Customer Reviews

Beatles: From Liverpool to San Francisco

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This DVD is one of those little, unknown, "Beatle-Surprises" that pop up once in a blue moon (with the upcoming CirqueduSoliel Soundtrack coming up as the "next-big-thing")... I consider myself to be quite the Beatles' completionist and I had never seen the majority of these interviews in their entirety and much less in such pristine quality... As stated by other reviewer; A must-have! ... Worth the price of admission alone is the lengthy Bonus-Feature with everything and more concerning "We're More Popular than Jesus" remark... Watching those teenagers be interviewed in a record shop was a major nostalgia trip (to see those walls adorned with the "latest releases" like in the olden days!)... Get this one!

This very affordable DVD is surpringly full of rare Beatles footage, newsreels, and interviews. Even though there is no Beatle music in "From Liverpool to San Fransisco" (if you want to hear Beatle songs in glorious Dolby Digital 5.1 sound I urge you to get the Beatles Anthology DVD box set), the material will keep you glued to your TV from start to finish.

I highly recommend "From Liverpool to San Francisco" to anyone who wants to expand his / her knowledge of the greatest band in Rock n Roll history. The DVD is well produced, has good to excellent audio / video quality, and covers a lot of ground. The bonus footage includes a fairly in depth look at the 1966 "greater than Jesus" controversy, complete with interviews with teenagers in Memphis, Tenn. Awesome stuff for you Beatles historians out there. You need this!

No music here, but some great interviews and newsreel footage of the Beatles ascent to the heights of 20th Century musical greatness!

Get this if you are a collector of the Beatles! Many many newsreels, interviews etc - some known from boot DVDs but here in complete form and in very high quality. A real treat!

If you want the story get the the Anthology DVDs instead....

Of all the low-budget "unauthorized" DVD's on the Beatles cluttering the market only this and "Fun With The Fab Four" are worth picking up. The producers of this DVD did a very smart thing by assembling as much BBC and newsreel footage of the Beatles as they could and presenting it chronologically as a kind of diary of events. Taken in this context, the viewer actually gets a feel for the hectic schedule the Beatles had to maintain and the accompanying footage really does tell a fascinating story. I've seen most of this footage a zillion times over in various documentaries (even the Beatles' own "Anthology) but the presentation here is first rate and makes for compelling viewing no matter how many times you've seen the clips. I should add that there is footage I've never seen anywhere else on this DVD and you'll be as pleasantly surprised even if you're a big Beatles fan. The extras include a full uncut 1966 BBC documentary on the "bigger than Jesus" controversy which is worth the price of this DVD alone.

Having purchased nearly everything Beatle related out there, I can tell you that this is a good DVD, but not great. Let me put it to you this way, if you have the Anthology DVD set, think of this as the bonus features for it. Many of the same interviews are duplicated in this DVD from the Anthology but most are extended so you get to see more of the interview that the Anthology cut away from.

If you're a Beatles nut, this is excellent. If you're a casual Beatles fan, this is not for you, the Anthology is. As for the interviews on this DVD, be aware there aren't that many. It's not like the an hour of back-to-back interview/news footage. In fact, most of the DVD is just file footage as a narrator talks to take up some time and space.

I give this DVD 4 stars. It's more like 3 1/2. If you're a Beatles enthusiast, I would try to rent it first because I don't really believe you'll want to watch this over and over again.

Like all Beatle fanatics, I'm always on the hunt for rare archival footage, and for the cheap price, this is a pretty good buy. You have to skip through the majority of boring year-by-year commentator narration, but the clips of choice are the '63/'64 interviews/awards, Ringo's interviews after his tonsil operation, the MBE interview, Yellow Sub comments by Paul and George, Paul and Linda post-wedding clips, and the '66 interviews and newsreel footage.

Contrary to another review here, there isn't much more of the 'bigger than Jesus' footage. I recall a PBS station in the mid'80s running LOADs of unseen footage, with follow-on questions to Paul and John by the media at the same hotel press conference; I had it on Beta, but who knows where it ended up. It's in someone's possession, but it's not here.. Just pretty much the same stuff you'll see on Anthology. The '66 interview with the group prior to a concert was pretty good (mentioned elsewhere), but George and Ringo didn't necessarily look 'happily stoned'.

All in all, I agree with others, that for the price, it's an excellent value for the 10 minutes of accumulated rare footage time you do get. Just buy a bunch of these cheap DVDs, don't expect too much, keep the ones with the must-have, hard-to-find footage, store 'em in your Beatle archive and toss out all the rest.

This DVD is wonderful.Filled with footage of interviews,press conferences, etc.Some of them pretty rare.Some are included in Anthology but they were edited down.Here they are shown more complete ,maybe even in thier entirety.The video is excellent.Great preservation job.The only disappoinment is,and others have said this,that there is no Beatles music or concert footage.Guess they had problems with getting permission.Instead you hear this generic,psuedo-rock,muzak throughout.The footage makes up for that however.An interesting addition is the Feb.1964 Heathrow Airport press conference when the boys returned from America.Unlike Anthology, here is shown a much longer,uncut version.Not very good for Paul because he seems to either fart or burp(you can't tell which)while answering a question.Very surprising and funny.The best part that stands out in my mind,is a very long expose' on the Jesus controversy.A British reporter is seen in America interviewing southern,teenagers in a record store.One can't decide whether she likes the group anymore because she's just so hurt by what they said,and another can't wait to start burning all of his Beatle records.Strange and riveting stuff. He goes on to interview the record shop owner then the DJ who started the controversy.During the interview the DJ says three times that he doesn't know if "they" (The Beatles)are black or white.So I guess in addition to being an incredibly cranky,creep of a stuffed shirt,he is also... NEAR SIGHTED.The British reporter finishes his expose' with a lengthy interview in what looks like a bathroom of all places,with the Beatles.John and Paul dominate with their views.It's interesting to note the change in the boys from 1964 to 1966.The biggest change is in Paul.In 1964 he is very much a young boy excited by fame,giddy almost,and charmingly unsophisticated.By 1966,he has turned into a serious,somewhat jaded,seasoned celebrity.Actually they all undergo this change but it's very obvious in Paul.This video actually covers their entire career from 1963 to 1970 with a voice over telling the story.Having been a fan for 37 years,I mentally blocked out the voice over but even if you know nothing about the fabs,you probably don't need it.You should just read the Anthology and buy the accompanying DVD boxed set and you're good to go.Then buy this DVD.

As others have noted, this is basically a British television documentary of the Beatles' phenomenon. It will be an awful bore for anyone only mildly interested in the Beatles, as the presentation is delivered with the zest and panache as a BBC documentary on the Spanish flu epidemic. The narrator's monotone and the monotonous corny style of the feature are sure to drive most people nuts after 15-20 minutes. And don't expect to hear any of the Beatles' music, either. Apparently the filmmakers didn't license any at all.

Indeed, if it wasn't for some of the interesting news film clips I would have pitched this quickly. But this dvd is packed with documentary film clips that few people have probably seen, certainly not in the U.S..

Even so, however, I could only get through 40 minutes of this at a sitting. The style just drove me up a wall and clip after clip of "the lads" at press conferences, passing through airports, and pushing through screaming crowds of young girls also became monotonous, regardless of whether or not I'd ever seen it.

So although the price is right, I recommend this only for the hard-core fans.

I bought this product thinking there would be at least Liverpool and San Francisco scenes. You know with the title being what it is. Nope. No San Francisco --they mention the city-- and just a shot or so from Liverpool. Not even early Beatles Liverpool.