A small-town band hits it big, but it must battle a nefarious plot in the music industry.A small-town band hits it big, but it must battle a nefarious plot in the music industry.A small-town band hits it big, but it must battle a nefarious plot in the music industry.
- Awards
- 2 nominations
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaKISS was approached to play the Future Villain Band. They turned down the role, fearing that the movie would hurt their image, and instead starred in Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park (1978).
- GoofsDonald Pleasence's character is called B.D. Hoffler. In the credits, his character is called B.D. Brockhurst.
- Crazy creditsThe old black-and-white Universal Studios logo with a biplane circling a globe is used at the start of the film with added animated explosions in color going off around it.
- SoundtracksSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Music and Lyrics by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Performed by The Bee Gees, Paul Nicholas
Produced by George Martin
By Arrangement with Northern Songs Limited
Featured review
Does For The Beatles What The Star Wars Holiday Special Did For, Well, Star Wars
This film is an artifact from the Age of Cheese. Nobody who didn't grow up in the '70s can know that TV during the period was littered with "variety shows" - collections of bad cover songs, comedy sketches, and over-the-top costumes. The hosts were usually a middle of the road musical act, like Donny and Marie or the Captain and Tennille. The guests were a collection of actors, singers and comics. Everyone involved was expected to sing, dance and do comedy - regardless of specialty. You can imagine how painful - but inexplicably popular - the results were. This formula was cloned for the two most disgraceful desecrations of pop culture legends in history - The Star Wars Holiday Special and this film. In both cases, a group of random performers were crammed into a classic format, whether or not they belonged there. This is the rock and roll equivalent of a variety show. Everyone from George Burns to The Bee Gees to Steve Martin are given Beatles songs to sing, stretched over a wire-thin plot. The results are uneven as hell. The Earth Wind and Fire and Aerosmith segments justify the film getting an extra star from me. The songs they were given were perfect matches, and they put their own stamp on them. The rest? Mostly glitter and oh-my-God-am-I-really-watching-this? In short, just like the variety shows of old. This is definitely a relic of its time - and it should stay there. (By the way, the one time the variety show formula WORKED was The Muppet Show. Perhaps they should have made a Beatles musical performed by Muppets).
helpful•60
- sailor-mac-43282
- Jan 25, 2021
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Sgt. Pepper
- Filming locations
- San Francisco, California, USA(Tower Records at Columbus & Bay)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $18,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $20,378,470
- Gross worldwide
- $20,378,470
- Runtime1 hour 53 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
- 2.35 : 1
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Top Gap
By what name was Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978) officially released in India in English?
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