Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour DVD Heavy On Extras

The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour DVD/Blu ray release will be sold in a special deluxe collector's editions, with a one-night only theatrical showing set for certain territories. The special 10-inch-by-10-inch deluxe boxed edition includes both the DVD and Blu-ray, as well as a 60-page book with background information, photographs and documentation from the production, and a faithful reproduction of the mono double seven-inch vinyl EP of the film's six then-new Beatles songs, originally issued in the UK to complement the film's 1967 release. The movie's visuals were revamped by Paul Rutan Jr. of Eque Inc. -- which is the same team that are receiving raves for the recent restoration of the group's Yellow Submarine movie and once again George Martin's son Giles Martin, with the help of Sam Okell, has remixed the sound at Abbey Road Studios.

The DVD features newly filmed interviews with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, with McCartney providing the director's commentary, along with other interviews from the film's cast and crew. All of the bonus featurettes incude previously unseen footage -- including a clip by Traffic performing "Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush" that the Beatles had commissioned for inclusion in the film, but was left on the cutting room floor. Another highlight is the long rumored John Lennon-directed "Nat's Dream" sequence which was also left out of the film.

New edits, featuring unseen footage, are included of the songs "Your Mother Should Know," "Blue Jay Way," "The Fool On The Hill" -- along with a Top Of The Pops clip of "Hello Goodbye" featuring footage of the "Fab Four" editing the Magical Mystery Tour film.

Although the Beatles took a heavy critical lashing for Magical Mystery Tour when it was shown on British TV during the 1967 Christmas holidays, Paul McCartney admits that the group never intended to create another A Hard Day's Night or Help!-type feature: "We knew we weren't doing a regular film. We knew we were doing a crazy, roll-poly '60s film, with 'I am the Eggman, you were the. . . ' and I just wandered off to France and did that 'Fool On The Hill' stuff."