Rating: 
Summary: Anthology -- the way it was supposed to be
Review: This is an absolutely beautiful collection -- the picture is fantastic, and the sound is what DTS was made for. To hear the songs rendered in this exlosive 5.1 mix is unbelievable, and will make Apple Scruff's insatiable appetite even wetter awaiting all of the music to be released in this format.If you are reading this, then you know what anthology is all about. What you have no idea how incredible the sound and picture are. Get it!!
Rating:
Summary: the band from which all others decended
Review: first, let me explain what significance the Beatles hold for myself and perhaps the millions of fans over the world. the beatles are quite simply the most important contribution to humanity . their efforts in the field of music are incalcuable. they arrived at a pivitol time in America. they helped us to forget the problems of that time. John F. Kennedy had only been assisignated three short months before their legendary appearance on Ed Sullivan. the country was facing the beginnings of Vietnam, racial injustice and a generation that were becoming fed up with the standards which had been laid down by their elders. it was a dreary time and the Beatles that February night with more than 70 million people watching their television sets proved that music (if only for ten brief minutes)held the potential to change the world. My entire basis of musical understanding is based on the words and music of this great band.
i watched the anthology series back in November of 1995 with great anticipation. i knew that for many years this project had been in the works and that there had to have been far more material not aired over the course of that week. the purpose of the series accoring to George Harrison was to add closure for all Beatles fans but i look at this as an opening for the casual Beatles fan to come and explore what made these songs so memorable. Hours had been shaved off this series to fit within the parameters of network tv. i waited for that day to arrive when they would be released on dvd. my prayers have been answered.
when you think of the great Beatles machine, their grandeur and mystique you tend not to think of the band as individual but this amazing foursome who wrote some of the greatest songs of the 20th century and perhaps rival the works of classic composers like Bach, Beethoven and Gershwin. this program is a unique and rare glimpse into the individuals minds. how they saw it and lived it. you begin to see them for their endearing qualities which only helps build your exisiting admiration for them. you'll be amazed at some of the footage you see such as their taxi ride from JFK airport to the hotel they were staying at. truely remarkable. this documentary is unparalleled and unprecendented and truely is the chronological tell all of the greatest band ever as told through their experiences and experiences of trusted aquaintances of the band. well I'm working on disc two athe moment and have another 7 1/2 hours to go not including the 90 minutes of extra footage (beyond the extra footage worked into the original documentary). long live John, Paul George and Ringo! Thanks for your lessons in melody and communication. hats off to george martin for taking that sound and formatting it for our ears.
Rating:
Summary: The Legend Lives ON!
Review: Well, what can I say?
This is an amazing collection of anecdotes, stories, clips, and historical info told by the Beatles themselves. It is an amazing series which blows my mind.
I'm literally speechless. This has to be one of the best DVDs ever made.
LONG LIVE THE BEATLES!
Rating:
Summary: Hear the Beatles like you's heard them before.
Review: O.K. I'm a fan of Beatles music.O.K. I'm a fan of their story.And that being said I bought Anthology when it became available on VHS in '97 but none of that prepared me for the way over the top sound restoration someone did for these dvd's.If you don't believe me,check out the original,"fake stereo" second half of "I Am The Walrus" then listen to what they did to it."All You Need Is Love" is another sonic marvel.The only thing missing from the Anthology series was (it was filmed before Mr. Harrison's passing) the late great John Lennon.Beatle fans it's still worth it though.For not just the sound,but more importantly hearing them talk about the various tricks they pioneered,realizing they're a widdle bit older now and working on "Free As A Bird" together with Jeff Lynne.
P.S. Capitol please do what Abkco did to the Stones' catalog last year.Don't just tease us with "Anthology".Hell,you made a 4 cd box off "Pet Sounds" yet you treat the Beatles like atomic waste.
Rating:
Summary: Great remastering job...a view of DVD-Audio titles to come?
Review: As an avid Beatle fanatic, I replaced my laserdisc box set with the DVD box. Despite some minor pixelization, the program material betters the laserdisc image (plus you get additional content). But the REAL reason to get this set for the real Beatle fan is to get REAL 5.1 sound. To hear a terrific surround mix of Penny Lane & Strawberry Fields sends the heart fluttering...they sound FABULOUS. Discrete sounds from all the channels. Even the earlier recordings sound great with the natural echo coming from the rear. This really whets my appetite for the rumored DVD-Audio titles that are supposedly in the works. At any rate, this is a first rate documentary and should be in any music lover's collection.
Rating: 
Summary: Extemely flawed but still a must for any fan.
Review: I've been eagerly awaiting this DVD release for quite a few years now, and sadly I must report that this collection is rather disappointing. I look through all these glowing reviews and feel as if I've gotten the wrong edition but alas that isn't the case. The full length documentary is here in fantastic digital quality yet why did they make the contents of the set so thin? DVD special editions and releases of classic films are usually filled to brim with extras yet this isn't the case. The extra disc contains mainly footage dealing with the putting together of the Anthology and the recording of "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love". The video for "Real Love" is included yet some how not the same is done for "Free As A Bird" yet puzzling enough it does include a short bit about the making of latter's video. Why one but not the other? With all of the footage cramed into the documentary in edited form, would it been too much to put some extra clips on each disc? Instead we get two episoded per disc with each disc tracking in at about two and a half hours each. That's a lot of wasted space on each disc and it just calls attention to how thin this set is of features. Just check out "A Hard Days Night" to se a Beatle's set done right. One big problem I encountered is the wildly fluctuating sound levels. If you remaster the sound but don't normalize them, well then you've only done half of the job. Watch the Anthology with your remote in your hand because you'll be turn the sound levels up and down faily regularly. Another disappointment is the lack of any materials in the jewel cases listing tracks, and why aren't songs given chaptermarks now that I think of it. Argh, it really gets under my skin that this DVD set has fallen short of the mark. Look at how well the CDs from this series came out and then the book as and maybe you'll understand my point. As much as I love this documentary, they just didn't take full advantage of the technology available to them. This is the type of monumental release that requires...no make that demands special treatment and in this case it just didn't happen.
Rating:
Summary: The Beatles as you'd want to see and hear them
Review: If you're a hard core Beatle fan, you will definitely like The Beatles Anthology released on DVD. A great job was done in restoring the video clips of the band's performances in the clubs, the recording studio, the television shows, and in concerts. With four track recording the only process to capture music back in the early sixties, the engineers who remastered these tapes produced a very enjoyable, crisp listening experience. The first four DVDs have the programs with extra footage. A fifth DVD is included that has Paul, George, and Ringo together in 1996 recollecting about the band and performing five songs together. There is also documentary of how the Anthology CDs, that were released before the DVD set, were put together.
Rating:
Summary: beatles anthology-dvd
Review: Even if you have the vhs or laserdisk,this collection is worth looking into.the 5.1 dolby digital sound mixed by george martin.the best part of this collection is the 5th disc.you not only have th surviving beatles jaming together.you have the real love video with was only avalable on the abc special.added inteviews with jeff lynne (elo ,travalin' wibury's),george martin,ringo,george and paul.the make of free as a bird ,and real love ,the songs and video's.and ringo,george and paul remembering the old day's.a must for any beatles collection.
Rating:
Summary: Ringo is the best!!!
Review: This package is excellent. I only owned it before on VHS taped from television. In this DVD edition, each of the 8 hours has been swelled up to at least 1 hour and 15 minutes, including very complete footage of every Beatles personal appearance on record. The (DTS) sound is stupendous and even the early Beatles songs that were only available in "dual stereo" have been remixed in a much more acceptable format. What comes consistently through is that (1) John, Paul and to as lesser extent George were no experts or archivists of the Beatles and some of their nerdy fans know a lot more (through collecting bootlegs, probably) about the infinite details of their discography; and (2) Ringo is the most reliable source on the facts and figures, correcting everybody and everything and certainly not devoid of words of wisdom and impressions of his own. My favourite bit has Ringo relating how he realized that the Beatles' success had irreversibly changed their lives (circa 1964): "I was at my auntie's for tea and somebody upset the little table where the service was and some tea dripped from my cup to the saucer and everybody was up in arms with 'Oh, no, we can't have this' and fussing and towelling everything off and it hit me, like an arrow through me head, you know!" Priceless.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: I am a HUGE Beatles fan and if I didn't know any better, I'd call myself the number one fan. I watched these 8 films and was blown away by all the things I didn't know! I thought I knew everything about the Beatles through books and songs and interviwes and other films but this fed me knowledge unbeknownst to me! The Anthology series changed the way I thought about The Beatles and made me like them to an even larger extent if possible. I'm extremley excited for it to finally be on DVD and I will surley buy it. I recomend this to Beatles fans at any high or low.
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