Yellow Submarine[Blu-ray]

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.

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!

got help and hard days night with this one, but Yellow submarine has always been my favorite, nice animation, an absolute wonderful music track, very well done

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.

Eine Zeitreise zurück in die 1960er Jahre. Und das im gelben Unterseeboot. Wer auch nur ein bisschen Ahnung hat, wird den Stil des Films den späten 1960er Jahren zuordnen. Aber der Grund für diese Zuordnung liegt nicht einfach darin, dass der Film so sehr von seiner historischen Umgebung beeinflusst, sondern zu einem erheblichen Teil ist es gerade umgekehrt: Dieser Film wurde stilprägend. Die Message ist deutlich, aber nicht aufdringlich. Einer grauen, verwalteten und uniformierten Welt werden Phantasie und individuelle Selbstverwirklichung gegenübergestellt. Doch das alles ist keine bloße Behauptung. Der Film nutzt die Mittel der Animation, um zahllose Metamorphosen zu präsentieren. Nichts ist festzementiert, alles kann sich verwandeln. Der berühmte Satz, es komme darauf an, die Verhältnisse zum Tanzen zu bringen, – hier findet er seine Umsetzung. Das Traumartige verleiht dem Film eine Zeitlosigkeit, die auch dadurch nicht wirklich beeinträchtigt wird, dass man viele Anspielungen erst entschlüsseln muss und einige von ihnen zeitgebunden sind. Der Film ist exzellent restauriert. Offenbar ist hier immense Handarbeit geleistet worden. Die Farben strahlen und der Ton scheint mir einwandfrei. Als Extras gibt es neben dem Trailer ein zeitgenössisches Featurette (»Mod Odyssey«), Storyboard-Auszüge, Behind-the-Scenes-Fotos und (leider sehr kurze) Interviewsequenzen mit einigen Filmschaffenden. Neben der englischen Originalfassung ist auch die deutsche (und auch die italienische) Synchronfassung enthalten. Untertitel sind ebenfalls verfügbar. Das 16-seitige Booklet ist gut gemacht und informativ. John Lasseter (Pixar) hat ein Vorwort beigesteuert. Dazu gibt es noch für die, die es brauchen, Aufkleber mit Filmmotiven und vier Reproduktionen von Folien mit den jeweiligen Zeichentrick-Beatles. Fazit: Was will man mehr?

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.