Beatles: From Liverpool to San Francisco (2005)

They were four ordinary lads from Liverpool who became the biggest rock band the world had ever seen. Wherever they went, they won hearts and sold millions of discs and cinema tickets. What was so special about them that they could fill concert halls and airports form Tokyo to New York with thousands of fans? Why did the dream die and what have "The Fab Four" left behind? In short, who were the Beatles and how did they conquer the world? In this program, we look at their progress week by week through the best days of their lives with footage of fans and interviews, destinations and encounters, good times and bad. The Beatle Diaries tells you all you need to know about the significant events of the Fab Four’s glory years. Travel with John, Paul, George and Ringo from their early days in Liverpool to San Francisco, where they played their last concert together.

DVD Extras:
Beatles Across America rockumentary and complete Len Dodd TV Show interview.

Some gems, lots of filler

There are some really fine clips of Beatles antics and snips of interview materials that were new and interesting to me. Yet I found there to be far too many airport longshots of screaming teenaged fans, which after the fifth scene of screaming fans it becomes pretty dull!
The "documentary" does an OK job of covering the early history, utilizing many chronological lists of things like singles releases and drug experimentation.......... I was left wishing that it dug deeper..... worth a watch, only purchase if you are a Beatles fanatic! May 5, 2008

Some nice rare footage, super for the inexpensive price

Like all Beatle fanatics, I'm always on the hunt for rare archival footage, and for the cheap price, this is a pretty good buy. You have to skip through the majority of boring year-by-year commentator narration, but the clips of choice are the '63/'64 interviews/awards, Ringo's interviews after his tonsil operation, the MBE interview, Yellow Sub comments by Paul and George, Paul and Linda post-wedding clips, and the '66 interviews and newsreel footage.

Contrary to another review here, there isn't much more of the 'bigger than Jesus' footage. I recall a PBS station in the mid'80s running LOADs of unseen footage, with follow-on questions to Paul and John by the media at the same hotel press conference; I had it on Beta, but who knows where it ended up. It's in someone's possession, but it's not here.. Just pretty much the same stuff you'll see on Anthology. The '66 interview with the group prior to a concert was pretty good (mentioned elsewhere), but George and Ringo didn't necessarily look 'happily stoned'.

All in all, I agree with others, that for the price, it's an excellent value for the 10 minutes of accumulated rare footage time you do get. Just buy a bunch of these cheap DVDs, don't expect too much, keep the ones with the must-have, hard-to-find footage, store 'em in your Beatle archive and toss out all the rest.

March 18, 2008

Classic

This was bought as a gift but I'm told the DVD was very well done. Much enjoyed. January 14, 2008

Good but not as good as everyone raves here.

Having purchased nearly everything Beatle related out there, I can tell you that this is a good DVD, but not great. Let me put it to you this way, if you have the Anthology DVD set, think of this as the bonus features for it. Many of the same interviews are duplicated in this DVD from the Anthology but most are extended so you get to see more of the interview that the Anthology cut away from.

If you're a Beatles nut, this is excellent. If you're a casual Beatles fan, this is not for you, the Anthology is. As for the interviews on this DVD, be aware there aren't that many. It's not like the an hour of back-to-back interview/news footage. In fact, most of the DVD is just file footage as a narrator talks to take up some time and space.

I give this DVD 4 stars. It's more like 3 1/2. If you're a Beatles enthusiast, I would try to rent it first because I don't really believe you'll want to watch this over and over again. April 24, 2007

Love It! Very Interesting!

This DVD is wonderful.Filled with footage of interviews,press conferences, etc.Some of them pretty rare.Some are included in Anthology but they were edited down.Here they are shown more complete ,maybe even in thier entirety.The video is excellent.Great preservation job.The only disappoinment is,and others have said this,that there is no Beatles music or concert footage.Guess they had problems with getting permission.Instead you hear this generic,psuedo-rock,muzak throughout.The footage makes up for that however.An interesting addition is the Feb.1964 Heathrow Airport press conference when the boys returned from America.Unlike Anthology, here is shown a much longer,uncut version.Not very good for Paul because he seems to either fart or burp(you can't tell which)while answering a question.Very surprising and funny.The best part that stands out in my mind,is a very long expose' on the Jesus controversy.A British reporter is seen in America interviewing southern,teenagers in a record store.One can't decide whether she likes the group anymore because she's just so hurt by what they said,and another can't wait to start burning all of his Beatle records.Strange and riveting stuff. He goes on to interview the record shop owner then the DJ who started the controversy.During the interview the DJ says three times that he doesn't know if "they" (The Beatles)are black or white.So I guess in addition to being an incredibly cranky,creep of a stuffed shirt,he is also... NEAR SIGHTED.The British reporter finishes his expose' with a lengthy interview in what looks like a bathroom of all places,with the Beatles.John and Paul dominate with their views.It's interesting to note the change in the boys from 1964 to 1966.The biggest change is in Paul.In 1964 he is very much a young boy excited by fame,giddy almost,and charmingly unsophisticated.By 1966,he has turned into a serious,somewhat jaded,seasoned celebrity.Actually they all undergo this change but it's very obvious in Paul.This video actually covers their entire career from 1963 to 1970 with a voice over telling the story.Having been a fan for 37 years,I mentally blocked out the voice over but even if you know nothing about the fabs,you probably don't need it.You should just read the Anthology and buy the accompanying DVD boxed set and you're good to go.Then buy this DVD. April 3, 2007

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