Who cares about the "fifth" Beatle? WHAT FIFTH BEATLE? Hello.....there were only 4 Beatles as far as history goes! But to go so far as to spend over 2 hours exploring a guy who wasn't a Beatle of all. I would have much rather had seen what made McCartney and Lennon so prolific together. How did all that music start? Who got what idea first? Where was the genius in all of this? It was all so tacky! In this film Paul seems like a choir boy younger brother to the controlling Lennon. And while we're at it where the heck is Ringo in all of this? A mere mention of him! This is supposed to be a film about the greatest rock band of the 20th century and we're wasting film on a guy who never even did anything of any value with the group! I had no desire to "get to know Stu" or his German girlfriend. I WANTED RAW MEAT BEATLES! Instead this film serves up a large empty plate that left me hungry for the real deal! Creative license run amuck!
November 30, 2008I saw this on tv for the first time and it was amazing! If you love the Beatles and want a great story about them and their journeys into fame, youve got to own this! Its a must have and Im glad to finally own this to see the entire thing! Definately recommend!
November 19, 2008Back Beat is the best film Ive seen documenting the early years of the Beatles and the friendship between John Lennon and Stu Sutcliff. The acting is superb as is the music. I enjoyed the film for its insight on Klaus, who later played a significant role in Lennon's band, after the Beatles broke up. While the film does not go deep into the relationship between Lennon and McCartney. It does document the struggles the band went though playing in various Hamburg Clubs for little cash, or sleep, and the Hamburg scene filled with Bohemians, Artists, and avant garde sensibilities. Given the period the film portrays, i.e., the early sixties, it opens a window on a movement that mirrored the American scene of Beat Niks but from an entirely different perspective. And for this reason alone well worth the view. As a downside of the film, if you are expecting a clear presentation on the dynamics of the Beatles (in their successful years) you will probably find this aspect weak or disappointing.
August 7, 2008 |  | The long and winding road to fame |  |
This is the story of the early trials and tribulations of John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe, art students and rock musicians from Liverpool. They were scrappy trouble-makers when they formed the Beatles with Paul, George, and Pete Best and went to play in the shabby strip clubs of Hamburg, hoping to make a name for themselves. There, Stuart met and fell in love with photographer Astrid Kirchherr. Although he was very close to John, Stuart chose to leave the group and stay with Astrid, just before the Beatles released their first record.
Ian Hart (Quirrell in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) gives an explosive performance as John Lennon. Being a native of Liverpool, Hart gets the accent right and conveys John's scruffy, irreverent attitude and love of music. American actor Stephen Dorff does a good job as the sensitive, doomed Stuart. None of the actors look much like their characters, but they do project a believable image of the group.
The songs (none of which are by Lennon-McCartney) were sung by members of established bands such as REM. The sleazy locations in Liverpool and Hamburg contribute to the rag-tag feeling of the movie. In spite of ample profanity and nudity, this is a movie that Beatles fans will enjoy, and the DVD has many interesting extras.
June 11, 2008 | | Soundtrack's better than the movie, but still... | |
...it's worth a viewing. Here's what's good about the movie, the acting is pretty high quality, the story is interesting, about the Beatles before they became famous, and were a band of teenagers tearing up this new rock'n roll music in Liverpool then Hamburg. It's a fun watch for Beatle's fans, an educational look into an earlier period of music for those too young to know the Beatles outside of hearing them nowadays in the supermarket. What's best about the movie is the soundtrack, someone recruited some of the best talent out of 90's grunge rock bands and these 4 guys do a simply amazing job of recapturing the early Beatles. You can comopare if you want, there are recordings of the pre-famous Hamburg era Beatles, but they are of very poor audio quality, so this soundtrack is much better. Now, the negative. There are two ways you can go if you're casting a movie about the Beatles, either find actors who look like they did, or find actors who are musicians who can pull off acting like they're actually playing their instruments (I don't know wny this should be so hard, Denzel Washington could to it, but most actors can't). Well, the people casting this movie didn't do either, so a big shortcoming for me was that 1)the actors look so little like the real Beatles, many Beatles fans aren't going to be able to get beyond this, and 2) the actors aren't convincing when they are performing, in other words, you can't watch too closely when they're on stage or you'll notice that they don't look like they're actually playing their instruments. I know, that doesn't bug everyone, but musicians often get get past this, so... for the most serious of Beatles fans, and those of you who are musicians, I'm going to recommend you get the soundtrack instead, everyone should like that.
June 2, 2008More reviews at Amazon.com ...
Daily Birthdays
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