Movie Review #80: Yellow Submarine (1968)

Fifty years ago, the greatest band of all time crossed the pond to perform live on The Ed Sullivan Show to millions of adoring fans. And the rest is music history.

If you couldn't tell from that short intro, The Beatles are my all time favorite music group. They were the first band I listened to when I discovered rock and roll in the sixth grade. And only because of them have I expanded my music taste not just to other bands, but to other genres. But I shall forever regard them as the all time greats.

So in sixth grade, I did my research and discovered that they were apparently so popular that they starred in four films about them as a band. This was unheard of to me! I had heard of concert films or band documentaries being theatrically released, but never an original idea based around the band as a major wide release motion picture. Aside from The Who's Tommy, I can't think of any other band who's music was so successful that it spawned several profitable, critically acclaimed movies!

For some reason, this film had been out of print for years. Decades even. Which I don't understand why it was. I mean it was a hit for when it came out and is regarded very highly by film critics like Roger Ebert who has awarded it with the prestigious title of a "Great Movie". But only recently has it been rereleased on Blu-ray, and I must say that it is one of the best digital restorations I've seen.

So what's the story? Once upon a time, or maybe twice, there was a place called Pepperland. It was a beautiful world filled with vibrant colors and terrific music. That is until the Blue Meanies arrived and took all of the music and color out of Pepperland. And it's up to Old Fred and his Yellow Submarine to bring The Beatles to Pepperland to restore it to its former glory.

If I had to make a list of my top ten favorite movies of all time, Yellow Submarine would definitely be on there. I love this movie. Not just because I love The Beatles, but because I can watch this movie 1,000 times more and I would be able to notice something new each time.

This is not your average kids movie by any means. Kind of like with Rango, most of the jokes will go over their heads but they can still enjoy it for the silly characters, the pretty colors and animation. That doesn't mean it is a bad movie by any means! It's just that it might not be for everyone.

What I love about it is how completely bizarre it is! If you thought Blue Meanies were strange a weird name for an antagonist, then their accomplices The Apple Bonkers, Snapping Turtle Turks and The Flying Glove will make you wonder if you dropped acid before pressing the play button. The character designs are really funny and so are the jokes. Yellow Submarine is one of those movies that isn't constantly funny, but they manage to get quite a few jokes in there thanks to some great puns and a clever script. Unless you are watching with the subtitles on, you might miss quite a few jokes because some of them are so quick that they are quite literally "blink and you'll miss it."

Chief Meanie: Ah, the hills are alive...

Max: [sings] ... with the sound of music!

Chief Meanie: [Punches Max] Who did it? Who is responsible for this?

Max: Rimsky-Korsakov?

[Chief Meanie shoots him, Blue Menial #3 stomps him into ground]

Max: [Poking his head up from ground] Guy Lombardo?

Hilarious little gems like that kill me.

Animation wise, It still looks great after all of these years. What is really interesting is that for when a new song comes on, the animation changes its style. In the Eleanor Rigby sequence, it looks very gloomy, realistic and rather like something on Monty Python's Flying Circus ( Terry Gilliam must like this movie too! ). When you cut to the Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds sequence, it reminded me of Andy Warhol's painting of Marilyn Monroe. And in the Nowhere Man break, to me it almost looked three-dimensional!

And the music? Oh the music! One of the best soundtracks ever. I think that The Beatles albums are divided from Please Please Me to Revolver then Sgt. Pepper all the way to Abbey Road. The people I know only like either the first half of their of the career or the latter half. For me, I love it all! But my favorite time in their music ranges from Rubber Soul to Magical Mystery Tour and the songs on those albums are the ones that are on this soundtrack! What's not to like?

Final Report: With gorgeous hand-drawn animation, clever humor and some of the most timeless songs by one of the greatest bands of all time, it's no surprise why Yellow Submarine is one of my favorite movies of all time.