Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

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Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

PG

1978

1h 51m

Musical

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

11%

Tomatometer

27 Reviews

44%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

This musical, set to late-period Beatles hits, recounts the story of Sgt. Pepper's famed musical group, which found success during World War I bringing music to weary soldiers in the field. The band's leader has since died and now it's up to his grandson, Billy Shears (Peter Frampton), to carry on the group's traditions. To this end, he recruits the Henderson brothers (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb) to help him defend the group's magic instruments from nefarious crook B.D. Hoffler.

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Critics Consensus

I thought you might like to know that the Beatles (aka the act you've known for all these years) are ill-served by this kitschy, aggressively whimsical fantasy film that's most certainly not a thrill.

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K.C. Summers

Washington Post

Frampton sings the Beatles' songs "as they've never been sung before," it says in the press release. Well yes they have been, as a matter of fact. And better.

Feb 26, 2019

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Variety Staff

Variety

A totally bubblegum and cotton candy melange of garish fantasy and narcissism.

Sep 10, 2007

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Jennifer Selway

Time Out

This crass moral pantomime is plain embarrassing.

Feb 9, 2006

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

The best moment? Aerosmith offering a chilling rendition of "Come Together." The most love-it-or-leave-it moment? Steve Martin doing his comic shtick while performing "Maxwell's Silver Hammer." The worst moment? A million-way tie between everything else.

Rated: 1/4

Oct 3, 2021

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David Aldridge

Radio Times

A daft attempt to further conceptualise the classic Beatles album by linking its songs via a contrived connective storyline. The attempt fails miserably.

Rated: 2/5

Feb 26, 2019

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People Staff

People Magazine

Like a box of candy left on the beach, this movie is a gooey, sugary mess. But buried in the glop are a few nuggets.

Feb 26, 2019

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John K

This is a bizzare semi-acid trip, and it also includes many of the stars of the 70's. Wild, weird, entertaining, and the music is decently performed by the various groups and individuals. Beetles purists need to understand that the Beetles signed off on this and the album--so please take your noses out of the stratosphere and have some fun.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/19/25

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D M

Perhaps one of the worst movies in the history of motion pictures and a career killer for Peter Frampton. The bit with George Burns singing was pretty far out however. Dee Anthony, the inept manager of Peter Frampton and Robert Stigwood both should have served prison time for this monstrosity.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/27/25

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Audience Member

This film was strangely hard to follow. Mostly because the film stopped using actual dialogue to progress the story, and they just let the actual music do the talking. So we just gotta be like “oh, they’re there now” lol. It’s still a great time though, and if you like the Beatles you get really faithful covers from everyone in the movie. Should be rated high to be honest. 2.5/5 stars.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/18/25

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Yakking With F

its a worst movie of all time

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

08/07/24

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Gerald H

This is the greatest movie of all time. It is crystalclear that the Beatles took all their inspiration from this. And Coppola for the Godfather movie. And most probably Mozart created The Magic Flute from this. This is an eleven out of five.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/03/24

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Sylvia F

This is my favorite movie of all time. I love how weird and whimsical it is, and every song is really good. I don't like the Beatles very much so I think every song is better than the original. I love everything about this film and I wish more people have seen it. This movie might be sugary and strange, but it is a film I believe everyone should see. Nothing will ever beat this movie. It will always hold a special place in my heart.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/28/24

Full Review

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Michael Schultz

Director

Peter Frampton

Billy Shears

Barry Gibb

Mark Henderson

Robin Gibb

Dave Henderson

Maurice Gibb

Bob Henderson

Donald Pleasence

B.D. Hoffler

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Synopsis

This musical, set to late-period Beatles hits, recounts the story of Sgt. Pepper's famed musical group, which found success during World War I bringing music to weary soldiers in the field. The band's leader has since died and now it's up to his grandson, Billy Shears (Peter Frampton), to carry on the group's traditions. To this end, he recruits the Henderson brothers (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb) to help him defend the group's magic instruments from nefarious crook B.D. Hoffler.

Director: Michael Schultz
Producer: Robert Stigwood
Screenwriter: Henry Edwards
Production Co: NF Geria II Filmgesellschaft m.b.H.
Rating: PG
Genre: Musical
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): May 7, 2015
Runtime: 1h 51m
Sound Mix: Surround

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