The Beatles / A Hard Days Night / Restored European Blu-ray with 5.1

We announced back in March about the Criterion Collection’s superb new blu-ray edition of The Beatles’ 1964 film A Hard Day’s Night. This forthcoming release boasted a brand new 4k restoration, approved by director Richard Lester, as well as newly created 5.1 surround and stereo mixes supervised by Giles Martin at Abbey Road Studios.

The only issue with the Criterion set is that it is region-locked to region ‘A’ – the Americas and East Asia. Those in Europe would not be able to play on standard blu-ray equipment.

Thankfully, there is now a separate UK edition from Second Sight which is region ‘B’ coded (Europe, Africa, Middle East, New Zealand and Australia). This version mirrors all the key features in the Criterion Edition (although it appears as if a Richard Lester short has gone AWOL) and is easily identifiable by the use of a completely different cover. The Criterion cover is actually much classier, but them’s the breaks.

This new region B coded blu-ray edition of  A Hard Day’s Night is released a few weeks later than its American counterpart, on 21 July 2014. It will also be available on DVD.

• • UK Pre-order: A Hard Day’s Night: 50th Anniversary [Blu-ray]
• • GERMANY Pre-order: A Hard Day’s Night: 50th Anniversary 

RELEASE DETAILS

• New 4k restoration approved by director Richard Lester
• Mono soundtrack as well as newly created 5.1 surround and stereo mixes supervised by sound producer Giles Martin at Abbey Road Studios.
• Audio presented in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, uncompressed Stereo and Mono

BONUS FEATURES:

• In Their Own Voices – a new piece combining 1964 interviews with The Beatles with behind-the-scenes footage and photos
• You Can t Do That: The Making of A Hard Day s Night
• a documentary by producer Walter Shenson including an outtake performance by The Beatles
• Things They Said Today – featuring director Richard Lester music producer George Martin, screenwriter Alun Owen and cinematographer Gilbert Taylor
• Picturewise – a new piece about Richard Lester s early work featuring a new audio interview with the director
• Anatomy of a Style – a new piece on Richard Lester s methods
• New interview with author Mark Lewisohn
• Audio commentary with cast and crew
• New 50th Anniversary Trailer
• Optional English SDH subtitles for the hearing impaired