Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)When I first saw this film I simply couldn't understand why so many people ganged up to trash it. I've seen it two more times since then with friends and my opinion has only strengthened.
To me this is a far more interesting film than overrated boomer nostalgia like a "Hard Day's Night" because it gives a better look into their personalities--this is their film, and the truest test of just how much you're on the Beatles' wavelength, which means a liking for Goon-show type humor and pop surrealism. Therefore people who expect every movie to have a "point" or nice understandable plot should go back to kino-kindergarden and skip the film. (The sort of people who beat words like "self-indulgent" and "weird" into the ground to describe what isn't instantly understandable) MMT is basically a set of music videos loosely held together by the various goings-on during a Ken Kesey-esque coach trip. And at 55 minutes it's too short to be boring anyway. The entire point is to sit back and not bother--to quote Bob Dylan--shoveling each dream into the ditch of what each one means.
The film of course has large flaws. There are quite a few comic situations, but the Beatles don't really develop them.(John and George are more out of it than Ringo and Paul too.) Some of the lightly sketched sequences do drag a bit as a result.But the movie's strength lies in its resolute silliness--like an overlush, parodic seaside "love affair", John dressed up as an Italian waiter endlessly shoveling mud-like spaghetti for a obese woman, or the Beatles capering around in wizard's outfits like kids who've eaten too much sugar. That silliness shades into genuine pop surrealism with the primitive, excellent videos for "I Am the Walrus" and "Blue Jay Way," featuring the most captivating use of superimposition, odd props in even odder locations, children, extreme lighting, and fleet-footed but purposeful intercutting.(McCartney made for an occasionally clumsy but effective director) They live up to the mood of the songs--they seem genuinely dream-like and make a good match with the Beatles' captivating videos for "Strawberry Fields" and "Penny Lane." Those videos, especially the former, freaked parents out in their day, and an extended music video like "Magical Mystery Tour" still manages to irritate people to this day. (Especially all those poor souls who begin by saying "I'm a huge Beatles fan but...")
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