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Summary: Where's the DVD????
Review: On DVD, I'll buy this NOW! Not on VHS...Jezus...
Rating:
Summary: WHAT BEATLES' FANS HAVE BEEN PRAYING FOR!
Review: This superb, masterfully crafted collection is a MUST HAVE for any serious Beatles fan. It is a nonpareil collection that will never fail to delight the viewer/listener. This is such a real treat to have! It is a treasure trove of memories and music. The montage of the Beatles at the start of TAPE 1 is brilliantly crafted. It is a visual treat to be savored along with the music. The collection opens with some rare Cavern Club footage and the delightful, rocking "Some Other Guy." My favorite part was when Ringo joined the group in 1962. I was quite impressed with the way the Stones' shoddy version of the Beatles' "I Wanna Be Your Man" was juxtaposed on TAPE 2. This was very effective in calling the stylistic differences to listeners; the Stones' version is harsh, not fine toned and an ersatz imitation of a song that Ringo made great. I loved the Royal Command performance the Beatles gave for the Queen of England in November of 1963. John has immortalized that concert by telling the folks in "the cheap seats" to just clap their hands and the rest to "rattle your jewelry." John had a WICKED sense of humor and a gift for the satirical. I LOVE IT! John was a natural wit with a flair for natural expression. Seeing the TV footage of the Beatles during their pre-American tour years was an added bonus. TAPE 3 was one of my favorites. 1964 has long been rightfully heralded as "The Year of the Beatles" and I could never tire of seeing the Beatles' first transatlantic arrival to America on a Pan Am flight on February 7, 1964. We are treated to the Beatles' individual wit during their press conference; we are treated to the now famous Ed Sullivan TV appearances on February 9 and 16, 1964. One's heart goes out to Ringo who missed part of their Australian tour in 1964 due to tonsillitis. I was glad to see the film footage of Ringo rejoining his "mates" after he was granted a clean bill of health. TAPES 4 and 5 chronicle 1965 - 1966. TAPE 4 gives a good overview of the filming of "Help!", the Beatles' second movie and Paul tells his story. The Beatles receive their MBE awards from the Queen in 1965 and TAPE 5 picks up from there with the 1965 Shea Stadium concert, the 1966 Japanese concert and the deplorable way the Beatles were treated in the Phillippines. George gives an interview about how he and John met. My favorite parts on TAPE 5 was the inclusion of the 1965 album, "Rubber Soul," and the 1966 "Revolver." TAPES 6 and 7 show the psychedelic era. On the 6th tape, friction is evident in George's account of "Magical Mystery Tour" being Paul's idea. There is a bittersweetness to this tape; it includes the Beatles' last concert in San Francisco in 1966 and the beginning of a new phase -- the pyschedelic phase. This is pointed up in TAPE 7 when the Beatles get involved in the Marhareshi's Transcendental Meditation program and Eastern influence is heard throughout many of their songs. Yoko is also included in this tape. She is a vital element to the group during this period because of John's strong love for her. It is this love John has for Yoko that makes the scenes with her poignant and touching. I am glad she was included. TAPE 8 is one of closure. It shows the famous rooftop performance, the drug busts of George and John and the end of the Apple record company. It is a bittersweet tape, the end of "The Long and Winding Road." This is such a worthwhile collection to have. All we can do now is keep hoping for another Beatles' collection like this to become available.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent videos, despite inherent problems
Review: As a serious Beatles fan and trivia maven, I am certainly the last to put down the efforts of the three remaining Beatles to tell their story in their own words. I thought this was an excellent series, and certainly worth watching--great soundtrack, cast, plot ;) That said, there are certain problems inherent in making a documentary of this nature... But first, the good points. This series has an enormous advantage over similar Beatles videos & books in that it is done entirely from the POV of the Beatles and their 'crew.' There is no speculation as to motives, events, feelings, or any aspect of their career as a band. This is probably as close to the truth as we will ever get. In addition, this is a comprehensive overview, from the beginning (early history of each member, John meeting Paul) to the breakup, with all the tours, albums, and fights in between. Each surviving member has the chance to give his own perspective on each event, with the intent of clearing up rumors and biographers' embellishments. This is where the grey area begins. The one very obvious absentee of this series is John. For reasons that are pretty much self-explanatory (he's dead), he could not be included in the video by any means other than old video clips. The trouble is that during the Beatle days, none of them were allowed (or thought it at all wise) to reveal their true feelings about the group. And later on, they were all so bitter about the breakup that we have to take comments from the 70s-80s with many, many grains of salt. For this reason, John's voice and real feelings are notably absent from this video--a tragic omission. Another issue is that there are some 'delicate' events that the "other three" may not wish to fully discuss. These include Paul's breakup with Jane Asher, the Maharishi, drug use, and (of course) the group's eventual falling apart. I sincerely doubt that Paul, George, or Ringo would deliberately lie to us, but I suspect that PR agents (or the guys themselves) may have decided to eliminate certain elements from the documentary, to work around them, or to omit certain details. Above all, what should be remembered is that this documentary is done from the Beatles point of view. Each individual member has a different outlook on each event, and the real facts may be colored by emotion and passage of time. But despite these problems, which will affect almost any retrospective documentary, the Anthology is a wonderful look at the Beatles. I would strongly recommend it to any fan of the group, and to anyone with an interest in 60s music and culture.
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Summary: What a video set!
Review: ah all i can say is get this set , if want to learn more about beatles then listen to the boys themselfs John, Paul , George & Ringo ,and of course their producer George Martin. the only thing that bugged me was the fact that john first wife did'nt show up in this one. oh well if yu want to see her theirs imagine. but all in all if you saw the abc deal in 1996, you only saw half of what's in the video it's that cool. it's totally Gearfab baby! wooooooooo.
Rating:
Summary: Expensive? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely!
Review: I hated the though of spending this kind of money on some video tapes, but after I did, I had no regrets. This is an excellent series that traces the history of the Beatles from their pre-Beatle days to their breakup. It's narrated by the surviving members of the bad with some clever integration of older interviews with John Lennon. It's also a complete recording of their greatest hits as well. Each of their big hits is played in full with excellent video and film images. I still get goosebumps when I think of the images of the Beatles walking across Shea stadium in front of thousands of screaming fans. The series doesn't dull or lose focus. The effort to put it together must have been mind-boggling. No stone was left unturned. A must-have set for anyone the least bit interested in the Beatles.
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Summary: Meandering self-indulgence captivates
Review: The Beatles: Anthology_ suffers from an at times unsatisfying duality. At once anthology and documentary, there are moments when the producers' need to include obscure video footage of the Beatles performing slows the narrative considerably. In particular, the producers' enthusiasm for showing lengthy excerpts of a concert--just to get across the point that the boys weren't playing well--is frustrating. Also, there are times where the narrative given by interviews is actually incredibly sparse to make room for performances that really don't merit the time. In short, _Anthology_ is like the subject it takes on: brilliant but at times unabashedly self-indulgent. The result is a vision for the project sufficiently vague to prevent the editor from making clearer choices. Still, the work is completely absorbing. It's impossible to see it playing in a room and not want to sit down and watch it. The story the interviewees weave leaves you energized and melancholy simultaneously. It's thrilling to see how great they were together and yet you can see the tensions emerge and ultimately consume them. It's like looking back on your first love and thinking about all the possibilities that might have been.
Rating:
Summary: A VIDEO PACKAGE THAT'S WORTH IT!
Review: If you are a BEATLES fan, or just discovering the band, you are going to LOVE this!
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Summary: If You Liked The TV Special, You'll Love This!
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: Well done and quality stuff!
Review: Hmm, I love anything on the 'boys', (except that cheesy garbage that gets put out as 'clips'). I bought it because stuff like this never lasts in the stores, and I have watched it about 5 times. I do recall almost nothing about Stu Sutcliffe, but I get the impression that whomever produced these videos assumed that those watching would know the basics anyway. Cool videos even I have never seen before, and what of Paul's chipped front tooth in the 'rain' video? anyone notice? I used to hang with many Beatle tribute bands, (good, bad and best) and I must say, this video collection made me feel welcome, instead of feeling 'priveleged' to hear an interview from George, etc. I felt it could finally be out in the open. Worth the price...bring it back so all Beatle fans can buy it! watch the whole thing in one sitting-it's long, but great!
Rating: 
Summary: Not so great (I agree with Joe from Ecuador)
Review: Ok, so you take the best band in history, you put their story together and it fits into 8, 1 1/2 hour tapes......No way! I would have expected at leat the tapes to last the whole 2 hours. I admit there are some very good parts. I'm a big Beatles fan and I found out a couple of things I didn't know, but their are a lot of things I do know that weren't there. I mean where are all the details of the Sgt. Pepper album? How about their last recording session (without John)? And why isn't Real Love some where in there? One more thing, 26 years after they split, they practically bring John Lennon back to life and record 2 new songs, and not a word about that.....What were they thinking? I would have liked it if the last part of tape 8 would have been about their reunion. Isn't that part of The Beatles Anthology? I guess not, for the makers of these videos, The Beatles are 1966 and before. A shame really. They could have done great things with the story of the greatest band of the millenium.
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