Rating: 
Summary: The Beatles get.......ARRESTED!!!!!
Review: Not really, but it sure looked like it was possible when the Bobbies raided the Beatles last live performance on the rooftop of Apple headquarters on that cold blustery day. Witness Mal Evans turn off George's amplifier(while he's playing!)during the reprise of Get Back, while a stunned John misses some of his lead guitar parts. Meanwhile, Paul and Ringo jam on, with Paul insisting at the end that they could be arrested for playing on the rooftops again(and their Mommy wouldn't like that!). Of course John has the last word with the famous "I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we passed the audition!" All of the bickering and unpleasantness aside, the rooftop concert was great fun, and showed that when the Beatles had to give a performance, they could still bring it on home. Jump back to the beginnings, and it is January, 1969. The tired Beatles commence in London's Twickenham studios to be filmed while "getting back" to their roots...i.e. playing good ol' rock and roll like the old days, without all of the studio gimmicks and overproduction. But the ill will and uneasy feelings that started during the "White Album" sessions were still an open wound, and thus infected the Get Back sessions as well. There are so many other things that make the movie a must-see for Beatles fans. Ringo having a playful moment with Paul's step daughter Heather in the studio. A smacked up John and Yoko in their "own world" off in a corner or dancing a waltz, and the famous George remark that he would play his guitar anyway that Paul would like or "not play at all" if that was what he wanted. Then we get to see Paul tell George that "he's not out to get him at all; he's trying to help him". Also, it's a gas to hear John sing a few "gobbledygook" lyrics during "Don't Let Me Down" on the rooftop concert. Some see it as sad that the film portrayed such a great band in the disintegration mode. But I see it as a part of history, and the inevitable result of separate ego's finally coming to a head after so many hard years together(especially with "Beatlemania" making virtual prisoners of the boys wherever they went). By this time, add all of the legal troubles with Apple that pitted Paul against the others(he wanted the Eastmans; the others wanted, and got Allen Klein, who they ended up sueing later after they found out what a slime he was), George's growing list of unrecorded music and disenchantment with being bossed around "Beatle George", and a very much in love John bringing Yoko to most of the sessions, and you had a storm brewing that couldn't be stopped. All in all, it is a great documentary on the Beatles doing what they did best....making music. And it remains as a solid reminder that even after this seeming end, they were able to re-group once more with George Martin to produce their last album Abbey Road, with the fitting finale(Her Majesty notwithstanding!), "And in the end, the Love You take is equal to the Love You make". A footnote to the "Paul bashers" that seem to think that He and He alone is responsible for holding the release of this gem on DVD. He remarked that he is asked about the DVD release quite frequently, and that Neil Aspinall(who is still in charge of day to day running of the Apple businesses)has been given free rein to get it done. Hopefully, the wait is due to having a good job done with plenty of extras!
Rating:
Summary: Coming to a store near you SOON
Review: Readers may wish to know that the British press is reporting a 2003 release of the DVD at long last and a Phil Spectorless album on CD within weeks. Preorder with your favourite on-line store now!
Rating: 
Summary: Crucial Beatles Footage
Review: Tensions flare and personalities clash. Accurate portrayal of the fab four dissolving. The film culminates with a performance on the Abbey Road studio roof, the first live Beatles show in four years. Mayhem ensues and the police are called in to stop the madness. As for the music "Let It Be", with its angst and frankness, show a mature Beatles displaying both roots (One after 909)and feelings (I dig a pony). A must-have for Beatles fans.
Rating: 
Summary: Let It Be remade.
Review: The biggest problem with this movie is that the movie itself doesn't live up to it's legend. If you didn't know anything about the fab fours later years this is what you'll get out this movie: Band jamming in sound stage then cut away to band jamming in building then cut away to band jamming on roof - the end. The film only works if you have piror knowledge of the events of early 1969 that lead to the band demise. Thus film itself suffers from the same hurdle that most rock movies of this time come across: a lack of narrative. Why are they on the roof? What is the building they're jamming in, are they recording? And the sad fact is that there is footage out there that could rectify this.
In 1996's 'The Beatles Anthology' we got the scenes of the band and crew discussing the concert on the roof, talking to the camera's about why they chose a sound stage and more importantly the aims of the whole 'Get Back' project. Even some subtitles at the bottom of the screen could give this mess a bit of direction. If this film ever gets released it needs a needs a new cut, including all the meetings the band has with the crew, the on camera interviews with Paul and of course some of the tense moments that occurred while making the movie. Yes, there is the famous scene of Paul and George arguing over how the lead to 'I've Got A Feeling' should be played but for the rest of the bickering that most Beatles fans have heard on bootlegs of outtakes have all been glossed over.
On the positive side the performances are great, even if 'Let It Be' did boast some of the fabs weakest efforts the music is still worth sitting through the seemingly pointless scenes of dialogue. In saying that, 'Let It Be' is not a bad movie, in fact I'd say it's a great movie that's been poorly hacked up. This makes it only worth it if you know enough already to read between the lines.
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Summary: The "Blue" Beatles Performing Live
Review: The final scene of the movie shows the Beatles performing in public on a roof in London. This was their first "concert" since a 1966 show in San Francisco and would be their last. So much for multi-million dollar reunion concert tours rehashing songs from bygone periods. The roof top scenes last maybe twenty minutes, but they are well worth the cost of this DVD if it ever is released. Thankfully we never will see these rock gods performing today like the other English band from this period who look as though their skin are about to fall off their faces.
Rating:
Summary: An Histroic and moving Film.
Review: The original Idea behind this film was to show the band all working and making music together. What we witnessed however was The Beatles coming apart at the seams and Paul McCartney's desperate, but fruitless, attempts to keep the stuffing from falling out! Those who watched this film on its first release were given a glimmer of hope at the time with the brilliant, now famous, impromptu Roof top performance. It was a cold drizzly day that welcomed the band to play together live again like no other band would play again. It was the end of decade, the end of an era and the end of the greatest Rock and Roll band the world had ever known. A poignant occasion is marked as one Member steps up to the microphone and says to a visible audience that only just out numbers the film crew and themselves. "I'd like to thank you all on behalf of the group and myself, and I hope we passed the audition".Bring on the DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Great but this isn't the version we deserve
Review: This film is a great piece of historical documentation of the breakup of a great band... and the 1970 version shows just that.. but i feel they should condense the 100's of hours of footage into a box set and let us, the real fans, see the thing unfold there were some great moments throughout the sessions that were happy times...
I think we should see George presenting classics like All things must pass... and if it is available a remastered version of Child of Nature (hinted at on the Fly on the Wall bonus disk) release as much as possible and let us be a real fly on the wall watching our favorite band making an album...
and the aspect of time could only improve this film in that it would be a retrospective view now that, with the help of the Anthology series we can finally start to understand the events surrounding it...
Rating:
Summary: A Historical Piece
Review: This is a good film although it breaks my heart watching the Beatles falling apart. And it makes me sick seeing Yoko Ono. The music was brilliant and hearing them practice songs were cool. I wish they'd release this film on DVD. I cry when I watch this film for happiness and sadness.
Rating:
Summary: Paul does NOT want this released in its original form!!
Review: This is a great piece of film chronicling an awesome band during the creative process in the studio during their final year together. The music, the performances (especially their final public appearance together on the Apple building's rooftop) and the film making are excellent. So why has this film not been released on DVD and Video when other far inferior Beatles films (for example, Magical Mystery Tour) have been out for years? I think it is because Paul McCartney does not want you to see it (at least not in its original cut). Of all the Beatles, he comes off looking the worst in this film. Who wouldn't want out of this band with a dictator like this guy around. You can tell Lennon and Harrison have about had it with him in quite a few scenes. Paul has already started trying to revise this little piece of Beatles history with the recent release of the "Let It Be:Naked" CD which he says is far superior to the Phil Spector produced original album(NOT!!!). If this film does ever see the light of day, don't be surprised if it is drastically altered with all the nasty Paul stuff removed. Lets hope that clearer heads prevail and this exceptional document is released soon as it was originally made (and hopefully with a lot of extras which all us die hard Beatles fans know exist).
Rating:
Summary: Half Good, Half very, very sad.
Review: This is the Beatles in their most wretched state. Arguing, bored, resentful of each other's talents, each other's songs, each other's wives and lovers. Trying to paste together a session that ends up in such a bad state that John Lennon simply wanted to shelve this entire period, and put it away for good. On the other hand, this film has some of the most exciting filming of the Beatles ever done when they go on top of their Apple headquarters building in the cold month of January in 1969 and totally captivate a rag-tag audience. For that moment alone, this DVD has to be released. The promised unedited album would be another huge plus for us fans.
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