Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7852 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-03-31
• Rating: Exempt
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 5
• Formats: Black & White, Colour, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: German, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
• Number of discs: 5
• Running time: 672 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Beatles Anthology was initially broadcast as a TV miniseries to run alongside the series of three Anthology double-CD albums. This set of eight documentaries has the heft and scope of one of Ken Burns' expansive projects. Still, you may find yourself with more material--particularly about the Beatles' early lives as lads in Liverpool--than you'll want to watch. The documentary material is copious, including early performance films and tapes, at the point before they found their true voices. The actual Beatlemania years--beginning in 1963 and concluding in 1970--feature extensive performance films, as well as home movies and archival material. The best parts, of course, are the interviews with the Beatles themselves, who produced the entire thing. Along with reworking two previously unreleased John Lennon tracks as "new Beatles songs", the Anthology includes some unseen Lennon interview tapes so that his acerbic voice can be heard as well. This stands as a comprehensive document of that heady period, the second coming of rock & roll, as the Beatles took what Elvis had started and expanded upon it exponentially. This box set gives a solid sense of the historical context and the way these four musicians changed the world around them in the 1960s. --Marshall Fine

Special Features
Contains all 8 original video programs on 4 DVDs
Bonus disc of rare and never-before-seen footage, including:
* Recollections (June 1994): Paul, George, and Ringo spend a summer's day together singing, playing and warmly remembering the early days
* Back at Abbey Road (May 1995): Paul, George, and Ringo at Abbey Road Studios with George Martin, play back the multi-tracks of some of their classic recordings and reveal the inventive techniques used during the original sessions
* Recording "Free as a Bird" & "Real Love": Paul, George, and Ringo, along with Jeff Lynne discuss the story behind these recordings - includes intimate footage of them at work in the studio
* Real Love Video: The video not screened as part of the original Anthology series, now in glorious 5.1 surround sound
* Compiling the Anthology Albums: Paul, George, Ringo, and George Martin talk about how the three Anthology double albums were compiled
* Making the "Free as a Bird" video: An intriguing insight from director Joe Pytka into how the Grammy Award winning video was created
* Production Team: The team behind the Anthology series discuss how the programmes were made
* Newly mixed in 5.1 surround sound with picture restoration Number of discs: 5

Synopsis
A deluxe, eight-volume chronicle of the complete history of the Beatles, this definitive collection features ten hours of footage culled from interviews, live concerts, studio sessions, feature films, home movies and more. The home video release contains five hours of exclusive material not seen in the television broadcast.
The DVD release contains a bonus disc featuring a further 80 minutes of rare and previously unseen material. Amongst the extra footage is a 46 minute performance by Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, filmed when the three briefly reconvened in the Summer or 1994. The material they perform reverts back to songs originating from their early club days in Liverpool and Hamburg, including "Blue Moon of Kentucky," "Ain't She Sweet," "Sweet Georgia Brown," and many more.

Customer Reviews

Definitive.
This series defines the word definitive. Alot of us have felt like the Beatles were a part of us through their music and films. The die hard fans read books and watched interviews but nowhere has so much infomation on the band been presented in such a compelling fashion and from such a reliable source (the Beatles themselves)

I've watched the first release on Laserdisc about 5 times and it's good to see that the full length episodes (longer than the 1 hour episodes screened on TV) have made it to the DVD release. Old interviews from John Lennon are spliced into newer interviews from Paul, George and Ringo and there is an overwhelming sense that what's presented is honest. Warts and all as they say. It is undoubtedly even more poignant to watch now that George has left us and it is now indisputable that the Beatles are history.

Perhaps there is a little too much bias towards the early days and there may be not enough on the time when I personally felt they were at their absolute peak (the Rubber Soul/Revolver era) but these are small criticisms.

The DVD extra material disc is also fantastic and I bought the set mainly for this as it wasn't part of the Laserdisc release. It was worth it. It was fantastic to see Paul, George and Ringo jamming together for fun and working in the studio on Free as a Bird and Real Love. Another treat was to see their own enthusiasm for listening to the original takes of songs like Tomorrow Never Knows and Golden Slumbers. My favourite bit must have been George asking which album the latter track was on!

Finally the price is incredible. At a fraction of the price of the original Laserdisc or VHS release, it is an essential purchase for anybody who has any desire to know more than just the albums and songs.

The Beatles - Anthology DVD with extra footage
This box set is a must have for any fan of the Beatles. I bought the original box set on VHS video and have no regrets about re buying the set again on DVD. The quality is superb and sharp and the music is much clearer. Each disc contains 2 episodes except for the 5th and final disc. In my opinion, this is the real gem. To view Harrison, McCartney and Starr playing together again at George's house in 1994 and having fun is a joy to watch. Songs inlude an early Lennon & McCartney original titled 'Thinkin of Linking" and 'Blue Moon of Kentucky' along with others. This comes under the title of Recollections. Other titles on this disc are, Compiling The Anthology Albums, Back at Abbey Road-May 1995, Recording Free as a Bird and Real Love, Production Team(explaining how the series was created)Making the Free as a Bird Video and Real Love Video. The set is excellent viewing and worth a place in anyone's collection.

It's Real Love
This was always going to be a five star review. There's nothing to be said for The Beatles, their music or the affect they had on the world around them that hasn't already been said many times before.

The Anthology DVDs are a rich, vibrant collection of snapshots and first hand recollections of the greatest band ever known. There are some deeply personal memories from the three surviving Beatles (this was obviously recorded before George sadly passed away) and some funny moments too. George, in particular seems to have the best sense of perspective about the whole thing. He says many times that the world just used the Beatles as an excuse to go mad. He believed the band were in the "eye of the hurricane" while the rest of the world went crazy.

Each episode is roughly 75 minutes in length so you get a good total viewing time. Obviously, there's a lot more that could've been included and maybe one day we'll get an expanded version.

The price of the set alone is worth it just for the inclusion of the extras disc. It was great seeing the guys playing together again and the insight into the recording of Real Love was a treat. I, for one, thought the two "new" Beatles tracks were excellent.

Worth every penny.