Beatles '64

Beatles '64 might not be the most groundbreaking Beatles documentary, it's not Get Back, where newly unearthed Beatles footage is revealed in all its glory, instead, it serves more as a nostalgic throwback, revisiting an iconic and historic moment in the band's journey, while much of the footage has likely been seen by longtime fans, the upgraded quality offers a fresh perspective, the story that they told about the surrounding vibe and reaction was enough to keep the film going, i wish we could've got more of Paul and Ringo with Scorsese, that said, as a retrospective, it's still a fascinating look at a pivotal moment in Beatles history, as a fan, i thoroughly enjoyed it, though as a documentary, it's not the one that i would revisit nor the the one that i think was the most engaging, i would still much prefer the Eight Days A Week documentary by Ron Howard, but it's still nice to watch.

In the wake of Peter Jackson's excellent GET BACK we seem to be getting a lot more films dealing with The Beatles; as a fan of the Fab Four that's no bad thing for me and the four new biopics currently in production sound pretty interesting too. BEATLES '64 is, by comparison, fairly straightforward, an ordinary clip compilation of footage assembled from the breakout year for the performers. Obviously with Martin Scorsese producting a lot of this is American-centric, but it all works very nicely and there's plenty of music too which helps. Nice to see Paul and Ringo making appearances too! A reasonable effort.

It provided a fantastic insight into what was going on during the US visit. The film showcased how the Beatles acted on and off stage, as well as providing information about what happened when they arrived in America and the impact their music had on the people. The quality of the archive footage was excellent. The soundtrack of the movie was outstanding and the interviews were interesting.

What it lacks is narration, but I believe they were trying for a "stock footage" approach and enabling you, the audience, to put it together. There was some storytelling in text form, but it wasn't enough for me, and it felt slightly "missing something".

Overall, the film is an 8 but I gave it a 9 cause I am a fan of the band.

The Beatles are undoubtedly the greatest band of all time. Having watched Beatles '64, I'm left with mixed feelings. While it offers glimpses of their historic visit, it doesn't truly reflect the depth of the experience. The documentary feels more like a collection of random shots pieced together for attention rather than a cohesive, visionary exploration of the event. There are better youtube videos out there that provide more insight and context. That said, I'll give it 5 stars for the nostalgia it evokes and the inclusion of some fantastic live music moments. You might still find something to appreciate, but for most, I'd recommend you may skip this one.

First, I'm a huge Beatles fan. Always have been and I'm an old guy (62). I've seen most, if not all, The Beatles films and was looking forward to this one. So much so, that I opted in for a month of Disney+ so that I could watch this and also the remastered "Let it Be" film.

While 1964 was a crucial year for The Beatles and important to what they meant to America, especially after the Kennedy assassination, I have to say that I preferred Ron Howard's spin much more as it was much more Beatle-centric to me. Beatles '64 kind of meanders all over the place and there are awkward segues into the psychology of Beatlemania (from later in the 60s) and just the kind of mood of the early 60s. Those segues are ridiculous and just out of place in this film. The clips don't age well and really had ZERO to do with John, Paul, George, and Ringo.

There were fan interviews (new and from 64) and that was ok, but there were other interviews that didn't make much sense to me. Jack Douglas's interview was good, but in the scheme of things, it was more about him and less about The Beatles, so a good interview, but out of place here.

The film has recent interviews with Paul and Ringo. Ringo seemed to add to the conversation with a few things I hadn't heard before. Paul just kind of fell back on his 'same old stories'. I mean, did we NEED to hear Paul give the talk about how the early hits were "From ME to YOU. SHE loves YOU. Please Please ME...". Good God, how many times can he recycle that? I really wish he'd open up a bit more. It was nice to see Ringo drum a bit and talk about the drum riser used on the Sullivan show, etc. Paul... eh, he really didn't add much and his F bomb, to me, was really out of place, especially on the Disney+ channel. Seemed a bit forced, too. The George and John interviews added more than Paul's.

Speaking of the Sullivan stuff- Why they didn't use the pristine video versions that came out about 10 years ago, I'll never know. The clips they used from the Sullivan show in Beatles '64 were much lower quality than what has been otherwise released.

I did enjoy the Ronnie Spector and Smokey Robinson interviews very much. The Beatles definitely beat the drum for the black American groups, so that was cool. Smokey singing 'Yesterday' was good too, but if this was about 1964, it was odd to see that which was at least a year later. Small point. It was cool to see George request "Got My Mind Set On You" on the phone. Prophetic.

I never realized how ANNOYING Murray the K was. He just kind of latched on and it was funny to see George say "we never knew how he got there...".

There was stuff that was later than '64 in the film too, which was kind of weird considering the film's title.

For me, there wasn't much I'd not seen before. The original films came out in the 80s or 90s as "The Beatles First Visit to the US" home video and, for my money, that is MUCH BETTER than this one. You can find it on the Internet Archive. Watch that as it's a much better representation.

It was nice to see how funny they were on the films of the train and in the hotel in New York. I'd forgotten that and Beatle Humor is such a big part of them. George masquerading as a train bartender was funny. I'd forgotten about that. John seemed a bit subdued and Paul, Ringo, and George were really hamming it up.

The NEXT film should be the restored Washington DC concert (which parts are shown here). They really improved the sound in the clips used in this film (though it's odd to see George singing "Roll Over Beethoven" on one mic, then move to another mic right in the middle of the lyric line. The reason he did this was because, in the original film, his mic was dead, so he jumped over to John's mic. Well, in this film, both mics mysteriously are working, so when he moves and you don't know this, you kind of go "Why did he move?". Peter Jackson restored that a bit too much. The dead mic and Ringo's funky drum riser kind of illustrate how UNready the US entertainment industry was for The Beatles as a live act.

All in all, it was 'OK' and worth a watch, but it really adds nothing new to The Beatles mythology.