Average Rating: 
Rating: - Beatlemania Lives On
The Beatles Anthology originally aired on ABC in November, 1995. The documentary was shown over the course of three days with the big hook being seeing the videos for the two "new" Beatles songs "Free As A Bird" & "Real Love". The series also set the stage for the release of three double-disk Anthology albums that would follow in subsequent months. The documentary itself is a true gift for any Beatlemaniac. It is loaded to the gills with performance footage, behind the scenes looks at their recording process, home movies and old interviews. The best part though is all the living Beatles, at the time, participated in the production and gave current interviews and John Lennon was also liberally featured through archival interviews. Seeing Paul McCartney, George Harrison & Ringo Starr discuss their experiences in the band is a real treat and it's what separates this documentary from the countless others about the group out there. Also, their producer and guide, George Martin provides candid insights that only someone who was so closely linked to the band could provide. The new DVD collection does a tremendous job in providing a sharp picture and the 5.1 surround sound is amazing. The additional footage on the final disk is superb, especially the three Beatles sitting together and reminiscing about old times and their return to Abbey Road Studios where, along with Mr. Martin, they provide some incite on the recording processes used on some their biggest hits.
Rating: - Beatles Anthology DVD - Another Reason DVD was Invented
Just like the Godfather DVD Collection, why DVD was invented. This DVD edition of the BBC's Beatles Anthology is worth every penny, including the extras. I've watched all the discs and am extremely impressed with how Apple Corps has issued this on DVD, especially at a great price ... Apple went as far as remixing the audio to DTS asides from the Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, which is quite impressive. Video quality rocks compares to VHS (always of course! i'd give it a 4 out of 5 for vid quality). The Bonus Disc is the cream of the crop in this collection. It has extra jams of the surviving Beatles doing their Hamburg days songs (covers mostly). Then there is an awesome short of them with producer George Martin analyzing two Beatles songs and how they mixed it, etc. Probably the most interesting is a short documentary on how they recorded "Free As a Bird" and "Real Love", along with "Making of" the two videos ... Well worth the buy, especially for the Bonus Disc. Did I mention there's 5 more hours than the ABC release in 1995? WELL WORTH THE BUY!
Rating: - As enjoyable as the Beatles Bootleg Videos -- Only Better
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.
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