 Surround (non-DTS); English Mono, 5.1 Surround (non-DTS) Music-Only Track (not on 2012 version, unfortunately). 2012: English Dolby Stereo, English Mono, English DTS 5.1 Surround, German 5.1 Surround (non-DTS), Italian 5.1 Surround (non-DTS). The commentary track, featuring John Coates and Heinz Edelmann, is the same on both versions. SUBTITLES: 1999: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese (Only English and French are listed on the packaging). 2012: English, German, Dutch, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Polish (no Japanese - sorry, Yoko), and "Hard-of-Hearing" (HOH) English and German. I wasn't sure what the difference was at first, but the HOH versions have parenthetical onscreen mentions of sound effects (e.g., (Laughter), (Giggling), (Explosion)), whereas the standard English and German subtitles do not. SPECIAL FEATURES: "Mod Odyssey" Featurette - same content on both versions; transferred "as is" on the 1999 version, but newly restored on the 2012 version. Original theatrical trailer - same content on both versions; transferred "as is" on the 1999 version, but newly restored on the 2012 version. Also, the Apple Corps logo replaces the United Artists logo at the end of the trailer. Interviews - same on both versions. Storyboard sequences - appear to be the same content, but are presented in full-screen mode on the 1999 version, whereas they are in small boxes on the 2012 version. For example, the "Sea of Monsters" storyboard sequence from 1999 has the storyboard sequence running at the top, with the film clip at the bottom. On the 2012 edition, the two segments run side-by-side in little boxes, which are hard to see. Pencil drawings: The 1999 version has 29 drawings, the 2012 version has only 26 (the three Hey Bulldog cels are missing). Has the same presentation problems as the storyboard sequence (full-size in 1999, smaller in 2012). Behind-the-scenes photos - There are 30 full-screen photos in the 1999 version, but only 29 in the 2012 version. Once again, the 2012 photos are smaller. Also, the 1999 version has a counter at the bottom center of the screen for the storyboards, photos, and pencil drawings. The 2012 version does not, and it is very tedious to count them manually. Booklet: The 2012 booklet has a new essay by John Lasseter of Walt Disney Studios, and reproduces all of the mini-essays from the 1999 version. The booklet also has more artwork. The package also comes with four mini-cels of the cartoon John, Paul, George, and Ringo, a sticker sheet of both the individual and collective cartoon Beatles, a Blue Meanie, the Flying Glove ("It's not polite to point!"), Jeremy Hillary Boob, the LOVE logo, and the Yellow Submarine itself. There is also a promotional flyer for the Yellow Submarine: Midi Edition picture book and the LOVE Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas (this is Apple, so what do you expect?). Look for the 1999 version if you want the original non-DTS English 5.1 soundtrack, the "music-only" non-DTS 5.1 soundtrack, the Japanese subtitles, and a full-screen presentation of the storyboards, pencil drawings, and behind-the-scenes photos. Otherwise, get the 2012 version. Of course, serious Beatles collectors will want both versions, as well as the 1988 VHS (which has the original 1968 U.S. edit of the film without the "Hey Bulldog" sequence - the original U.K. film had "Bulldog," at least in some early prints), if they don't already have them.

Love this movie

This new 2012 DVD release of Yellow Submarine is advertised as having been lovingly restored frame by frame to ensure the best picture quality since it was first shown in theaters so many years ago. As for the movie itself, if you're a Beatles or animation fan (or hopefully both) and have never seen this film then you owe it to yourself to do so. The Peter Max-esque artwork is spectacular fantasy fun, the script is highly amusing, and the Beatles music chosen for the film sounds as good today as when it was new. Though the Beatles had little to do directly with the film and their voices are impersonated till the live footage of them singing recorded for the end of the film their sensibilities are all over this project and they did compose three new (at the time) songs for the film, all of them terrific. I can't recommend this movie enough and it's very "family friendly" if you are looking for something fantastic to enthrall your children and introduce them to the music of the Beatles. I saw it in the theater when I was a small child and jumped on buying it on VHS when it was first released. That VHS copy of Yellow Submarine was the most watched movie in our house when our son was very young and I never got tired of it no matter how many times he wanted to watch it. A good thing since he watched it countless times. Now I'm looking forward to this newly restored version on DVD. According to announcements on The Beatles' official website the film has been restored in 4K digital resolution by Paul Rutan Jr. and his team of specialists at Triage Motion Picture Services and Eque Inc. Since the hand-drawn original artwork is quite delicate they have used no automated software in the digital clean-up of the film's restored photochemical elements. All the work was all done by hand, frame by frame. Bonus features for the Yellow Submarine DVD and Blu-ray include a short making-of documentary titled "Mod Odyssey" (TRT: 7:30), the original Yellow Submarine theatrical trailer, audio commentary with producer John Coates and art director Heinz Edelmann, some brief interview clips with other people associated with the film, storyboard sequences, 29 original pencil drawings plus 30 behind-the-scenes photos. Both Digipak sets will include reproductions of animation cels from the film, collectible stickers, and a 16-page booklet with a new essay by Yellow Submarine aficionado John Lasseter (Chief Creative Officer, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios).

My 50+ son wanted to borrow my VHS version of this wonderful movie so I bought two DVDs. One for him and one for me.

A mixed-up, lonely Catholic schoolboy's mother once took him and his little sister to see Yellow Submarine. It was 1973. He had just made his First Holy Communion, and he was still trying to make sense of the confused, sublime, sometimes terrifying cosmology that was being taught to him at a small parish school on Long Island. But somehow, in that darkened theater, all of those years ago, Pepperland, The Sea of Holes, The Sea of Green, The Sea of Heads, The Sea of Silence, even the bleak streets of Liverpool, became forever after coterminous with this boy's ideas of what Heaven might be like. What Heaven MUST to be like. No question. And, somehow, Heaven still looks that way to him. Even after so many years have gone by... I don't know where they got the inspiration to make that row of chimneys suddenly peal with the roar of an ocean liner. Or those endlessly multiplying heads of a black-hatted villain, sneering while caught in a cloud of rising bubbles. Or that catapulting blue marble which engulfs a band of playing musicians, freezing them in a single moment of time, like prehistoric insects encased in amber. Just what, for that matter, is going on in that transom over the doorway on a Liverpool street? We see ghostly, dark figures, their heads bowed, marching down a road, as if they had been marching down it forever. When I first saw these images, I had no idea what I was seeing, and, even after a lifetime has gone by, I still don't. Utterly mysterious. Endlessly fascinating. Magical, even. Yellow Submarine is, in a word, miraculous. The film seems to contain worlds upon worlds upon worlds. Every time I watch it, I get a glimpse of what it might be like to travel to the furthermost corners of the universe. Or, perhaps more accurately, what it might be like to travel to the very limits of human imagination. A human imagination of which I truly believe Yellow Submarine provides, at once, a complete and comprehensive record of, and an extraordinary monument to. Will I ever reach that long, echoing, marvelous corridor, lined with those countless doors, each of which provides a window onto infinity? Or ride across that glittering sky with Lucy and her diamonds? Been trying to get to these wondrous places for the duration of my small, mean life, and have now grown weary, sad, and defeated. I think Yellow Submarine, when I was eight, showed me too much. Even Pauline Kael once wrote that the film moved by too quickly. She actually wanted it to slow down, so she could linger a bit longer on the beautiful images flying by. Dante's Paradiso can never match his Inferno. For, as the great Lester Bangs once wrote, while desolation and anguish may not be the only things in life, they are somehow the things that we can most easily UNDERSTAND in this life, and he goes on to say, unforgettably, "Which I suppose shows just what level our souls have evolved to". Well, until the soul of mankind, or my own soul, for that matter, evolves to a level that can at least begin to comprehend a world in which a Paradiso can be equal to, or even surpass, an Inferno, Yellow Submarine will remain, for me, the closest I will ever come to it. The closest I will ever come to that world. And I guess it speaks to the power of this one magnificent film that in praising it, I didn't even have to mention The Beatles...

The Beatles, having just completed their monumental recording of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" in early April and started recording for the "Magical Mystery Tour" film project in late April of 1967, signed contracts in early May for the making of a full-length animated film based around their 1966 song "Yellow Submarine". They were to provide at least three new songs and allow use of others previously released for the soundtrack. The Yellow Submarine film was theatrically released by United Artists (in mono) in UK theaters premiering on 7/17/68 (the following day they worked on recording "Cry Baby Cry" and "Helter Skelter") and in the US on 11/13/68. The album of the same name however, wasn't released until UK 1/17/69 and US 1/13/69. There were two reasons for the delay. One was that the band felt the November 1968 release of "The Beatles" should take precedence, the other was that George Martin wanted to re-record his orchestral score for side two of the LP, which he did in two three hour sessions on Oct. 22 and 23. The first "new" song for the film was "Only A Northern Song", which was originally George Harrison's first offering for the Sgt. Pepper album, and began life in the studio on 2/13/67. This track was mixed mono for the film, mock stereo for LP, and never mixed stereo or 5.1 until 1999. The second contribution was Lennon/McCartney's "Baby You're A Rich Man", the first song recorded especially for the film. It was recorded and mixed mono on 5/11/67 in less than six hours. Though it was used in the film, it was released as the B-side of "All You Need Is Love" on 7/7/67, just prior to the film's release. It too was mono on film, and mock stereo until 1999 (except for The Beatles Box, Parlophone 1971). The next evening brought McCartney's "All Together Now". It also was recorded and mixed mono in less than six hours. May 25 began another Harrison number, "It's All Too Much". Finally, Lennon's "Hey Bulldog", making it four new songs, was recorded. The song's lyrics were completed, music composed, recorded and mixed in a single ten hour session on 2/11/68. According to engineer Geoff Emerick, everyone was especially pleased with that tune. They were filmed recording it, but the footage was actually used to promote "Lady Madonna". The happy mood seen on that footage might be because they knew it was their last recording session before leaving for their long holiday in India. The "Hey Bulldog" animated film segment was only seen theatrically in Europe and not available in the US until the 1999 DVD. Video tape and LaserDisc was released for home use in 1987 by MGM/UA in the 1.33:1 aspect ratio and simulated stereo. After a couple of years, it went out of print. Then, after cleaning the original film negative and rejuvenating the color in 1999, MGM/Apple released the widescreen DVD, 5.1 Dolby Digital, restoring the "Hey Bulldog" sequence and adding several special features.This version also went out of print. Finally, we have the the 2012 Apple Blu-ray and DVD released in June, after the May theatrical release. Compared to the MGM 1999 DVD, the Apple 2012 reissue is a welcomed improvement. Both the audio and video are better. Video: This is the major improvement of this new release. The film has been restored in 4K digital resolution for the first time by Paul Rutan Jr. and his team at Triage Motion Picture Services and Eque Inc. Because of the delicacy of the hand-drawn original artwork, no automated software was employed in the digital clean-up, it was all done by hand, frame by frame, over a four month period. I can't imagine the man hours involved, but the results are spectacular, clean and vivid! Though the 1999 DVD release says "widescreen" and the new blu-ray says 1.66:1, there is more picture information visible on the blu-ray. I have not yet verified their true aspect ratios. Audio: I am happy to say that the same 1999 5.1 remix by Pete Cobbin is incorporated here. He did an exceptional job! Messing with the Beatle's soundtracks is a delicate task, especially when "enhancing". Keep in mind that these new mixes originated from 4 track analog tapes, often having several separately recorded instruments overlaid on the same track and running though boards all intended for mono. The sound here is as if the master tape is being played back. These recordings were made by Norman Smith and Geoff Emerick back in 1965-68, yet they sound better than most recordings made today. Listen for example to the vocals and the strings in "Eleanor Rigby" or the clarinets and tubular bells in "When I'm Sixty Four". The surround enhancement is done very tastefully, especially during the songs. The songs don't sound pulled apart as some engineers would do. I especially like the surround effects done for "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds". Throughout the well known songs you hear more distinction between instruments and harmonies. For the first time, we have it in DTS at home. The theatrical re-release of the film in 1999 included a new 5.1 remix in the DTS audio format, however, the subsequent 1999 DVD was released only in 5.1 Dolby Digital. We now have it in DTS-HD Master Audio (English only), which sounds better than in Dolby Digital. There are however, two audio caveats. The first being that the output level is about 11.5 dB too loud. Though the dynamic range is actually improved by 2.0 dB over the Dolby Digital DVD, the over-all level is set way above reference level, so be cautious. The second caveat is the omission of the music-only option, which allowed you to listen to the film's score only (no dialog or sound effects) on the 1999 DVD. I found it interesting, but I suppose most didn't. Bonus features: Both the Yellow Submarine DVD and Blu-ray include a short making-of documentary titled Mod Odyssey" (TRT: 7:30), the film's original theatrical trailer, audio commentary by producer John Coates and art director Heinz Edelmann, several brief interview clips with others involved with the film, storyboard sequences, 29 original pencil drawings and 30 behind-the-scenes photos. Both Digipaks include reproductions of 4 animation film cells, 10 collectible stickers, and a 16-page booklet (same text as 1999 insert) with a new essay by Yellow Submarine aficionado John Lasseter (Chief Creative Officer, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios). Note that there is no new A/V material over the 1999 DVD.

Until I ordered this product, I had only seen bits and pieces of Yellow Submarine. Seeing the whole feature is a fantastic experience for anyone -- young, old, music fans, animation fans, fans of having fun, fans of pretty colors, and of course, Beatles fans. It is a visually spectacular tale filled with wonder, music and love. Viewing this now from an adult perspective, a few things are clear: * This is truly a seminal work of animation. Even if not Beatles fans (why not?), this is a must-have for cinemaphiles and animation-philes. You can see how it influenced Terry Gilliam (Monty Python) among many others. * This is classic story-telling. A bit of Wizard of Oz, a dash of Tolkien, some quasi-vaudevillian comedy and FAB music. * The Beatles stay true to a couple of Beatle-y themes: 1) Self-reference - can you spot all the references to their songs in the script? 2) Love is all you need. * Apple really did put out some creative products before it destroyed the Beatles. * If you ever want to explain to someone what "psychedelia" means, have them watch Yellow Submarine. I read lots of reviews on here before buying this remastered product. I had no issues with the sound volume (loud, which is how I like it - and controllable by the listener anyway) or the visuals. Most colorful thing anyone will ever see. The accompanying booklet and cels are a nice bonus. Nothing not to like here. If you don't own this piece of history, you are a Nowhere Man. Or worse, maybe even a Blue Meanie.

Très satisfait de ce DVD, un classique pour ma collection. Il est arrivé en parfait état et bien emballé. La livraison a été un peu plus longue que prévu, mais c'est normal en décembre. Le vendeur était très aimable et m'a rapidement communiqué les coordonnées de livraison. Livraison impeccable. Merci !

W mojej opinii najlepszy remaster Beatlesów. Wszystko uporządkowane i na swoim miejscu.

Artículo de gran calidad, audio en inglés y subtitulada en español. Imagen con calidad aceptable y magnífico sonido. Empaque muy original, folleto con reseña de la edición de la película, acetato de cada Beatle y stickers. Infaltable para coleccionistas.

Possedevo già una cassetta VHS con la versione rimasterizzata di "Yellow Submarine", un film che avevo già visto al cinema nel 1969. Ho acquistato la mia copia del BD in edizione digipack per poco più di 13 €uro. Ottima la confezione in cartoncino che ospita la digisleeve con una tasca piena di gadget: 4 film di plastica trasparente con le immagini disegnate dei Quattro, un foglio con adesivi di vari soggetti del cartoon e un booklet ricco di note e immagini sul making of del film. L'intervento di restauro, fatto manualmente per singolo fotogramma, è a dir poco entusiasmante. In più abbiamo un ricco set di contenuti extra, dal trailer cinematografico originale ai commenti degli autori del lungometraggio, alla featurette "Mod Odissey". Un po cervellotica la navigazione del menu. Ottimo il comparto audio, con versione inglese in PCM Stereo, Original Mono e DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround, e quella tedesca e italiana in Dolby 5.1 Surround. Da tempo un imprescindibile, autentico classico del film d'animazione. P.S. Contrariamente a quanto afferma l'amico 'artnico', la versione italiana del BD non è stata ridoppiata. Le voci sono sempre quelle di Cesare Barbetti (John), Massimo Turci (Paul), Glauco Onorato (George) e Pino Locchi (Ringo). Tutti ottimi doppiatori, ma evidentemente distanti dalle aspettative dei Beatle-fan.

This is an immense work that tends to overstay it's welcome, but the transfer is brilliant and the sound of the Beatles songs is revelatory.