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

When this DVD began, I was surprised how degraded and faded the film was. It just goes to show you that not everything about the Beatles was adored. In fact, when this made for TV film was shown on BBC, it bombed...badly. So badly that the film wasn't shown on American TV--which made me curious to watch it! I occasionally like to watch film failures--either to marvel at how bad they are or to re-assess and see that they weren't so bad after all.

If I try to describe the film's plot, I really can't. It's all a rather incoherent stream of consciousness piece that looks like the four guys just chucked ANYTHING into the film--and in some cases, I am pretty sure this is what happened. In between some terribly unfunny comedy bits, there are a few music videos and in many ways it seems like a much, much lower budgeted version of Paul McCartney's later vanity film, "Give My Regards to Broad Street".

As I sat watching this film, I looked through some of the IMDb reviews. Some hated the film or saw it as a disappointment. Others, however, were such die-hard fans of the group that I honestly think a sizable minority would have loved the film if it consisted of the Fab Four picking each others' noses for 60 minutes. The film is an artless mess and demonstrates that occasionally extremely talented people delude themselves into thinking this talent extends to many other aspects of their lives. In this case, Paul McCartney appeared to think he was creating something new and different....and in a good way. Well, it's not--at least not in a good way. Now it is NOT because of the surrealistic aspects of the film. Some folks can make this work (such as the folks who did "Monty Python" just a year later) but if NOT done right, it can come off as very amateurish and puerile---like this film. Any way you cut it, it's a terrible film despite some nice songs. But, when it comes to their songs, the ones used in this movie look like castoffs from their other movies--stuff that is far from their best work. The same can be said for the entire movie, actually. The film earns a 2, as the music, at times, is a nice break from the rest of this mess.

If you're a hard core Beatles fan you'll probably want to catch this picture at least once, but if not, you could fast forward your way through it and not miss a thing. This was primarily Paul McCartney's project back during the Beatles' heyday, but it almost looks like there was no one in control of the film at all. The story basically involves the Magical Mystery Tour bus careening around the countryside with it's passengers getting on and off at various points for who knows what, among them a gibberish spouting army sergeant and a quartet of midget wrestlers going through their motions. Ringo is introduced as Richard B. Starkey and appears at least to be a character in the story, accompanied by his Aunt Jess (Jessie Robins),while Paul, John and George fulfill their roles as passengers but not much else, except for the songs they deliver throughout. You'll catch them in their psychedelically inspired costumes from the era, with about half the tunes from the "Magical Mystery Tour" record, but in my opinion, the picture diminishes the brilliance of the album, so if one has a choice, go with just the music. You can make the rest of it up in your head.