Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Rating:
Summary: This title needs to be on DVD!!!!
Review: I remember, back when the film first premiered, in 1978, seeing this movie for this first time on the big screen! I was in awe of the music, the Bee Gees, Peter Frampton, and the whole film.
I credit this movie for my love and appreciation of The Beatles (being 9- going on 10 at that time, I did not make the connection that these artists were in fact performing the Beatles music.)
I own it on VHS, and it brings back alot of warm memories for me; for example, I remember, as soon as we left the theater, we immediatle went to the music store and bought the 2 record music soundtrack!!

I want this title on DVD; It would be nice to, in addition to the film itself, to have bonus features, such as intervies with the cast; a behind-the-scenes making of the movie; cast and crew bios.
Maybe a feature that shows where certain stars are today (like Paul Nicholas (the nasty Dougie Shears), Sandy Farina (Strawberry Fields) kind of a "where are they now").

For those who have not had the pleasure of seeing this film, here's a brief discription:
Sgt. Pepper and his Lonely Hearts Club Band are hailed as being a band that brings joy with their music. Their instruments have the power to bring joy, as make dreams come true.
Sgt. Pepper dies, and leaves the legacy to Billy Shears (Frampton) and his friends Mark, Dave, and Bob Henderson (The Bee Gees) to make a new Lonely Hearts Club Band, and bring joy to the world with their music.
They make it big, almost larger than life. And go to L.A. and become superstars.
Steve Martin, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, are a few of the celebrity villians who want the musical instruments of the original Lonely Hearts Club Band, so they can take over the world. Their mantra being "We hate love. We hate Joy. We love money." And Mean Mr. Mustard(Frankie Howard) loves Strawberry (Sandy Farina), Billy Shears' girlfriend.
Will the instruments be saved? Can the world be saved from the clutches of FVB (Future Villian Band)? Can Billy get to Strawberry in time? You will have to watch to find out ;>

Rating:
Summary: Strawberry Fields Forever...with Peter Frampton
Review: The first time I had seen this film was the summer of 1978. I was 7 years old, really into the music of The Beatles and had to see this movie. This film was not a tribute to The Beatles, nor did the actual members of the group have anything to do with the movie. It was a fantasy film about the fictitious characters that The Beatles used in their songs off the "Sgt. Pepper" and "Abbey Road" albums.

The story takes place in the make-believe town of Heartland where we are introduced to the original Sgt. Pepper and his Lonely Hearts Club Band. Twenty years after Sgt. Pepper dies, his grandson Billy Shears (Peter Frampton) decides to form a new Lonely Hearts Club Band with his friends, the Henderson Brothers (The Bee Gees). The film continues with the success of the Lonely Hearts Club Band, the problems the citizens are having in Heartland with Mean Mr. Mustard (Frankie Howard) taking over the town and the Lonely Hearts Club Band helping Strawberry Fields (Sandy Farina) recover Sgt. Pepper's instruments that Mean Mr. Mustard stole. They encounter many obstacles and hardships, but in the end, evil is overcome and everyone is happy.

This film was not well received when it was released in 1978. Actually, everyone, including the critics and the public, hated the movie. The film was produced by Robert Stigwood (of 'Grease' and 'Saturday Night Fever' fame) and executive produced by Dee Anthony. Stigwood wanted to make his name associated with modern day musicals and had sunk 12 million dollars into "Sgt. Pepper." He approached the project with a lot of enthusiasm and publicity. When it was released, it was a big let down in the eyes of the critics and adults (who were teenagers when the original "Sgt. Pepper" was released) who went to see the movie. According to Paul Nelson of 'Rolling Stone' magazine (October 5, 1978) "...Stigwood and Anthony not only produced one of the worst movies ever made, but also managed to trash whatever rock and roll reputations such seventies artists as Peter Frampton and The Bee Gees..." Two reasons for the dislike of the film is the fact that no one spoke during the duration of the film (except for the narration done by the late George Burns who played Mr. Kite) and old Beatle songs were redone by popular seventies artists. The run of the film in some cities was "...so short...that those who were lucky enough to blink may have missed it," according to 'Rolling Stone' magazine (October 5, 1978). I have never read a review on this movie from a critic who actually liked it. Only myself, my friends and my parents seemed to like this movie.

While watching this movie and reading so many bad reviews about it, I still liked it and thought it was done creatively. Musicals usually have dialogue with the songs to help move the plot along. In this musical, the only spoken words are the late George Burns' narration of the storyline. The Beatles' songs and the plot are intertwined and that's what tells and moves the story along. The songs communicate to the audience whether a character was good ("Strawberry Fields Forever") or bad ("Mean Mr. Mustard"), it emphasizes what is happening in the scene ("She's Leaving Home"), how a person feels for another one ("I Want You, She's So Heavy"). The songs also show feelings of cheerfulness ("Good Morning, Good Morning") and sadness ("Golden Slumbers" and "Carry That Weight"). What a way of putting a movie together by telling a story through musical dialogue! I don't agree with the statement made by 'Rolling Stone' magazine that "...Sgt. Pepper is better on vinyl than it was on film." I thought that for remaking some of the Beatles' classic songs, these artists did a good job. Some that I find particularly good are Aerosmith's "Come Together" and Earth, Wind and Fire's "Got To Get You Into My Life." The finale tops off the film with the entire cast and many other superstars such as Tina Turner, Bonnie Raitt, and Robert Palmer singing the reprise of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."

Rating:
Summary: a notoriously rotten movie!
Review: The Beatles had nothing to do with this farce,and it shows.The performances are awful and the movie is just plain silly.

Rating:
Summary: Still Love This One!
Review: When this movie first came out I was a young teenager and a huge fan of: the Bee Gees, Peter Frampton, Earth Wind & Fire, Aerosmith and Steve Martin. I used my allowance to see this movie over and over - I couldn't get enough of it. The story was corny, but the musical performances were fantastic! It was so cool to see my favorites all in the same movie!
I was never really a fan of the Beatles. I didn't like their sound and didn't appreciate their music. This movie was my first real exposure to Beatle's music. I later learned that all the songs in the movie were actually remakes. When I finally heard the Beatles' original versions of these songs, I realized that I actually liked the versions in this movie much better than the originals by the Fab Four!
Once in a while I'll hear Aerosmith's "Come Together" or Earth, Wind & Fire's "Gotta Get You Into My Life" on the radio and I love it, because those versions came from this movie!

Rating:
Summary: The Music Is The Best Part - Period
Review: This was said to be producer Robert Stigwood's home movie and it sure seems like it. It virtually ruined nearly every musicians career that was in it. It's wildly bright, boisterous, flashy and tacky all at once. Besides the music, (of which, most are pretty good Beatles covers), there is no dialogue, save for the narration by George Burns (who even sings a song - don't ask).

The plot is simply a bunch of the Beatles sixties songs strung together for kind of a story - that's it. Simple and silly with a happy ending. Blah, blah, blah! The majority of the music is sung by the acts with great studio musicians. However, there are some real bad renditions which will either offend or cause one to roll their eyes.

Let me put it this way. The day production began, the Bee Gees reportedly begged to be taken out of the film. Sorry guys. A contract is a contract. They were one of the few survivors.

Rating:
Summary: 25 Years Later, 'Sgt. Pepper' Is Still Painful To Watch
Review: The ficticious place called "Heartland" finds all kinds of musicians coming together in orange, pink, red and purple satin. "Sgt. Pepper" unites all kinds of Beatle tunes into one large ball of cheese. How many careers were ruined by this film? Is it easy to spot that only a handful of people here actually had (any) acting experience out of the hundreds of people in this film? Outside of some brief narration by George Burns, it's ALL song and dance. There's a few good performances here (Aerosmith's "Come Together", Robin Gibb's "Oh Darling", Earth Wind & Fire's "Got To Get You Into My Life", and the Bee Gees' "Golden Slumber")... and one hilarious - Steve Martin singing "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" in the green tiled room... but most of this is tedious to get through. THE HEROES: Peter Frampton plays the starring role of Billy Shears (dig those white overalls with "Billy" printed on them). Barry, Robin and Maurice (RIP) Gibb play the roles of the Henderson brothers who help Shears find the stolen instruments. George Burns plays the role of narrator and Mister Kite. Donaled Pleasance (from "Halloween" fame) as BD Hoffler. THE VILLAINS: Alice Cooper as the mean Marvin Sunk (why was his version of "Sun King" omitted on the "Sgt. Pepper" movie soundtrack?). Aerosmith as the infamous (FVB) Future Villain Band. And a wonderful performance by Steve Martin as the evil Dr. Maxwell Edison. In the stands for the Grand Finale, you'll spot numerous "guests" from 1970's world of music... including Tina Turner, Robert Palmer, Hank Williams Jr, Seals & Croft, Sha Na Na, Nils Lofgren, Heart, Leif Garret, Jose Feliciano, Johnny Winter, Wolfman Jack, etc. Outside of the trailer and a language selection, this DVD has no extras. For those of us that grew up in the 1970's, it would have been nice to see some interviews or commentaries with some of the musicians. Thank goodness Billy Preston saved the day at the end of the movie (singing "Get Back")... bringing back to life the already deceased Strawberry Fields with a zap of his finger, and then saving Billy Shears from certain suicide and a very sad ending... Ugh.

Rating:
Summary: If you're not a Bee Gees fan, it's not worth your trouble
Review: The Beatles never existed--as far as this film is concerned, anyway. Before watching this movie, you should empty everything you know about the Beatles from your mind. While you're at it, you might as well empty everything else from your mind, because your intelligence may be insulted.

I watched this movie knowing it would be bad, but I was hoping it would be classic bad, cult following bad, Rocky Horror Picture Show bad. I wanted to hear George Burns sing "Fixin' a Hole" and Steve Martin deliver a slightly pervy redition of "Maxwell's Silver Hammer." I wanted to hear robots perform "Mean Mr. Mustard". And I really wanted to see Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees become the Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The movie delivers all of these and more, horrifyingly more. I can't even explain how bad this movie is. Let's just say that it makes Rocky Horror look like Les Miserables. This movie is also pretty racist; I'm white and I was offended by the portrayal of black people in it (Earth, Wind, and Fire, of course, were the exception; the guy who played the weathervane, on the other hand, made me feel like I was at a minstrel show). Sargeant Pepper's not bad in a fun way; it's just bad in a bad way.

I should say that the best performance of the movie is Aerosmith's snaky redition of "Come Together." This is coming from someone who is not even an Aerosmith fan. There are a lot of unbelievable moments in the film, but that one was surprising in a good way.

Rating:
Summary: I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!!
Review: My best friend and I saw this movie for the first time in 1978 at the theater when we were 11 years old. We went back weekend after weekend. We both bought the LP and I put a great big Peter Frampton poster on my bedroom wall. 20 years later I found the video and I had to have it. Now my children love the movie as much as I do. The music is GREAT and the movie is FUN. For me, it is also nostalgic of the late 70's. There are really no speaking roles in this movie except for George Burns who narrates. It is all music. I am definitely a Sgt. Pepper's fan.

Rating:
Summary: I saw a film today, oh boy
Review: If there was ever a movie that deserved a golden turkey, it was this one. Horribly conceived, garish, acting with the consistency of several small trees and musical numbers so literal that it could have been dreamt up by a high school drama club, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is so cheesy that it effectively derailed the RSO Movie organization, who were looking at this as the latest blockbuster following "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease." (Not too mention the lucrative best selling soundtracks and cross promotions.)

I am sure that everyone knows the history of this 1978 Technicolor gag fest, so there is no need to bore you with the details. But what needs to be stated is why I bought it almost as soon as It finally made its DVD debut. Beyond mere nostalgia, there is the goofiness of it all. Where else could you see Peter Frampton and Steve Martin square off in a Star Wars battle parody? And the peculiar shtick of allowing only George Burns the only speaking part? (That could be stretched; between Burns, Donald Pleasance and Frankie Howard, they might share a full octave between them, and they ALL sing.)

And speaking of the songs, most are carried off dutifully. Frampton and the Bee Gees were at their peaks; Robin Gibb's "Oh Darling" is a standout. The two groups that brought in outside producers, Aerosmith and Earth Wind and Fire, are the ones that fair the best. Aerosmith had Jack Douglas work their version of "Come Together" into a perfect rock sleaze concoction and EW&F self produced "Got To Get You Into My Life" with their customary flair.

So get this at your own peril. It rates with the same kind of goofy fun that makes me own "Can't Stop The Music" and "Rock and Roll High School."

Rating:
Summary: joyful and fun
Review: i first seen sgt peppers when i was 12 years old,and faithfully seen the movie when ever i could.i got married in jan of 1999 and recieved 3 beautiful stepdaughters,and with a daughter of my own,i felt it would be good for them.so into the machine it goes.suddenly everything was quiet even the next to the youngest who has been diagnosed with A.D.D/A.D.H.D. was totally mesmerized by this and at the end of the day everybody was singing something from the movie.to captivate my family it MUST BE GOOD.definantly 5 stars....