The Compleat Beatles

This was the film that introduced me to the Beatles. I was 14 at the time, and my girlfriend showed it to me, and at the time I thought the Beatles were just some mop top 60's cheese act. I had never heard Abbey Road, Rubber Soul, Sgt. Pepper, or the White Album. I never knew they had strayed from the no collar suits and love songs. So when I first saw this film it really changed my perspective of the band. Within a year I went from not owning a single album to owning all of them.

This film is a rushed short version of the Beatles History. It captures all of their history in 2 hours. The hardcore Beatles fan would be more interested in the Anthology films, as well as the brilliant Anthology albums. This film takes on the difficult task of cramming the Beatles into 2 hours, and doesn't do too bad. It is wonderfully edited, in fact I think one of the greatest visuals of the Beatles I have is the end credits of this film. It is a montage of various Beatles performances and footage set to the beautiful Paul McCartney song Blackbird.

In closing, just as you are shown "The Young Persons Guide To The Symphony" in your first college music appreciation course, so should every prospective Beatles fan be shown "The Compleat Beatles". It is a brilliant band with a brilliant career shoved into a quick survey.

This documentary, along with "The Beatles Anthology," both offer a history of the band. Both come to their subjects in different ways, and where "Anthology" is somewhat insular, being concerned only with the Beatles and their inner circle's thoughts and experiences, "Compleat" is told from a more detached and disinterested point of view. There are little details here and there that add a bit of a different perspective, such as Allan Williams, the Beatles' first manager, recalling them being described as "that bum group The Beatles" before their first trip to Hamburg, Bill Harry's recollection of John, far from rebelling against Brian Epstein's makeover of the Beatles from leather jackets to suits, going around asking for all the old pictures of them back, "because Brian wouldn't allow that sort of image with his boys," George Martin mentioning that Pete Best was the best-looking of the Beatles, footage of police trying to calm down a frenzied concert crowd that goes a long way toward showing the dark side of all the fan adoration, a detractor from Minneapolis deploring their conduct in that town, notably the "parties" in their hotel rooms (a subject passed over without mention in Anthology), and so on. There are a few sequences that aren't in the Anthology, notably a performance of "If I Needed Someone" in Japan, as well as interviews of George Martin (different from the ones in Anthology) and Billy Preston discussing their work with them. It's a good supplement to Anthology, but it stands up quite well on its own, despite a few factual inaccuracies. And the ending credits sequence, cut to "Blackbird," is bittersweet.

Until the Beatles Anthology was released, this was probably the best Beatles documentary that was out on the market. The materials were good with interview with their first booking agent, their interviews on TV (which is more lengthy and complete than shown on Anthology) and their music which is in stereo like the original Captitol recordings. It goes more into details about their Hamburg days, and how they started out as professional musicians which doesn't disagree with what was said in the Anthology, but is put in a different light because third party sources who knew the Beatles back then are commenting on it. This is a valuable piece of Beatles history, and should not be abandoned just because newer Anthology is available on DVD.

I don't see this video sold any more for some reason, but I wished they'd release it on DVD.

If you haven't got enough dough to afford the gigantic Anthology box set ,this is the DVD to buy .This documentary is so absorbing it can even grab people who are not particularly interested in the group.It covers the whole story till the split and includes much footage of the time ,live performances or studio work .Particularly of great appeal are George Martin's numerous interventions which shed light on the recordings more than Lewisohn's or McDonald's books will ever do ,in spite of their brilliancy."The compleat Beatles " really lives up to its name .It was the first documentary about my favorite group I had seen and I still rank it among the best in a topflight competition.

Anyone who has an even passing interest of one of the greatest rock bands ever MUST get a hold of a copy of this video.

Everything you could ever want to know about John, Paul, George and Ringo is included, with even a little information about their formative years. All the music is chronicled and plenty of behind-the-scenes glimpses of the Beatles' collective genius give the most discriminating fan plenty to nod their moptops about.

Even if you think you have all stuff on the Beatles, this should "Compleat" your collection.

10 stars. And you know that can't be bad.