Customer Reviews

The Compleat Beatles [VHS]

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My Beatles education began here! Malcolm McDowell narrates this two hour documentary which came out two years after John Lennon's death. This became Beatles 101 for me, and when I first saw it in 1987 while studying calculus at a friend's house, I knew I had to get more of their stuff instead of just their greatest hits. There's lots of musical footage from their shows, the Hard Day's Night and Let It Be movie, press conferences, photo stills, and more than enough Beatles tunes played over the video.

The documentary goes into a brief history of rock, and how the skiffle craze hit the UK. All teenagers, including the Beatles got into it, including John, frontman of the Quarrymen, and Paul and George, who later joined him. It's a wonder they survived the indifferent clubs and six hour sets in Hamburg's red-light district, and I suffered along with them, but lo and behold, when "Please Please Me" became a hit, I cheered along--yes, you got it made! It's more or less in two parts--from their birth to Rubber Soul, and their creative time from Revolver to Abbey Road.

If anything, George Martin is given prominence here, as he played a vital role in turning them from mop-top pretty boys to artists unafraid to experiment with new sounds. He tells how he recorded a string quartet around Paul's "Yesterday," how he got the LSO piccolo trumpet player to play on "Penny Lane" after Paul saw a concert with the instrument, and the swirling organ sound in "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite." My favourite bit was how "Strawberry Fields Forever" became the tune it was, and I've appreciated that song ever since. He sheds so much light on the Beatles and the recording process, it's incredible! Incidentally, "Strawberry Fields" and "Penny Lane" became the first Beatles song to be accompanied by "promotional film." And this a full fifteen years before MTV. Wow! Sgt Peppers is given its proper due here, as "attitude, graphic design, fashion, language and the recording business itself changed" as a result.

It's when the subject turns to the Let It Be sessions that it becomes painful. The bickering that had begun from the White Album sessions had heightened and even Billy Preston couldn't salvage it. Abbey Road was the final redemption that the Beatles could still rock and roll, even though it was very polished. As Lenny Kaye put it, "it's all four of them working together as a band as if they knew it was to be their last hurrah." It was.

When Paul sings "Let It Be" from the movie, it's intercut with scenes from their earlier days. As George Martin put it, "they were of their time, their timing was right,... and they left their mark in history because of it." Nicholas Schaffner, author of The Beatles Forever, and guitarist Lenny Kaye add useful commentary to the programme. This was Beatles 101 for me and a great place for those who want to be clued in on why they are a universally-loved group.

I can watch this over and over again and feel elated, entranced, and ultimately sad, but I come out of feeling glad I got to love their music so much. For John and George. And for the living, Sir Paul, Ringo, and George Martin.

This is a marvelous documentary of the rock band that literally rocked the world, The Beatles. This film, which features both black and white as well as color segments, is a tribute to the Fab Four. It details their rise from their humble origins in the grim, port city of Liverpool, England to the unparalleled heights of international fame.

The film takes the viewer on a trip down memory lane, showing how The Beatles first started, and where it all began. It grounds their inauspicious beginnings in the context of the music world of the time. It shows the influence of American music on the youth of England, who, in turn, would end up influencing the youth of the United States in ways that could not have been foreseen. The Beatles were to be the catalyst for the rising success of British pop stars who would dominate the music industry years to come.

There is some very early footage of The Beatles in their earliest incarnations as the Quarrymen and the Silver Beetles. There is also footage of Stuart Sutcliffe, a former band member and friend, who died early in the band's career. There is also footage of their original drummer, hunky Pete Best. The film details the reason for the change in drummers, as well as the role each member played in the group.

From Liverpool to Germany to the United States for their record shattering debut on the Ed Sullivan variety show, this film captures it all. The film also showa the musical development of the group, as well as the forces that were to later drive them apart. It expertly details the beginning and the end of the greatest and most inflential rock band to ever grace the music world.

The viewer can expect to be treated to a rock and roll exposition with film clips of early Cliff Richards, Billy Preston, and Tony Sheridan, among others. An older Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers fame (Ferry 'Cross the Mersey) expertly expounds on the influence of American music on the early British pop scene and the rise of the skiffle bands. There are also clips from those who had worked with The Beatles early on in their career, as well as those who worked with them long term, such as George Martin.

Best of all, there is the music and lots of it. The film is a veritable cornucopia of sound and a treasure trove of information about a musical past that still influences us today. All in all, this is an outstanding documentary that should appeal to those who are fond of this genre, as well as those who are fans of The Beatles, music lovers everywhere, and those who simply love a good film. Bravo!

Back in the middle 1980s, if you were a Beatles fan this was one of your few choices in full-length home video. The misleadingly titled 'Compleat Beatles' was one of the first direct-to-video rockumentaries to later be broadcast on PBS and cable TV, and it was accompanied by a two-volume set of books containing sheet music. (The books were available separately.)

Nostalgia aside, there isn't much here that isn't covered in more depth in 'The Beatles Anthology.' Evidentally, the film makers couldn't acquire the rights to use actual film footage from either 'Magical Mystery Tour' or 'Help!' and so these films are represented by movie stills. Very little concert footage remains, and most of that consists of audience reaction shots. It's maddening how, after Ed Sullivan introduces the Beatles we are shown only reaction shots and hear a remixed studio recording of 'All My Loving' instead of the live version. There are no interviews with the Beatles themselves, save for old footage taped during the group's heyday. And few, if any songs appear without narration or some other intrusion.

On the positive side (and perhaps I am being generous here) are some first-rate interviews with the Beatles' original manager, George Martin, Gerry from Gerry and the Pacemakers, Marianne Faithful, and Billy Preston (among others). To my knowledge, these interviews were originally intended for 'The Long And Winding Road,' which would have been a rockumentary similar to 'Anthology' except completed in the late 1970s. Indeed, it seems that 'The Compleat Beatles' was made solely to salvage the hard work already done on 'The Long and Winding Road.'

I would like to see this film issued on DVD anyway, because there's a chance that more of these exclusive interviews might make their way onto the disc as extras. 'The Compleat Beatles' may not be as memorable a rockumentary as 'Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll!' but it doesn't deserve its out-of-print status either.

I just blew the dust off this VHS, havent watched it in years....
Now that the 40th anniversary has passed I thought I would watch it, glad I did, forgot how good this film is.... great insight to how all there songs were created, George Martin explains in detail how the songs came about, who wrote what, who sang on which song.... very good. Too bad the Beatles didnt participate in this film for interviews sake that is....would have been a nice touch to have them there telling there stories of how things really went. Guess the anthology series does that.... cant wait for the DVD of this .... will buy in a heartbeat...maybe they will add more material on the DVD...

I LOVE this documentary! It was one of the first that I ever watched about The Beatles and it remains a treasure of my small VHS/DVD collection.

Credit was given where it was due and the influential were given a prominent role here (as it should be). There were interviews from Allan Williams (the boys' first manager), George Martin (who crafted and refined their sound for the masses), the late Derek Taylor (who would also show up in the autobiographical "Anthology" mega-documentary), Bill Harry (editor of Mersey Beat), etc. And there are plenty of sound and video clips to fascinate you (I got a bit ticked, though, when the clip for "Strawberry Fields Forever" was interrupted).

If "Anthology," at a running time of between 8-10 hours, is too much for you, check this tape out. It's a great primer and refresher for Beatles novices and experts alike.

Two thumbs up ... and then some!

As I write this (2/7/04), this coming monday marks 40 years since the Beatles came to America. 40 years since they changed all of popular culture. When I was a kid, I watched this documentary. Before Anthology, the internet, and all sorts of Beatles books, cd's, and dvd's.
The film is not as complete as Anthology. The drawback is that the interviews are from 1982 (when the film was made) with George Martin and none of the surviving Beatles participated. If you want more recent, and in depth, perspective look to the Anthology DVD.
With that said, this is a good 2 hour lesson on the Beatles beginning to end. The advantage to this is you don't have to sit through 11 hours of the anthology. Here you can get the basic story. This is a great documentary considering Apple records had nothing to do with it. The story is narrated in a respectful and accurate way. Here's hoping this sees DVD release in the near future. Long live the Beatles.

I recently became a fan of the Beatles' movies. Then I became engrossed in their music, once again. After listening to their oldies on the radio all of my life, I realized they were more complex human beings than just brilliant musicians. In this ceaselessly entertaining and detailingly analytical film, the years of Old Liverpool are covered up to the days of Abbey Road. This moving, profound, disturbing, thrilling, and funny documentary is one of the best of its type. Never lacks in anything except sheer consistance. From the lyrical opening lines of narration ("Nothing much ever came from Liverpool...") to the climactic music video of "Let it Be", this is a must see example of both history and personal lives that change with the passage of time.

I've had this video since the late 80's, and I still have not gotten tired of watching it, even after seeing the Anthology.
This should be on DVD!
A great look into the Beatles from pre-stardom up to the bitter end.
An interesting look into the Mersey Beat scene they arose from, it meanders here and there to provide some great moments from Beatlemania, and has an excellent voice-over by Malcolm McDowell that doesn't fawn or bore you to death.
Highly recommended for it's even handed (although not thorough, I mean how could an entire 10 year span ever be fairly recorded?)
coverage of the boys.

This wonderful documentary works on so many levels. Besides being a history of the individual members of the Beatles and how they met one another, it also presents an overview of the other music that was popular at the time, both in England and in America. It shows the influence of Little Richard, the Everly Brothers, Elvis Presley and other soul artists and rock and rollers on what became the Fab Four. Also mentioned are such popular British singers as Lonnie Donegan (who created a popular craze of the 1950's called "the skiffle"), Cliff Richard, and Tony Sheridan. And, of course, the Beatles perform many of their great songs, either in their entirety or through excerpts. As the film progresses, I saw the Beatles evolve from originally performing songs written by other composers, to the rise of Lennon and McCartney as song writers, and then introducing new and experimental music forms via their dabbling with psychedelic drugs and far eastern religions. With their "Revolver" album, Harrison first introduces the sitar; "Sgt. Pepper" becomes the world's first rock concept album. I also learned about the enormous influence that George Martin had on the production, arrangements, and orchestration of some of the Beatles' hugest hits. The film takes the viewer all the way to the late 60's and then to 1970, when each of the Beatles becomes restless and desires to go his own separate way. The increasing strain in their relationships finally led McCartney, who was often the healing force among the four, to leave the group. While each of the Beatles had successful post-Beatle careers it would never be the same again. What is left are all the incredible songs, the movies, and all the memories of the greatest and most influential rock band of all time.

This is pretty much "The Beatles Anthology" edited down into a 2 hour video. This is a great video, with interviews, concert footage, and good music. It shows the 50's early Beatles with Pete Best with songs like "Cry for a Shadow" and "That Will Be the Day", to the late 60's Beatles with Ringo with songs like "Let it Be" and "One After 909". With "Please Please Me" to "Day Tripper" and many more in between. YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH.