Reviewed by Ben Begley

It’s pretty hard to do a documentary about the Beatles and make it anything new or revolutionary.  This band is only one of the most popular, if not the most popular, rock bands of all time.  There are thousands upon thousands of articles written about them, hundreds of books, and several films and TV specials.  So to approach a topic that’s as thoroughly analyzed as this the filmmakers run the risk of hearing countless reviews saying, “I already knew that.  Tell me something I don’t know.”  And if you read several other reviews out there in cyber space for this film that’s pretty much what they all say.  I, however, don’t have as much Beatlemania knowledge as some of the music buffs out there do so I found it very entertaining and informative. 
My knowledge of The Beatles is very superficial.  I know that George was the silent one, Ringo was kind of weird, Lennon was the poet, and McCartney was the charmer.  This film dives into a very specific time in The Beatles career; from the day they met to the year they completed Rubber Soul.  It shows the collaboration between John and Paul that was both productive and competitive.  It stresses how their competitive nature is what drove the band to reach for such interesting musical directions and also what made their “pop” songs multi-layered and complex within their simplicity (that sentence may actually cancel itself out). 

The film is independently produced, so there’s no major studio fronting a budget which is apparent at times when it feels more like an overly long TV special more than a documentary.  I have seen other films produced by this same company and one of my main complaints was that they had a total lack of musical performances and actual band footage, but in this film there is a decent amount of footage from their classic music videos to stage performances and even some candid stuff here and there.  It provides a more interesting look into the band’s life, by not just showing experts sitting in front of a blank wall rambling, there is also archival footage to back up what the experts are saying.

Speaking of the experts, the film features interviews with several close friends of the group including Barry Miles, some musicians (Alan Moore), and several journalists (Anthony De Curtis of Rolling Stone).

What the film has to say and the detail with which the relationship between Paul and John is approached is interesting, but what really sold me on this film was seeing The Beatles in their prime with screaming fans in glorious black and white.  The nostalgic feel of this film is it’s main draw.  I really think that people who don’t know much about the band will gain from this, but Beatlemaniacs shouldn’t be disappointed either with the abundance of footage of the Fab Four when they first started before they or anyone could have known the impact they would have on Rock music.

SPECIAL FEATURES

A few extended interviews and biographies, but after watching the film these seem a little superfluous.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Although the film doesn’t offer any Earth shattering revelations about the band, it is very specific with what it does cover and deserves respect for that.  Even more than that it’s just fun to see The Beatles in action.