Stephen Colbert makes Peter Jackson recast The Lord Of The Rings with The Beatles
To be fair, Colbert keeps his 'no-LOTR talk' promise for most of their interview
TV News The Beatles
Appearing remotely from his home in Wellington, New Zealand due to COVID restrictions couldn’t keep Peter Jackson safe from Stephen Colbert’s various manias on Wednesday. Naturally, everybody is aware of how Gollum-esque is Colbert’s love of peppering the director with questions about Colbert’s precious Lord Of The Rings. But, in their extended chat about Jackson’s upcoming, four-years-in-the-making, three-part Beatles documentary series, The Beatles: Get Back, Colbert largely kept to his initial pledge to refrain from talking Tolkien in favor of what he, rather shockingly, admitted might be his new favorite trilogy from the director.
With Jackson telling Colbert that they could get in a lot of trouble should the host reveal that he was allowed to watch some of the top secret raw footage culled from the band’s famous final sessions, the pair yet reminisced about the mutually emotional experience. “I seem to remember we even shed tears that night,” Jackson noted, as the two Beatlemaniacs spoke feelingly about what Jackson promises will be a more complex and nuanced portrait of the end of the legendary band. “They love each other,” explained Jackson, “They’re having an enormous amount of fun,” continuing to belie the fractious and snippy version of the band captured in director Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s 1970 documentary, Let It Be.
And while Colbert does break his no-Lord Of The Rings promise near the end of the duo’s second segment, it’s really all Jackson’s fault. Setting the scene for a poignant sequence in his documentary, Jackson—unprompted by Colbert, it must be said—draws a parallel between Paul and Ringo and a particular pair of hobbits. The scene in question shows McCartney and Starr as, essentially, the last two remaining Beatles, as George Harrison had left the band abruptly, and there was serious question whether John Lennon’s studio absence was just John being John or evidence that he’d followed George out the door.
“We set out to save the Shire, Sam, and we did it, but not for me,” is how Jackson summed up the situation. Noting how the still shockingly young musicians and friends (George was only 25 when the Beatles finally ended) had essentially conquered the world, Jackson told Colbert, sadly, that everything they’d accomplished had left them irretrievably isolated, unable to go back and be the simple rock and roll band he says they longed to be during the Let It Be sessions. Indeed, Jackson brought along an illuminating clip from his documentary where the spontaneous drop-by of pal and keyboard virtuoso Billy Preston saw the four exhausted Beatles perk up and start having fun playing together for the first time in forever.
Seeing his opening, Colbert did finally attempt to bring his two most cherished Peter Jackson projects together, asking his idol and occasional collaborator to cast each Beatle as a Lord Of The Rings character. And while Jackson feigned weariness at the exercise, it was clearly something he’d given a lot of thought, noting that The Beatles had, indeed, once talked about starring in their very own LOTR adaptation.
The answers make a lot of sense, honestly, as, hearkening back to his initial comparison, Jackson saw Paul and Ringo as Frodo and Sam, the latter’s stalwart loyalty in the face of the seemingly inevitable perhaps the sort of thing to make a Stephen Colbert get all misty. George, with his wizard-like remove and spirituality is a no-brainer for Gandalf, according to Jackson, while fans are left to speculate just why John is Jackson’s one and only choice to play Gollum. “Slam-dunk, honestly,” Jackson affirms of the casting, noting how The Beatles themselves had imagined themselves in those very roles, and leaving superfan Colbert’s head spinning in delighted what-ifs.
The Beatles: Get Back premieres today on Disney Plus.
18 Comments
Just finished Part I and what a stunning contrast it is to Let It Be (movie). It’s vibrant, it’s human, and it’s …definitely for Beatles die-hards who pour over the fly on the wall segments from the Anthologies and Let It Be …naked. I can understand that two and a half hours (just for part 1 out of 3) sitting in with a band practising for a show that they have no idea if they even want to do is a lot.But as one of those guys (who own several copies of every album and multiple box sets), – though also of the opinion that there’s far too many Beatles documentaries – I am very very happy that this now exist. I fully understand the aversion to killing your darlings when it comes to this absolute treasure trove of previously unavailable and incredibly candid footage (and audio), but I think for most the planned theatrical cut will be quite enough.
Could have done without the “Beatles basics for beginners” intro thing, seemed way longer than it was, as I was so in “I know who the fucking Beatles were! Get to the stuff I’m here for!” mode. Be great if they made that a quickly skippable chapter somehow.
I actually liked that intro. I of course know of the Beatles, own Beatles records, and probably know more than the average music fan about the Beatles, but that intro was just a really good reminder of something I always blows my mind: How fucking short the timeline was of the Beatles as a functioning band. And also how young they all were. It was basically 7 years from their Ed Sullivan performance until they were done. Just imagine if some band showed up in American in 2014, went through three or four distinct eras of the band, changed music forever… and was done as a band this year. And the oldest member was 29. That’s just the most incredible part to me. And that pretty short intro really did a good job of summing all that up. I kept thinking “man they’re really speed through this timeline,” but then I thought, so did the Beatles.
The 20 things I learned about, The Beatles while watching the first episode of Get Back on Disney+
1. They smoke a lot and I mean a lot!
2. Ringo is cool and laid back and doesn’t say much unless he thinks it’s important.
3. Paul McCartney always takes charge. The other members follow his lead. He is the leader of The Beatles
4. Paul McCartney writes most of the songs and he materializes them out of the air. It’s incredible to watch the birth of classic songs like, Get Back, The Long and Winding Road and Let It be, be created in real time.
5. Credit to George Harrison who does the same thing, but seems to get blown off by the rest of the band.
6. John Lennon is good at helping Paul write lyrics.
7. John and Paul have a strong bond.
8. George feels left out and seems a little resentful towards John and Paul’s close relationship.
9. Yoko Ono is a stage 5 clinger.
10. George and Paul disagree and argue over songs.
11. John mocks Paul’s songs by singing them in a whinny voice. It comes off as if he’s jealous of Paul’s ability to quickly write good songs.
12. Paul talks behind John’s back and jokes about Yoko Ono.
13. George quits the band because Yoko Ono sits on his amplifier, but really he was just tired of the whole situation and that was the last straw. Later the rest of the band convinces him to return.
14. Ringo is always early to rehearsal and John and Yoko are always late.
15. John loves to joke around. He often acts very silly to make everyone laugh.
16. Everything you heard about Yoko Ono is true. She’s like set dressing that’s always in your face. She’s a pest. You get the feeling no one wants her there expect John.
17. There’s a never heard before heard audio from a hidden mic that recorded a conversation between John and Paul at lunch discussing George quitting the band. The audio is played over a picture of the inside of a café. It feels like you shouldn’t be hearing it. It’s nosy and it was meant to be private.
18. At the time The Beatles hadn’t performed live in front of an audience in 3 years and they were planning one last epic performance in front of a thousands that would air on TV.
19. Paul and Ringo both play on the same piano and it’s awesome.
20. George Harrison gets an electric shock from a microphone.
recap: a 57 year old man asked a 60 year old man about which characters from his movie about a band from 60 years ago would best fit into his unrelated movie trilogy from 20 years ago
Yes?
I’m gonna guess you’re 14.
in your head that was probably devastating
There’s nothing wrong with being 14. I really enjoyed it, and I’m sure you will too.
when’s your netflix special
Everyone has to once, right?
I wouldn’t worry too much about what some random nobody with a hot take for a name whose entire joke was “lol some people are old” tries to throw at you.
This is a highly ironic response.
The Beatles really did want to do a Lord of the Rings movie for a while. It included one as Gollum.
Wow, they should probably have mentioned that in the interview and article.
I always thought Paul & Ringo were the Sackville-Bagginses.Anyway, Mrs. Spider and I started watching Part I yesterday (ha!), it was so tedious we went to bed. I finished it today, but my wife declined.
Yeah, they’re The Beatles; but you’re watching a band rehearse. It’s mind-numbing. Yoko Ono was the most interesting thing in she looks so bored like she’s about to pass out. We were going “Hey look, she’s reading a news paper!”
The Beatles wanted to make a LOTR movie. Didn’t happen.Peter Jackson was not involved, because he was a baby.
The 20 things I learned about, The Beatles while watching the first episode of Get Back on Disney+
1. They smoke a lot and I mean a lot!
2. Ringo is cool and laid back and doesn’t say much unless he thinks it’s important.
3. Paul McCartney always takes charge. The other members follow his lead. He is the leader of The Beatles
4. Paul McCartney writes most of the songs and he materializes them out of the air. It’s incredible to watch the birth of classic songs like, Get Back, The Long and Winding Road and Let It be, be created in real time.
5. Credit to George Harrison who does the same thing, but seems to get blown off by the rest of the band.
6. John Lennon is good at helping Paul write lyrics.
7. John and Paul have a strong bond.
8. George feels left out and seems a little resentful towards John and Paul’s close relationship.
9. Yoko Ono is a stage 5 clinger.
10. George and Paul disagree and argue over songs.
11. John mocks Paul’s songs by singing them in a whinny voice. It comes off as if he’s jealous of Paul’s ability to quickly write good songs.
12. Paul talks behind John’s back and jokes about Yoko Ono.
13. George quits the band because Yoko Ono sits on his amplifier, but really he was just tired of the whole situation and that was the last straw. Later the rest of the band convinces him to return.
14. Ringo is always early to rehearsal and John and Yoko are always late.
15. John loves to joke around. He often acts very silly to make everyone laugh.
16. Everything you heard about Yoko Ono is true. She’s like set dressing that’s always in your face. She’s a pest. You get the feeling no one wants her there expect John.
17. There’s a never heard before heard audio from a hidden mic that recorded a conversation between John and Paul at lunch discussing George quitting the band. The audio is played over a picture of the inside of a café. It feels like you shouldn’t be hearing it. It’s nosy and it was meant to be private.
18. At the time The Beatles hadn’t performed live in front of an audience in 3 years and they were planning one last epic performance in front of a thousands that would air on TV.
19. Paul and Ringo both play on the same piano and it’s awesome.
20. George Harrison gets an electric shock from a microphone.