Peter Jackson can’t get enough of The Beatles and restored Let It Be, too
The Beatles' Let It Be, out of circulation for more than 50 years, will be re-released on Disney+ on May 8
Aux News Let It Be
Peter Jackson has found his niche in life, and it is advancing technology to restore Beatles stuff. He pioneered the tech for the 2021 docuseries Get Back, which restored cut footage from the filming of Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s 1970 Let It Be documentary. Then he used it to restore an old John Lennon demo to make the final Beatles song “Now And Then” (plus a music video). And now, in a full circle moment, he’s using it to restore the actual Let It Be doc, which will be released on Disney+ on May 8.
“I’m absolutely thrilled that Michael’s movie, Let It Be, has been restored and is finally being re-released after being unavailable for decades. I was so lucky to have access to Michael’s outtakes for Get Back, and I’ve always thought that Let It Be is needed to complete the Get Back story. Over three parts, we showed Michael and the Beatles filming a groundbreaking new documentary, and Let It Be is that documentary—the movie they released in 1970,” Jackson said in a statement. “I now think of it all as one epic story, finally completed after five decades. The two projects support and enhance each other: Let It Be is the climax of Get Back, while Get Back provides a vital missing context for Let It Be. Michael Lindsay-Hogg was unfailingly helpful and gracious while I made Get Back, and it’s only right that his original movie has the last word… looking and sounding far better than it did in 1970.”
This news isn’t just notable for Jackson’s restoration. It’s a significant release in the Beatles world, because Let It Be has been out of circulation since the 1980s. There was never even a DVD release of the movie; if you did see a bootleg, it was lifted from an old VHS tape somewhere. As Beatles fans are usually completionists (case in point: Peter Jackson), having genuine access to the final film made with the entire band’s actual involvement is going to be a huge draw.
“Let It Be was ready to go in October/November 1969, but it didn’t come out until April 1970. One month before its release, The Beatles officially broke up. And so the people went to see Let It Be with sadness in their hearts, thinking, ‘I’ll never see The Beatles together again. I will never have that joy again,’ and it very much darkened the perception of the film,” Lindsay-Hogg said in his own statement. “But, in fact, how often do you get to see artists of this stature working together to make what they hear in their heads into songs. And then you get to the roof and you see their excitement, camaraderie and sheer joy in playing together again as a group and know, as we do now, that it was the final time, and we view it with full understanding of who they were and still are and a little poignancy. I was knocked out by what Peter was able to do with Get Back, using all the footage I’d shot 50 years previously.”
In an interview with The New York Times, Lindsay-Hogg promised that the newly restored Let It Be “looks now like it was intended to look in 1969 or 1970, although at my request, Peter did give it a more filmic look than Get Back, which had a slightly more modern and digital look.” The filmmaker said Jackson had proposed re-releasing Let It Be from the beginning of the Get Back project, and began advocating for it in earnest after Get Back was a success and he’d built relationships with the Beatles families and Apple Corps.
There’s no denying that Jackson has been the most significant figure in new Beatles content of the 21st century. The restoration of Let It Be seems a good way to close the chapter on Get Back, and perhaps now Jackson’s work in this space can be over. But using his new technology to Frankenstein other Beatles stuff “did cross my mind,” he admitted previously while promoting “Now And Then.” “We can take a performance from Get Back, separate John and George, and then have Paul and Ringo add a chorus or harmonies,” he said. “You might end up with a decent song but I haven’t had conversations with Paul about that. It’s fanboy stuff, but certainly conceivable.”
48 Comments
Actually, they’re both pretty damn good.
Sorry, why does Peter Jackson get credit for Now and Then? I appreciate he was involved in the tech, but Giles Martin produced the thing. Also, for God’s sake, do what they did with Now and Then to Free As A Bird and Real Love.
Maybe they can do something with HELP! too. Can’t stream it anywhere.
Maybe they can do something with HELP! too. Can’t stream it anywhere. Now, THIS is why I have dvds still. Or why I have a dvd of Help! anyway.
maybe they can do something about Magical Mystery Tou… oh wait nvm that’s hopeless.
Why are we so obsessed with the past? Why can’t we just let it…alone?
You definitely can, that’s the neat part about not being forced to watch something.
Says a guy named for a pro wrestler that hasn’t been popular in 30 years.
Nothing wrong with remastering it. Been doing this with numerous WWII docs and music for years now. How is this any different? Or do you just hate history?
You’re right. I guess I’ll just Let it…be.
Dammit. Take a freaking star.
He’s just trying to complete his training to become one of the last living remaining Past Masters
Why do people still listen to symphonies written 200 years ago or read books written before they were born? Yes, older stuff isn’t automatically better, but neither is all new all the time. There were probably thousands of albums that came out in the 1960’s and 1970’s, most of which are forgotten. There’s a reason why people still listen to the Beatles: They were actually pretty good.
Can we just light Boomer media on fire already.
…why?
It just makes him so MAD!!
He looks forward to the day where someone buys a bunch of hard drives off ebay, finds out they’re from the tiktok servers, and they remaster all the vids on there to 32k resolution.
You, um, know that’s real dumb right?
Maybe a hot take, but ‘Old Stuff Bad’ is just as tired and lame a sentiment as ‘New Stuff Bad’
be honest: the Boomers had the best rock. Followed by Gen X. It’s diminishing returns after that.
Time for your pill, grandpa
please entertain us with which rock bands you like
Generations aren’t real, man.
The Beatles are technically all Silent Generation.
The Beatles are “Boomer media”?
You realise you actually thought that, typed it out and made it public.
“Old stuff… GRRR!”
You could just not engage with something you don’t enjoy, you fucking weirdo.
“Peter Jackson has found his niche in life, and it is advancing technology to restore Beatles stuff.”You know he started a lot of the the restoration stuff with his WWI project? Oh no that would require you looking up his filmography post LOTR.
They Shall Not Grow Old is amazing! The level of detail to remaster stuff like this is insane. I am glad there is someone out there with this passion.
he started a lot of the the restoration stuff with his WWI project They Shall Not Grow Old is an amazing documentary. I suppose it helps that WWI is my favorite war.And — I really liked his Beatles stuff, even though they’re not my favorite band.
Having a “favourite war” is certainly something
Having a “favourite war” is certainly something I say it sort of facetiously, but … that war has always fascinated me. The world political situation (all those cousins running countries), the beginnings of air war REALLY soon after the Wright brothers… trench warfare, some great writing (poetry and reportage)… it goes on. And to think it all started because a man name Archie Duke killed an ostrich ‘cause he was hungry.
Its a total fucking bummer. I can’t imagine why anyone would watch it when Get Back is available.
Because it’s not the same thing.
Correct. It’s a selective bummer version of the same thing.
because get back was terrible.
InIsaInIsnaInIse take insane you’re insane InIsaInIsnaInIse
I’ve seen it and while, as a Beatles fan, it was fascinating to see that much of them on an intimate level, the novelty wore off after a while. That’s what editing is for: to get to the essence of things.
OK, Boomer
YouYou are a twat YoY
I used to chastise the boomers until I realized:1) I saw eye to eye with a lot of boomers on a lot of things.2) Their generation had no monopoly on selfish morons. I’ve met just as many of those amongst my generation and the ones that have followed.
I’ve watched Let It Be in the theatres (so much for it being out of circulation) and have to disagree with Jackson here. Get Back makes it utterly redundant.
I really, really wish he’d finally get around to the 4k restorations of his early splatstick movies he’s been talking about for years
not entirely sure I want to see that much blood in 4k 🙂
Brain Dead 2? Frighteners 2? I’d be up for those.
I kick arse for the LORD! in 4k sounds magnficient 🙂
It’s nice that Peter Jackson has a hobby.That said, I’d actually prefer a doc on Abbey Road. Perhaps he could get on that. Comparatively speaking, Let It Be is shite compared to Abbey Road. We can duel on Darlington Street at noon.