The Beach Boys

Thoroughly enjoyed watching this. Knowing a fair amount about the ups and downs throughout The Beach Boys' history, I kept waiting for things to turn dark. I was pleasantly surprised however, that the documentary prioritised the band's music and the impact it has had and continues to have on the world. Most people who are familiar with The Beach Boys are likely aware of Eugene Landy and the premature deaths of Dennis and Carl and so I found it refreshing that the film focuses mainly on the good. It reminded me of the recent 'Wham!' Documentary in that sense, taking you through the different musical phases of the band and ending on a positive note long before outstaying it's welcome. The film doesn't shy away from drama completely. Tensions between band members and the negative impact Murray had on the group are covered. Everyone gets a fair shake however, including Murray, whom without The Beach Boys may not have had the initial success they did. The documentary also reinforces the often overlooked fact that each member was integral to the band's sound without taking anything away from Brian's brilliance as a visionary. A moving tribute to one of the greatest bands in pop music history. I recommend this to any music fan and those in need of something positive (aren't we all?).

I am a bigger fan of The Beach Boys, but this is incredibly light in terms of what's actually happen.

Part of me gets it because they are still real people who have to live out their lives. But their stories are so old and long forget that it shouldn't be this clean.

I knew it was trouble immediately when I saw it was produced by Disney. From there you can always tell it's going to be very clean. But too clean.

They don't get into their family drama, how the father Wilson was controlling it all and causing rifts between the members and him. Like others pointed out, no talk about Brian and the state he was in when he was younger using drugs and whatnot.

Just felt like there was more than what most wanted out of this story and the fact people are happy with the little they got is disappointing. They should want more, even if they are uncomfortable with the material, that is their story.

Ignore the negative Nancy's that choose to share their lonely views ; if you're a Beach Boys fan, you are in for a treat. I treasure these interviews, this documentary in general. I was second wave BB aficionado, discovering the Beach Boys in the Endless Summer era, long after the surfing extravaganza. Their music is truly an American genuine gift to the world and besides being infectious, the melodies are part of your fabric, your life's soundtrack. I loved the entire piece and if you're even the slightest fan, you will ,too. Watch and enjoy, and remember when things were simpler and a great sonf on the radio or from an LP, made you smile.

Anybody expecting a Peter Jackson Get Back style documentary will be disappointed.

Visually this is very poor. Old photos and films have all been seen before in countless other documentaries on the Beach Boys and generally, apart from some recent interviews, there is nothing new at all. In fact there is so much that is not in-cluded that should have been.

It would have been interesting if the early days and their first four albums (1962-1963) were covered in some depth.

The same applies to the Wild Honey/Friends/20-20/Sunflower period. These hardly get a mention or the fact that some material from the abandoned Smile album was included on these albums.

Any compilation of hits by the Beach Boys is inevitably going to focus on the early days and the "Californian Dream", and as such, more time should have been spent on the surf/hot rod/girl music of that period.

The shelving of Smile made no mention of a well aired opinion that after hearing Sgt. Pepper, Brian Wilson felt his Smile project was not suitable as a Beach Boys album. He expressed this view in the documentary but then they released Smiley Smile which was even less representative of their music culture.

The last album mentioned was Holland, but the Beach Boys made 10 studio albums after that and these do not include Brian Wilson finally releasing a version of Smile in 2004.

After the confusing Carl and the Passions album (not mentioned), they made Surf's Up, an important album that barely gets a mention. The same with Holland.

No mention is made of the deaths of Dennis and Carl, the true state of Brian's mental health and the fact he reportedly spent three years in his room sleeping, smoking and taking drugs is not covered at all. Neither is the piano in a sandbox or how he was treated and manipulated by a psychologist in the mid-1970s.

Overall, a missed opportunity. I am left with the impression that is was made on the cheap and relies on the Beach Boys name to sell the documentary.

A recent Disney + documentary on arguably the greatest American rock 'n' roll band we ever produced. Culling interviews from the surviving members (since brothers Carl & Dennis Wilson have passed & any interviews w/Brian are archival since he's gotten a recent mental decline diagnosis) gives us the soup to nuts of the band w/the usual trajectory of them being the preeminent surf band until Brian's intense studio time (prompted by his distaste & mental unbeing for the road) took him into infinitely more experimental & interesting places even though their father wanted none of that. Tracing a good chunk of the later half of the doc on the revolutionary Pet Sounds recording pretty much shows why that record is what it is & why the world loves it so. Some time director Frank Marshall (Congo/Alive) does the material well but being there are so many docs made on the band (at one point I think he clipped a scene of Brian Wilson being interviewed in bed from one made in the 70's or 80's which I remember seeing when I was young) especially a recent one about the Pet Sounds follow-up Smile which Brian & Van Dyke Park reunited to finish & later perform on stage, this film feels fresh for the uninitiated but for those in on the know, not so much.