Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band poster & wallpaper
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Peter Frampton, Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Frankie Howerd ... see more see more... , Paul Nicholas , Donald Pleasence , Sandy Farina , Steve Martin , Aerosmith , Alice Cooper , Billy Preston , Stargard , Earth Wind & Fire , George Burns , Rose Aragon , The Bee Gees , George Benson , Jack Bruce , Woodrow Chambliss , Carol Channing , Jim Dandy , Sarah Dash , Del Shannon , Rick Derringer , Barbara Dickson , Dr. John , Yvonne Elliman , Morgan Farley , Leif Garrett , Adrian Gurvitz , Ed Harris , Wolfman Jack , Etta James , Patti Jerome , Johnny Casino & the Sha-Na-Na , Bruce Johnston , D.C. La Rue , Joe Lala , Marcy Levy , Mark Lindsay Chapman , Nils Lofgren , Jackie Lomax , John Mayall , Peter Noone , Alan O'Day , The Paley Brothers , Bonnie Raitt , Chita Rivera , Monte Rock III , Seals and Croft , Max Showalter , Dianne Steinberg , Connie Stevens , Tina Turner , Frankie Valli , Grover Washington Jr. , John Wheeler , Bobby Womack , Hank Worden , Eleanor Zee , Stephen Bishop , Keith Carradine , Donovan , Randy Edelman , Jose Feliciano , Nona Hendryx , Curtis Mayfield , Robert Palmer , Wilson Pickett , Anita Pointer , Helen Reddy , Johnny Rivers , Carel Struycken , Gary Wright , Pat Cranshaw , John Stewart , Alan White , Al Stewart , Joel Simon , Bruce "Cousin Brucie" Morrow

Pop star Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees star in this musical, loosely based on the popular 1967 Beatles album Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. In the story, Billy Shears, who now heads the ... read more read more...Lonely Hearts Club Band, is the grandson of the famous Sergeant Pepper. He is confronted by the need to save the magical musical instruments of the band from the bad guys, led by music tycoon B.D. Brockhurst (Donald Pleasance), who want to steal them. If they succeed, the magic which infuses "Heartland U.S.A." will disappear. Among the many Beatles' songs performed in the film by well-known popular artists are: "She's Leaving Home" (Bee Gees, Jay MacIntosh, John Wheeler), "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" (Steve Martin), "Got To Get You into My Life (Earth, Wind & Fire), "When I'm 64" (Sandy Farina), "Come Together" (Aerosmith), "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (sung by the Bee Gees, Paul Nicholas), "With a Little Help from My Friends" (Peter Frampton, the Bee Gees), "Fixing a Hole" (George Burns), and "Get Back" (Billy Preston). ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

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50% liked it

7,153 ratings

Critics

15% liked it

20 critics

PG, 1 hr. 51 min.

Directed by: Michael Schultz

Release Date: January 1, 1978

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DVD Release Date: August 12, 2003

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Stats: 542 reviews

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Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Bee Gees Steve Martin as Dr. Maxwell Edison Bee Gees & Peter Frampton Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite Peter Frampton Alice Cooper Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Peter Frampton Aerosmith as Future Villian Band (FVB) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
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Flixster Reviews (542)

  • ajv2688
    January 6, 2011
    ajv2688
    What a corny, cheesy, stupid movie! How could they make a Beatles movie without the Beatles, where they make a silly story to go along with their famous songs? And to cast the Bee-Gees as the main characters? What? This movie is interesting to see, but it's pretty bad, so don... read more't expect much. The best parts are the songs from Aerosmith and Alice Cooper.
  • sononothing
    February 17, 2010
    sononothing
    Wow. Just... wow. This film is the rock n' roll equivalent of burning an American flag. It's the equivalent of farting at a wedding. It is the equivalent of making out during Schindler's List. I'm not going to talk about the plot (there isn't one). I'm not going to list the chara... read morecters (there aren't any). I'm just going to tear this movie apart. Not that it's going to be difficult.

    I have to start by letting you know what the producers thought this film was going to be. They considered this as the Gone with the Wind of the '70's generation. I shit you not. They were obviously on good drugs in 1977-78 because I wouldn't even call this film Break Like The Wind.

    We have to begin with the leads. You have Peter Frampton, who put out some live album and then was never really heard from again. He's like Warren Zevon except Zevon had TALENT! So we get Frampton butchering Beatle tunes. But that's not all. That's not the worst of it. Guess who else gets to shit on the moniker of Lennon/McCartney. That's right, the Bee Gees. The Brothers Gibb weren't satisfied with destroying most of late '70's popular music, they had to wreck most of the '60's, too.

    But that's not all. It's actually down hill from this point with each musical interlude more cringeworthy than the next. Donald Pleasence singing I Want You (She's So Heavy). No, it gets worse. How about Steve Martin puking up Maxwell's Silver Hammer? No, it gets worse. Alice Cooper doing Because. It keeps getting worse and worse until you just can't take it. You have to exit the room and defecate because it's one piece of shit after another.

    Sgt. Pepper also jumps on the Star Wars band wagon. There's an odd little duel with hammers that light up and glow like- yes, you guessed it- lightsabers. And Mr. Mustard has to C3PO's with boobs
    massaging him throughout the film. Oh, and apparently Billy Preston can raise the dead (and change your clothes).

    Films like this are usually horrible, especially when the songs are taken out of the context that they were meant to be. Across the Universe is another such crapfest that features people who shouldn't be singing Beatle songs. Listen, if I wanted to hear people sing Beatles tunes badly around a gazebo I would take my iPod to the park. Such a horrible, horrible film using the music of the Beatles, particularly the Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road albums is like eating and egg salad sandwich from a gas station- it looks good in the plastic but it consumes worth shit.

    The minute John Lennon died his first act was rolling over because of the stench this film has left on society. You may be wondering why if this film is so bad am I giving it one star. Well, not to be a plot spoiler, but the villains spouting off against love and promoting money is the '70's coked up Aerosmith. They're called some kind of villain band and actually do a good coked up rendition of Come Together that still gets a little airplay. As I sat there I realized that this film is really a choice: you can be bad and go with Aerosmith or be good and hang out with George Burns and the Bee Gees. So it looks like I'm going to hell.
  • YosemiteSamFan
    June 9, 2007
    YosemiteSamFan
    Robert Stigwood created a tribute to the Beatles by plotting a fantasy adventure movie around the various song lyrics of their later albums. Sung and acted by The Bee-Gees and Peter Frampton, plus fun cameos from 70's performers Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Earth Wind and Fire, Steve... read more Martin, George Burns and Donald Pleasance. Many of the musical arrangements and vocals seemed way different from the original tunes. And like a square peg crammed into a round hole, the lyrics were sometimes stretched for what's occurring in the story. It's often incredibly cheesy and overbearing, but I think of it as a curiosity of the late-70's rock-disco culture and a celebration of the Beatles melodies and lyrics.
  • webalina
    May 21, 2007
    webalina
    Bad, bad, bad. What more can I say? A waste of time. money and talent. I'm so sorry that John and George lived long enough to see this. Only shining light was George Burns.
  • merlynsprankling
    November 13, 2007
    merlynsprankling
    Their music is universal.
  • whosinthenews
    August 14, 2009
    whosinthenews
    Oh god. This sure did ruin a lot of careers. Luckily the actual Beatles were smart (or dead) enough to avoid this monstrosity. Still though, it's better than Magical Mystery Tour. Oh well.
  • paj85
    March 11, 2012
    paj85
    Sometimes movies that are completely "fluff" are fun to watch, but there really is nothing appealing about "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." While providing the interesting opportunity to listen to some of the biggest stars from the 70's singing the Beatles hits that we l... read moreove, it is hard to look past the fact that it is inherently stupid. I don't think that I could ever view this as a "serious" movie because the plot is just so terrible (and often non-existent), but it is hard to even enjoy it as a fun, mindless experience because the songs (which provide the only dialogue) don't even effectively tell the story. "Across the Universe" is everything that this film aspired to be, providing an interesting plot that is perfectly conveyed through the music of the Beatles AND dialogue. Imagine my chagrin when I discovered that there are not any Beatles in this film... It was worth watching one short segment to catch a look of a very young Aerosmith, but not worth watching the whole film to get to this segment. I'm sure that this film was quite a sight to see when it came out, featuring more musical stars than has been feasible in any other film; unfortunately, watching it 30+ years later, I don't recognize most of the celebrities and it loses that magical aspect.. It is unfortunate how many of the songs are ruined (particularly Maxwell's Siver Hammer as sung by Steve Martin) through this film and I wish that I could take back that 2 hours of my life. Adults who grew up in the 60's and the 70's with these music celebrities will enjoy the nostalgia but outside of that, I can't see anybody enjoying this.
  • kenscheck
    September 14, 2011
    kenscheck
    This is awful. The Bee Gees and Peter Frampton team up to see who can make the worst cover of a Beatles' song. Aerosmith has a great cover of Come Together, which along with Steve Martin as Maxwell Edison, are the ONLY highlights. George Burns singing is disturbing. The film's pl... read moreot is weak, and its barely watchable.
  • psyclock7
    May 28, 2010
    psyclock7
    I give this movie a big fat "W" for like weird man. I felt I almost had to be on an acid trip just to watch it"
  • Salemslot9
    March 20, 2010
    Salemslot9
    I like the Beatles, the Bee Gees, Peter Frampton, Alice Cooper & Aerosmith~you shouldn't take it too seriously, though

View All Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Reviews

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff
September 10, 2007
Variety Staff, Variety

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

Janet Maslin
May 9, 2005
Janet Maslin, New York Times

This isn't a movie, it's a business deal set to music. Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum
January 1, 2000
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

Indescribably awful. Full Review

Tim Brayton
September 16, 2007
Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy

A motion picture whose awfulness can hardly be imagined on a human scale. Full Review

September 10, 2007
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Pathetic acting and a scattershot plot sink this pitiful attempt by producer Robert Stigwood to turn the landmark Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band into an engaging film. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
April 12, 2006
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Inert musical set to the bubblegum music of the popular 1967 Beatles album. Full Review

February 9, 2006
Time Out

This crass moral pantomime is plain embarrassing. Full Review

Christopher Null
January 19, 2006
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com

The music is really good, too. Never mind the 'story.' Full Review

Rob Vaux
August 29, 2005
Rob Vaux, Flipside Movie Emporium

Oh yeah, the Bee Gees are much better than that other band.

Rich Cline
September 19, 2004
Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall

gleefully nutty chaos!

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Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Trivia

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club ... Trivia

  • This movie has music written by Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison, but did NOT star the Beatles:  Answer »
  • Which of the following films did the Beatles NOT appear in?  Answer »
  • Who did the song Get Back in the bee gee's version of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and really helped perform it during the Beatles last concert (the rooftop concert U2 imitated in Rattle and Hum). He was also known as the 5th Beatle?   Answer »
  • Steve Martin, talented comedian, starred in at least two movie musicals. Which of the following pairs did he have a role in?  Answer »
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