Magical Mystery Tour

source: Magical Mystery Tour

About five years ago my girlfriend and I invited another couple over to see this movie. None of us had seen it before. Oh, how we wished we hadn't. Clearly this was in the Beatles drug period. The music was great, the movie painfully bad. Even "plan 9 from outer space" was more fun than this. We never saw that couple 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.

Stars: The Beatles as themselves and various characters. I have no idea what the Beatles were thinking when they made this, and I'm sure neither did they. "Magical Mystery Tour" has the loose story of a group of people on an English tour bus that's out of the ordinary. Strange things happen on this bus, like random music videos and really random dreams of food and love. I guess making this movie was a way to show off some of the Beatles' songs, but I would've much preferred the music videos to sitting watching this. It makes too little sense for it's own good. The reason this deserves a 3, is because I did enjoy some of the songs (which were spread out, making us wait through nonsensical sub-plots), and even though it was totally random, some of the daydreams amused me. The I am the Walrus segment of this is so strange, with an already out there song, now made in to a music video where they were walrus heads and cut to random fires and John Lennon dressed as the egg man. One of the main positives for this, is it is short, running at only around an hour, so you don't have to sit through much. I'd really only recommend this to Beatles' fans, or for people that want to really experience a bad acid trip. For me, this is much worse than the already lacking Yellow Submarine film, and is almost unwatchable. My rating: * 1/2 out of ****.

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.

'Magical Mystery Tour' presents the best band ever in the world (guess who) at their most creative period. During the phase that started from November 1966 with recording of Strawberry Fields Forever to spring 1968 with recordings of the Yellow Submarine soundtrack that one band did most of their best material ever. The six songs presented in the 'Magical Mystery Tour' are however alone better than what the group did with the movie. At times the movie is even hilarious but perhaps too permissive adaptation of some scenes makes the overall atmosphere a bit too lame to be wholly enjoyable. It is sad that people will usually just remember the lame scenes only and forget funny ones. Therefore the overall impression will become negative to many viewers. My score of this film is actually a combination of two separate categories: people who don't consider themselves as a Beatles fans they will get nothing more than just few cute tunes and for them this is a 4/10 movie. For Beatles fans this is about 7/10 for they will find many scenes and references certainly as entertaining as ever. Still even the fans can't be subjugated to enjoy everything and therefore not full score for even them.

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.

I thought this movie was very random which was a good thing. The scenes would change often, but the skits(I guess you could call it that) are hilarious. From shoveling pasta to a Nascar race this movie was simply fascinating and definitely ahead of its time. Psychedelic(sp?)(there's a load of colors) indeed it was original and for all its worth it is good even though it was improvised a lot. The music is incredible. Fool on the Hill with scenes of Paul on the mountain are unique, I am the Walrus is creative, and Flying is just pretty. Blue Jay Way is just creepy if you ask me. This definitely a must see for any Beatles fan. ~Walker

Although a great album,MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR was definitely not among The Beatles best works as far as movies are concerned, albeit a made for tv movie. The story does not seem to go in any particular direction and there is nothing tying any of the segments together. This movie which was first shown in black & white was a flop in England and only did a little better when shown in colour. With that said, it is still worth a look just because it is the ONLY place you will get see a performance of I AM THE WALRUS. The other music video type segments include FOOL ON THE HILL, George Harrison's BLUE JAY WAY, YOUR MOTHER SHOULD KNOW and FLYING. In conclusion, it is a must have for the die hard Beatle fan but, don't expect a HELP! or A HARD DAYS NIGHT kind of performance. Just sit back, enjoy the music and don't even try to figure out the rest.

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.