Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this movie is replete with playful fighting and slapstick violence, including some "don't try this at home" moments, like when George clings to the roof of a speeding car. There's more than a little bit of insensitive racial/religious stereotyping in the villains, a bunch of (mostly Anglo) actors playing robed cult fanatics from India, but just about all the characters are cartoon caricatures, including the Beatles themselves.
Families can talk about the appeal of the Beatles as characters, then and now. Do you think this film nails it just as well as A Hard Day's Night or other Beatles features and documentaries? Do you think Help! has stood the test of time? In its daft style-over-substance plot and imagery, does Help! seem like the ancestor of the MTV music video?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Charles Cassady, Jr.
The immortal rock-pop quartet the Beatles, -- John, Paul, George, and Ringo -- followed up their pitch-perfect screen debut in A Hard Day's Night with this full-color, wild farce. Though from the same director, Richard Lester, it's a far less realistic comedy about a band on the run, and the practically freeform plot, full of international-intrigue and "mod" vibes, typifies the James Bond 007 spoofs ubiquitous back then, maybe with a touch of embryonic Monty Python spirit. Of course, a handful of great Beatles songs (not quite as many as you'd wish for) on the soundtrack don't hurt either.
It's never explained how, but drummer Ringo has come to wear a sacred giant ruby among his collection of rings. A fanatical religious cult -- that resembles a caricature of Hinduism -- must make a knife-sacrifice of any human bearing the ring, and so they pursue the Beatles for most of the movie, setting bizarre traps in the Fab Four's gimmicky high-tech mansion, and even attacking them at safe havens like Buckingham Palace. Since the uncanny ring refuses to come off Ringo's finger, the lads consult an English mad-scientist type about it. What do you know? He starts chasing Ringo as well, claiming that with the ring he and his doofus assistant can rule the world.
The plot has scant rhyme or reason, just a disconnected barrage of madcap pursuits and ambush episodes in scenic locations, with old-fashioned, random title cards ("Paul's Exciting Adventure on the Floor") in a childish narrative kids might actually follow better than adult viewers. A lot of the British-specific landmarks and topics -- references to the "brain drain" problem, and English Channel swimmers -- will go way over American viewers' heads, though.
It's easy to see how HELP! inspired the antics of a similar bunch of pop-music entertainers in America, the Monkees, in their comedic TV show. For more of Ringo Starr at the center of zany, surreal British humor and music, check him out in The Magic Christian, co-starring Peter Sellers -- but beware a some ribald humor and a brief shot of topless girls in that one.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentOne girl seen topless from the rear getting bathed. One background belly dancer. |
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ViolenceLots and lots of playful roughhouse-fighting, even escalating up to combat with tanks. Ringo (and others) are threatened continually with human sacrifice via a nasty Bowie knife, yet no blood is shed. |
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Social BehaviorThe Beatles are thoroughly laid-back and whimsical about their predicament, and always help out their mates. The cult members are politically incorrect racial stereotypes of Indians and Hindus, but most of the Anglo characters are exaggerated British types, too. The leading lady is a heroic rescuer-figure. |
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CommercialismProducts and tourist destinations, many from yesteryear. Of course, the Beatles' music itself is a product. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoBrief verbal reference to "happiness pills." Of course, parts of the movie are borderline "trippy." |
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