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