Customer Reviews

Beatles Anthology 4 [VHS]

5 star:		(320)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Back in January 2000, I reviewed this box set here (see "If You Liked the TV Special, You'll Love This!"). 3 years later, many Beatles fans' prayers (including my own) have been answered with the release of this video library in DVD form. Rather than resay what I said back then, I just thought I'd write with a different perspective. The opening statement is from the liner notes of Derek Taylor, who served as the Beatles' press agent.

To answer a recent review, here's what's on it: performances of the Beatles live in concert and television performances (not complete concerts), some original videos, narrated by Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, the late George Harrison (who was still around during the making of this documentary) and the late John Lennon (his comments are culled by old interviews), excerpts from early recordings, studio outtakes, press conferences and all 5 of their movies and finally, over 30 complete Beatles tracks (By the way, "Real Love" is included in this edition).

The sound quality is superior here than the original VHS (and you have the option of LPCM Stereo, Dolby Digital surround sound and DTS 5.1 surround sound). You also have the option of subtitles in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese (Brazilian and European). Just don't expect your Linguistics teachers to be impressed with how many French or Spanish words you learned while watching this!

It is a bit of a shame that individual tracks weren't assembled for complete songs. Oh well, a minour disappointment! Keep in mind that the 8 video VHS box set was actually pricier than the 5 DVD box set back when it was released in 1996 (I remember paying over [money] for mine!).

Then of course, there's the Special Features DVD. In addition to the "Real Love" video (which wasn't included on the original VHS edition), there's a segment in which Paul, George and Ringo all gather together in 1994 to discuss the old days and jam out on old songs. The 3 are also featured here in 1995 discussing with George Martin, their producer, the choosing of different outtakes on the 3 Anthology CD's and studio techniques they used during the original recording sessions. Paul, George and Ringo also discuss with Jeff Lynne how a Beatles mini-"reunion" took place with 2 John Lennon demos ("Free As a Bird" and "Real Love"). Also, there's a section on how many hours of interviews and classic footage came together for this documentary and a feature on how the "Free as a Bird" video was made.

Give yourself at least 2 weeks to enjoy as Derek Taylor once put it these "10 hours of unchallengable evidence" of the Beatles' legacy, which continues even to this day.

This video series is highly recommended for any serious Beatle fan! While I agree that you can't say it all in just 8 hours, all 4 beatles share stuff you won't find in any book on the Beatles.

Tape 1 begins with a video collage of their history, features their youthful beginnings, days in Hamburg, how Ringo joined the band, and their rise to the top in England.

Tape 2 shows their growth as a band, talks on their BBC sessions, performing for the Queen, stories about touring, and some hilarious TV segments!

Tape 3 begins with their introduction into America, talks about their performance on the Ed Sullivan Show, Ringo's tonsilitis, and their 1st movie A Hard Day's Night.

Tape 4 talks about the pressures of touring, drugs, Dylan, the making of Help!, the inspiration for Yesterday, and winning the MBE award.

Tape 5 talks about their Shea Stadium performance, meeting Elvis, Rubber Soul and Revolver.

Tape 6 talks on the events that led to the Beatles' final tour in 1966 (the Philippines and John's remarks about Jesus), Strawberry Fields Forever, Penny Lane,Sgt. Pepper, and their holiday in Greece.

Tape 7 starts with the One World performance of "All You Need Is Love", and talks about the Maharishi, the death of Brian Epstein, Magical Mystery Tour, the opening of Apple, Yellow Submarine, and John's new companion, Yoko Ono.

Tape 8 begins with the White Album, discusses the closing and dissolution of Apple, Hey Jude, Let It Be, Paul's marriage to Linda, John's marriage to Yoko, George and John's drug busts, Abbey Road, and the Free As a Bird video (what? Real Love isn't included! ).

A splendid time is guaranteed for all!

As the bombs fell over England in 1940, John Winston Lennon was born and as war raged, Sir James Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Richard Starkey a.k.a. Ringo Starr began their young lives in a dirty port city called Liverpool. They were mostly poor boys who today are legends.

The most interesting thing from the TV special in 1995, the 3 albums that followed and the 8 VHS tapes that expanded the story was the fact that it was "The Beatles" in their own words and recollections.

There's so much packed inside this story and safe to say, so much more we don't know, that it is engrossing each time you watch it. The interweaving of outtakes, never before heard songs and footage is beautiful. George Martin's emotional talk and tears as he remembers John Lennon is heartwrenching. You see here the strength of the four lads from Liverpool, the closeness of their friendship and those involved with them.

The DVD version is jammed with more than the 8 VHS tapes and elevates the "Anthology" to a rounder story. At the time of its initial release, there were 3 surviving Beatles, sadly now there are 2. One sit through of this is not enough for you are sure to miss elements. As timeless as The Beatles themselves, so is their story and this anthology.

Robert Eldridge (...)

The Beatles Anthology is a great video set documenting the lifeand times of the greatest band of this century. There are 8 tapes,starting with the births of the fab four and ending with the 1970 breakup (and the "Free As A Bird" video as a poignant epilogue). There are rare film clips included. If you are new to the Beatles, then this set will provide a wonderful introduction to John, Paul, George and Ringo. If you are an avid fan, then you know already that the set includes various anecdotes that shed new light on the Beatles.

Here are some highlights: - the lovely montage at the beginning, with the apt "In My Life" as the song. - the story about the burnt condom (Tape 1) - an early film of the Beatles singing the song "Some Other Guy" at the Cavern (Tape 1) - a funny juxtaposition of three versions of the song "How Do You Do It" (Tape 1) - juxtaposition of the Rolling Stones cover and the Beatles rendition of "I Wanna Be Your Man" (Tape 2) - Paul's story on "Yesterday" (Tape 4) - George's story about how he and John got introduced to LSD (Tape 5) - the "amazing" Japanese efficiency on the Beatles Japan tour (Tape 5) - the film of "A Day In The Life" (Tape 6) - George's way of saying that the Magical Mystery Tour album was "Paul's idea." - Ringo's comments on Heinz beans (Tape 7) - Ringo's comments on the naked album cover (Tape 7) - the "Hey Jude" performance on the David Frost Show (Tape 8) - the hilarious yet brief appearance of Magic Alex (Tape 8) - John singing "Don't Let Me Down" on the rooftop concert (Tape 8)

OK: some drawbacks to the anthology set that one should be made aware of: - it doesn't discuss at all the notorious "butcher" album cover - no mention of the impact of the song "Helter Skelter" on Charles Manson - George Martin, whose comments on the Beatles albums are always appreciated, is not shown commenting on "Magical Mystery Tour." My guess is that he had little if any good things to say about it, and the filmmakers chose to omit his comments. Still, if anyone has anything productive to say about the album, it would be him. - no mention of the failed Beatles film projects (i.e. the Lord of the Rings, or the Three Musketeers). - from about Tape 5, Brian Epstein pretty much disappears from the narrative. It would have been nice to have some time discussing his reaction to the Beatles new wave of creativity starting at around 1965. - no mention of Stuart Sutcliffe after the Beatles leave Hamburg for the first time. - the "Free As a Bird" video, while including shots of Brian Epstein and the Beatles, fails to include shots of Billy Preston and George Martin. If they are in the video and I'm just not seeing them, please someone let me know! - no mention of the White album sessions involving Eric Clapton on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." - Tape 8 ends rather poorly in my opinion.

The interviews are very vague when talking about Allen Klein or Paul's departure from the Beatles. - no use of the songs "Here There And Everywhere" or "I Me Mine" during any part of the anthology. 'Tis a shame; they're great songs.

All that aside, the Beatles anthology with its highlights and drawbacks is on the whole a worthwhile investment, if not for the sheer craftsmanship of the filmmaking then for the quality of the Beatles themselves. It is an incomplete anthology for the reasons already mentioned, but that does not diminish the joy of watching this great documentary whose treasures are valuable for any appreciator of good filmmaking, good music, and the Beatles.

I was beginning to wonder if this documentary would ever be released on DVD. Most recent reviews of this documentary by those who had seen it were beginning to wonder if the Beatles were planning to have The Beatles Anthology music albums released onto 8-Track. Since the death of the Laserdisc player, the only way one could purchase this wonderful documentary was only on VHS tape for many, many years.

For those who are asking, "I saw the three part documentary on ABC in 1995. I wonder what the expanded version is like?" Answer: If you loved watching The Beatles Anthology on television, and taped it, and watched it many times over, you'll love this documentary which is longer than 11 hours, including the fifth disc with previously unreleased material. Most of what was cut from the ABC broadcast were musical collages similar to the "In My Life" footage that appeared at the beginning of both the Television and Commercial Free versions. Also cut were old TV appearances in part or in whole by the Beatles. And also cut were interview sequences with the Beatles where they went into greater detail about their history. And finally, also missing from the ABC broadcast were what the Beatles referred to as "Taped TV Promotional Films" of their music -- We Can Work It Out, Day Tripper, Paperback Writer, Rain. Watching all of the various perfomances reminded me of the first time I saw these about 15 years ago on a two hour VHS tape of various performances by the Beatles. The video was of very poor quality, looking like a copy of a copy of a copy. This DVD is like looking at those same performances, only in pristine, mint condition.

If you have to choose between the unwieldly hardcover coffee table book and this new DVD video, pick the one that comes alive with music and words by the greatest rock group of the 20th century.

As for the additional fifth disc, this was a lot of fun to watch too. The disc contains the "Real Love" video, which was not part of the earlier commercial versions available. Mostly, this disc is the behind the scenes for the behind the scenes documentary made in 1995. At the end of one of the segments, the surviving three Beatles announce that this is their "Candlestick Park". Like always, the Beatles knew how to go out with a bang and not a whimper.

Each episode opens in black and white, with the young Beatles performing one of their early hits. The camera moves back and we see the boys dwarfed by a gigantic image of THE BEATLES logo and the roars of cheering fans drown out the music.

If there's a theme to this series, it's that the Beatles really were more than the sum of their parts. Paul, George, Ringo, even John (on film) each at some point refers to The Beatles as something separate from themselves, as if they too were looking at the group from the outside.

What struck me most about the series, when I saw it on TV when it first aired, and just recently on this excellent DVD set, was the creativity of The Beatles. When the band started, in the pre-Ringo days and shortly after he joined the group, they did other people's songs, giving them their own spin. After they started recording, they also did a few of their own numbers, and soon they were doing almost exclusively numbers they'd composed themselves.

It was also fascinating to see how George and Ringo reacted to the prolific creativity of John and Paul. George and Ringo were master musicians, but had shown little inclination to write music. George began tentatively and eventually wrote songs (Something, Taxman, While My Guitar Gently Weeps) that rivalled the Lennon/McCartney hits. Ringo didn't write much at all until after The Beatles, and his only songs that are memorable are the ones he co-wrote with George (Photograph, It Don't Come Easy).

When the band finally split up, the individual members kept on making music, but little of their work compared to the work they'd done together. Why? Was it the combination of their talents? Was it their youth and energy? Was it producer George Martin?

With roughly ten hours of episodes and extras on five DVDs, you'll have plenty of material to ponder and come to your own conclusion.

Not many people my age like the Beatles, but I happen to love them. I have the VHS Anthology, but I have watched one of the videos every night for a few months now! These videos rock (literally) and the viewer really gets to see the personality of each Beatle in the interviews; George always says the truth (he rocks!!!), John is serious about mostly everything (after they broke up, anyway!), Paul sees the funny side of things, and Ringo does too. Most of my family enjoys their music, and I got it from my mom! They're pretty much the only music we listen to.
Anyway, in my opinion, the most interesting videos in the set are numbers 2, 5, 7 and 8 (even though #8 is so sad!). If you watch the difference of the members (especially John) between video 2 and video 7/8, it is absolutely crazy how different they seem! My mom and I think that if John hadn't found Yoko, he would never had left the Beatles, but that's just what we think!
Video 1 is mostly about the very beginning of the band, when John was pretty much the leader and George got barely any credit. Poor George! (He is my absolute favorite out of the four of them.) It's also about George, Paul, John, and Ringo's family and childhood.
Video 2 is about their early songs; Please Please Me, Love Me Do, Do You Want To Know A Secret, Twist And Shout, etc. It is very funny because there are tracks of mess-ups in the songs (mostly made by John.)! It cracks me up!
Video 3 is about the other early-ish songs; All My Loving, that kind of thing. It includes the premiere of A Hard Day's Night (the film).
Video 4 is when the songs are nearly all the ones they write, not some other songwriters! Finally, George gets more songs and credit! Also includes Yesterday and Help!
Video 5 is very interesting, and my favorite; it includes videos of Day Tripper, We Can Work It Out, and at the end it has the videos for Rain and Paperback Writer. They really begin to change in this video!
Video 6 is another interesting one, in which they play Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane, with odd, wierd videos to suit them. In this they almost buy a Greek island. Who knew?!
Video 7 is one of my favorites. It talks about the movie Magical Mystery Tour (Note: Crazy movie!), and has a video from of I Am The Walrus. It also talks about when they went to India for meditation. (I like this video because in that time, George had a lot of songs!) Some of the songs include Across The Universe (Love it), Dear Prudence, etc. Kinda sad, though, because they are about to break up in about a year. :(
Video 8 (so sad!!) is.....very sad. But in a good way, somehow! It begins with the White Album songs (sad even then!), and then talks about their many arguments, and fighting and whatnot. Then it gets really sad; they begin to break up as John meets Yoko/ brings her to every recording session, and even George and Paul argue! How rare is that?! It seems like George and Paul and Ringo (maybe) wouldn't had minded if the band stayed together, but John left and there were lots of recording sessions without him.
The saddest part has to be the Free As A Bird video (made recently), or just how they present the songs from Let It Be and The White Album. Noooo! I really extremely wish they never had broken up. Even so, they will ALWAYS be better than any band in the past, present, and future. I guarantee you!!! This video/dvd set is the same; it will ALWAYS be better than any other one in the past, present, or future!!!
Believe me; if you like the Beatles, BUY IT!!! I have watched it (literally) one hundred times and still are not bored with it! Thank you, and have a very Beatle-filled night.

If I needed some band to love, The Beatles are the ones that I've been thinking of. This is 10 hours of the best band ever. They played the best music, had the most exciting concerts, were the most creative, and the best part is -- all the footage you could ever want is right here. Here's a quick run-down of the tapes:

#1: The births of The Beatles, footage of Hamburg and the Cavern.

#2: The first album, "Please Please Me," on the Polladium and the Royal Variety Show.

#3: The first trip to America, the first world tour, the substitute drummer Jimmy Nickel, and "A Hard Day's Night" film.

#4: Footage of the concert at the Hollywood Bowl, "Help!" film and recieving the MBE.

#5: The historic Shea Stadium concert 8/15/65, the making of "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver," clips from the Budokan concerts and the difficulty of playing the newer songs live.

#6: The last concert at Candlestick Park 8/29/66, the making of "Sgt. Pepper" and Paul talking to the press about taking LSD.

#7: The two films "Magical Mystery Tour" and "Yellow Submarine," the death of Bryan Epstein and the world-wide TV performasnce of "All You Need is Love."

#8: Footage of the group playing "Let it Be," "Hey Jude," "Revolution," and "The Long and Winding Road," and the Apple rooftop gig.

And that is "The Long and Winding Road."

When "The Beatles Anthology" CDs started coming out it seemed like it was basically an attempt to clear out the vaults of anything that might be of passing interest to Beatles fans. The "new" Beatles songs, "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love," were okay but nothing special (what could be under the circumstances?) and while hearing the very first Beatles recording ("That'll Be the Day") is charming, the demo version of "No Reply," the false starts of "Eight Days a Week," and the strings only version of "Eleanor Rigby" are of relative value. George Harrison's early acoustic version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is a gem, but my favorite bit was actually the bit with Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise where they do shtick with the boys (Eric keeps talking about "Bongo" playing the drums) and sing "Moonlight Bay." But overall we are talking about a whole lot of alternative takes that you can take or leave.

But when you sit down to watch the eight parts of "The Beatles Anthology" DVD everything changes because, to coin a phrase, seeing is believing. Back in November of 1995 the there were three two-hour television specials, which coincided with the releases of the first CD. But by the time they put out this DVD set "The Beatles Anthology" had been expanded to eight episodes running just a bit short of ten hours, which is a significant increase in length. You also get a bonus disc containing extra material to get you over the 10-hour mark. The story begins with the birth of the boys in Liverpool and ends with "The End," the final track from the final album. What we have is a combination of film and audio footage from the past mixed with interviews with the (then) three surviving Beatles (John Lennon's comments come from his press interviews) and three key members of the group's inner circle: producer George Martin, roadie and Apple executive Neil Aspinall, and press representative Derek Taylor. Restricting the talking heads to this small group creates a more intimate retrospective because we see the Beatles story from the inside with all of the perspectives from the other side being contemporaneous comments.

So, if you are looking for rare footage of the Beatles performing, there is plenty of that here, but it is also interesting to hear what the Beatles themselves have to say in retrospect (which even John gets to do, albeit not from the perspective of today). However, if you are looking for the definitive answers on such questions as whether or not John wrote "All You Need Is Love" for the live broadcast, forget about it, because this documentary is perfectly content to let people disagree. Paul McCartney is the one who seems to be most aware that he is speaking for posterity, but that is hardly surprising. This documentary really is for the long time Beatles fan, because these eight episodes do not really serve as an introduction to the history of the group. If you do not already know who was married to whom, what Beatles songs were topping the charts, or some of the other basics, "The Beatles Anthology" will not enlighten you.

Still, it is a fascinating look at the most important music group in history. John can dismiss them as just being a band that broke up, but few people ever bought into that particular bit of revisionism, much as we appreciated Lennon's efforts to avoid self-aggrandizement. Ironically what I ended up appreciating the most was how the music from the CDs came alive in the context of the documentary. Hearing different versions of familiar Beatles songs works here because being slightly different they become new again. Besides, this time you are not hearing track after track of alternative versions and false starts, but hearing them mixed in with archive footage and contemporary interviews. "The Beatles Anthology" is not the definitive look at the Beatles, but it does become their version of their own story for what that is worth (which is a lot, but to be taken with those proverbial grains of salt). You would have to be a hard-core Beatles fan to own the DVDS, but as a rule of thumb I would say that if you have all of the Beatles CDs (with or without all of the"Anthology" CDs), then you should check this out at least once.

I own the VHS set of this that came out about 7 years ago. That was well over 8 hours of Beatles Anthology material on those tapes. Now, the DVD set will be available with an additional hour and a half of unreleased bonus materials, 5.1 DTS sound, better picture, etc...

For those who own the VHS, the DVD is worth picking up because of the special features listed above. Plus, they have everything in 5 discs as opposed to the bulky 8 tape VHS set. For those who only watched the 3 part TV Anthology series, remember that this set has an additional 3-4 hours of material not seen on television.

If anything get this set so you can hear the songs all over again in amazing 5.1 DTS surround sound. If you don't have a home theater system, it's time to get one for this great DVD set. Don't wait to read other reviews to pick up this DVD set. This is a no-brainer. Get it on April 1.