Paul McCartney Really Is Dead: The Last Testament of George Harrison

According to this lame would-be documentary, George Harrison purportedly spills the beans about Paul's death in 1966 and his replacement by a double in his "last testament." Being a giant Beatles fan, I was willing to give this film a look on Netflix Instant View. I'm glad I didn't actually rent it because I would hate to think I had spent any money supporting this crap. The whole "Paul is Dead" conspiracy was an amusing bit of drug-addled inanity forty years ago but come on. This might've made an amusing five minute YouTube video if it didn't take itself so damned seriously. It is insulting, not only to the Beatles themselves, but to its viewers. If you're going to take the time to make a film like this, at least do a little research. There is a dizzying number of factual inaccuracies. And, at the very least, get someone who might've sounded like a fifty-something George Harrison. The actor playing him sounds like he learned everything from a few 60's interviews. Sadly, since those interviews didn't use all of the words in the script, he obviously had no idea how someone from Liverpool would pronounce the words. My George Harrison imitation is better than his, and I suck. (So does this film.)

Firstly, parts of this film contain quite offensive suggestions about The Beatles. However, these can be defended as part of the overall tone of the film and it invites you not take them seriously.

This is clearly meant to be a joke, and it is a very funny one if you are watching the film correctly. The film showcases genuine conspiracy "evidence" at its core, but alters the story about The Beatles to make this evidence fit. What you are left with is how the Faul conspiracy theorists must then see the last four years of the band, and it is a laughable view.

I found myself laughing out loud at the jumps in logic, especially the vicious attacks aimed at Paul after '66 (and poor Ringo as usual) - especially his use of drugs as if he was the only one who ever did any. I won't give any specifics but you will be shocked at the blatant disregard for facts, and that is exactly what the film is trying to get you to do.

I can't award it any higher than 8 because it's not technically that well made. I don't think the tape idea was very good because rather than use excerpts with narration they have George basically narrating the whole thing as if he could see the film in his head when he recorded it. Saying that, it does add to the ridiculous nature of the film because the accent is AMAZINGLY BAD. I found myself laughing at the way the narrator said certain words and it must have been done badly on purpose. One of my personal highlights is the way he says Frank Sinatra. It also jumps from vague Liverpudlian, to cockney all the way to South African.

In summary: You shouldn't watch this if you believe any of the conspiracy nonsense, you should watch it if you find yourself seeking out conspiracy theories in order to make yourself laugh. That's the audience for this thing and in my view it does it well.

This thing had the serious look and feel of one of the old "Faces of Death" videos, and that took its integrity away right from the start. Unfortunately, "Faces of Death" had a much higher reality factor than this "documentary." Discard any notion that the alleged Harrison tapes have any reasonable provenance. 1) The voice is obviously not Harrison's. 2) The story told is far too detailed. If Harrison was attempting to lay out the conspiracy, it is doubtful he would explain what everyone already knew. More likely, he would say, "Remember all those clues about Paul? Well, they were all intentional and here's why." 3) The quality of the tapes is far too good to have been recorded on a micro-cassette recorder. 4) Harrison would have certainly remembered that he worked on "Rubber Soul" before the alleged McCartney death.

The intention is clearly to use a fictional framework to propound a theory of government involvement with the Paul McCartney death hoax. A better way to go about it would have been the time-honored documentary tradition of actually talking to people. Certainly, you could drum up at least a handful of interviewable people who would relish the notion of damning Her Majesty's government. Even supermarket tabloids can get independent verification of obvious lies.

So, as a documentary, this one fails. As an informative piece about the McCartney death rumors, it provides no information that has not been seen or heard elsewhere. I saw nothing here that was new to me, but, then again, I've followed this rumor since 1970.

If you are new to the McCartney rumors, this would be a good place for basic information. Books on the subject are plentiful, and the Internet (really) is a good source of information.

In a way, it's a shame to treat this subject in such a slipshod fashion. The McCartney death hoax is a powerful sociological issue. Personally, I believe that the Beatles set out to create the rumor, and toyed with us for several years with clues. I do not buy the MI5 angle whatsoever. I do, however, subscribe to the theory that the co-opting of the Beatles' lyrics by Charles Manson had a chilling effect on what might have been the eventual revelation of the hoax as real and not necessarily ill-intentioned.

Paul McCartney Really is Dead: The Last Testament of George Harrison (2010)

*** (out of 4)

Producer-director Joel Gilbert usually does documentaries on Bob Dylan but he reaches out to try and explain why the Paul McCartney who has been touring the past forty years is actually a double and that the real Paul died decades ago. According to Gilbert, he received two audio cassettes, which are supposed to contain the last testament of George Harrison. We then learn that three different labs couldn't tell if this really was Harrison or not. From here we learn that McCartney was killed on November 9, 1966 when he had a car crash after giving a woman a ride. From here the audio tape talks about why they decided to cover up his death and what clues they wanted fans to know so that the group wouldn't be hated for covering it up.

This documentary is getting a lot of hatred from fans of the Beatles but I must say it's quite hilarious in parts. I really don't see this as a documentary but it's more like an exploitation movie that's taking a myth and trying to pass it off as the truth. I will admit that I enjoy myths and hearing about them but there's so many unanswered questions here that you can't help but laugh. For starters, early in the film we're told that Lennon was about to tell the truth but was killed eight days later. Harrison then says that he was about to tell the truth but was attacked by the "fan" and almost died. Of course, the hint here is that the British government was trying to shut them up. Even more laughable stuff is the actual way the McCartney was killed and how they went about getting a double. The "audio tape" doesn't sound like an audio tape at all. It's clearly a narrator. Another problem is that you have to wonder why, if all of this was true, someone would send the evidence to Joel Gilbert. Why not ABC, CNN, NBC or someone who could really get the story out there?

Gilbert even uses this documentary to say Bob Dylan wasn't involved in a motorcycle crash in 1966 but instead used this as an excuse to go into drug rehab. It's funny because there are people out there who believe Dylan was killed in this crash and was replaced by a double. The same thing people are claiming about McCartney. PAUL MCCARTNEY REALLY IS DEAD: THE LAST TESTAMENT OF GEORGE HARRISON is something that conspiracy theorist might believe but I think most people are going to notice that countless holes in the plot. Not to mention what this so-called "double" has been able to do after The Beatles broke up. We're told Lennon "covered" most of the writing in The Beatles but who took on Wings and everything that followed? As silly as this is, I must admit that I found it incredibly entertaining from start to finish. Again, seeing all these "clues" was interesting because it shows how someone can take something and spin it in any direction.

First off, this should be classified as a MOCKumentary.

This was so terribly awful I'm considering trying to get my money back for the rental. Not only was it pure fiction and laughable at it's very best, but quite disrespectful to all the men that make up the Beatles (whether you love or hate their music)... most of all, it's appallingly distasteful to George Harrison and his family. It's amazing to me the writer/director of this "documentary" hasn't been sued for libel and defamation of character.

The worse part of it all is that it might have been an interesting film if it had just been an assembled history on the conspiracy theory itself, without the so obviously fictional and badly acted George Harrison "tapes" of narration.

If you're going to rent this, don't waste your money or time. Spend NOTHING on it. Matter of fact, they should be paying people to watch it because it's just THAT bad.