The Beatles get silly in our first look at Peter Jackson's Get Back
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Nearly two years since we first heard tell of the project, Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson has shared a glimpse of his upcoming Beatles documentary, Get Back. Culled from roughly 56 hours of never-before-seen footage—“Great stuff,” Jackson says—the documentary looks to be a looser, more upbeat look at the band’s final years. It serves as a counterpart to Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s 1970 film, Let It Be, and features unseen footage recorded by the director during the recording of the band’s 1970 swan song.
“There were hours and hours of us just laughing and playing music, not at all like the version that came out,” said Ringo Starr in a press release. “There was a lot of joy and I think Peter will show that. I think this version will be a lot more peace and loving, like we really were.”
In the below clip, Jackson says the documentary would be finished by now if not for COVID-19. “The only good thing really, is that we are editing the movie in New Zealand, now that our country has largely stamped out the virus we are able to come back into the cutting room and carry on with the editing we are doing,” he adds, making us seethe with jealousy.
What you’ll see below isn’t a trailer or sequence, he notes, but a “montage” that he says offers “a sense of the spirit of the film we’re making.”
Check it out below:
The Beatles: Get Back arrives on August 27, 2021.
82 Comments
Fingers crossed for a river battle getaway scene with Ringo firing his bow while standing on Paul and John’s heads.
I’m totally fascinated, but wondering if it is ONLY going to make it look like a cakewalk or if he will be reconciling the other movie, and history, as well
I’m suspecting only a cakewalk, which would be dishonest, too. But I’ll gladly watch it.
Peter Jackson 20 or 25 years ago might have threaded the needle and made a visually arresting, refined yet idiosyncratic narrative that expertly juggles tone, theme, and technology. If we’re all lucky, Peter Jackson of today will make something that looks as good as he thinks it does and doesn’t drag on too long.
I’d even be happy if the undead beatles ate each others’ brains
I dunno, They Shall Not Grow Old was pretty extraordinary. That was a documentary passion project and presumably this one is too, so it might well be good.
Really looking forward to this.There so much bullshit people think about the “Get Back” sessions and the mythology that even the Beatles built around it.And lots of is just not true. As anyone who listens to any of the very good Beatles podcasts can tell you.Yeah there was some drama. And yeah it wasn’t always easy since they went back pretty quickly after the White Album with almost no material.But, even after they shelved these recordings, they went back and recorded Abbey Road after this. So it wasn’t the group breaking winter of discontent most believe it was.
I think a lot of it is the perception that this is where the true fissions in the band began: but then again they’d been together over 10 years together and that’s got to wear on you. People grow and change, and after you’ve conquered the musical world like they did, you have to think their visions just didn’t merge anymore. I’m like you in that I’m really looking forward to this. The later Beatles sessions are portrayed as this terrible, band imploding thing when just by those clips you can see/feel how much fun they were having (and how much they all loved each other)
The fissions had certainly started before Let it Be, there just weren’t cameras there to document them (Ringo had quit during the White Album, John’s heroin addiction was unknown to most outsiders and even many insiders, etc.). In the end the film Let it Be was the easiest (and most sensational) story to tell of that period. It was only part of the story, however.
I’m also looking forward to this in a big way. People are going to complain that McCartney has re-cut the footage to make himself seem less pushy than he is in the original film. But if you read enough about this period, every one of them was pretty tired of being a Beatle. Paul was just trying to hold it together because he recognized how special it all was. At any rate, I’ve often read that there’s a lot of happy, playful banter in the hours of tape from the sessions, and I’ve heard a bit of it myself on bootlegs. They weren’t at each other’s throats the whole time. They just weren’t ready to make another album, and were fed up with living under a microscope with the rest of the world blowing everything they did – both the good and the bad – all out of proportion. It couldn’t have been easy. I really believe they had to break up. They would have gone insane if they hadn’t, and Lennon basically went nuts anyway at one point. But yeah- I’ll be all over the movie. Just this clip was great.
It really irks me that in the years since Lennon’s murder that he became this Saint, and McCartney is this monster who’s trying to rewrite history and make himself look better. Neither is true, and the real answer is far more complicated than that.
Agreed. You can only imagine how it irks McCartney. (I think people pretty much know better by this point, just not the people who think “Imagine” is the best song John ever wrote. Or the only song he ever wrote.)
Feels like Gal Gadot has killed off what little respect there is left for ‘Imagine’ at this point.
McCartney and Starr both said they remembered those days differently, but after the Let It Be movie and all of the press articles about the crappy mood surrounding the White Album sessions, Paul said he started to believe it himself; he was relieved when Peter Jackson said the footage showed a much lighter atmosphere.
Yeah, I recently watched his GQ interview from two years ago, and he admits to give credence to all of the media articles regarding the supposed animosity between him and Lennon, while the situation was actually not that simple or bleak at all. It’s a very illuminating interview, with Paul also sharing the origins of a lot of his classics.
I still want a legit, decent copy (my bootleg could look better) of the original release somehow, whether as a bonus feature on some deluxe future release of this or whatever, though.
As someone with very little in life to look forward to (except for my eventual demise), this footage was just what I needed this morning.
I also have very little to look forward to, except your eventual demise….I’ve said too much.
Hey, at least we have that in common.
At least you have each other!
The only good thing is editing in New Zealand?
I’ve been to New Zealand, but I didn’t get a chance to edit there; maybe it’s really awesome.
The great thing about editing in New Zealand is you can get from Auckland to LA in one jump cut.
It is. You should.
I liked that trailer, but was it really necessary for Peter Jackson to have the extended cut have eighteen members of The Beatles?
And three Christ’s?
The two thin ones balance out the fat one!
…and a kangaroo and a mariachi band!
If he cuts it down to one kangaroo, though….
Never heard of’im!
I heard there’s eleven farewell rooftop concerts.
The additional animation scenes did help flesh things out, I’ll give him that.
I’m mostly uncertain about his choice to CGI Legolas into the rooftop sequence, but he claims it will pay off when the Get Back trilogy is completed in 2024.
I did not know Evangeline Lilly was a member of the Beatles.
Frankly, I’m looking excited to Jackson’s three hour take on the Yellow Submarine and the hour long battle sequence between the Beatles and the Blue Meanies
Frankly, I’m looking excited to Jackson’s three hour take on the Yellow Submarine and the hour long battle sequence between the Beatles and the Blue Meanies
Not to mention all the cutting over to sessions that the Stones and Hendrix happened to be working on at the same time.
..also at [2:13] in the corner you can see an early version of Gollum using their eldritch powers to suck all the creativity out of the room .
He’s just giving them what they wanted in the first place. Their movie version of LOTR.
I heard that Ringo has been replaced with a trans woman.
There are enough living Beatles drummers to tour as a four-piece band and frankly I wish they would.
CGI Legolas really added context to these sessions.
Where is the promised Be Sharps documentary?
The Rutles are suppressing it.
That’ll be the subject of Jackson’s documentary ‘Number Eight’ *burp*
Is there really any more ground to go over with this band that hasn’t been thoroughly covered by Eric Idle?
Oh man, that was a nice morning treat. I swear, no amount of myth busting, cynical marketing, dirt digging journalism, or legit shitty behavior really tarnishes the fact that, as an entity, a force of nature, a unique cultural alchemy, the Beatles were fucking awesome.Also, George. Buddy. Kiddo. What’s the story of those boots?
It blows my mind how young they were and how much they accomplished as a band in such a short time. I always wonder about the alternate universe where John didn’t die and they followed the Stones’ path of endless touring.
Move the clock forward and they started their recording career in 2012 before bursting on the scene the following year, had redefined popular music by 2017, and broke up last year. Imagine will come out in a few months. I’m glad they didn’t go the forever band route, though I think they had enough gas in the tank to put out classic albums until 1973 or so. After that you get a creative decline I wouldn’t want to see.
That was a joy to watch.
Later he’ll do another, longer documentary about the Revolver sessions, but it’ll be in a higher framerate and for some reason Ringo will have a sleigh pulled by rabbits.
Actually, Ringo does have a sleigh pulled by rabbits. Not a lot of people know that.
This will be a documentary, after all.
It’s the only reason they let him in the band.
Run (for your life!) you fools!
Maybe Gollum will sing “Run for Your Life ” to the Ring!
In Jackson’s version, Ringo has two full eyebrows.
This film will have much rare footage. Most rare of all, footage of George Harrison not looking haggard!
And playing drums!
He really did have resting hungover face, didn’t he?
them boys were fuckin’ stonedcan’t wait for this
When I recall seeing a VHS Copy of Let it Be about 35 years ago, the film looked dull and faded already, so I’m quite impressed how sharp this clip looks.
Also… boring as hell
Laugh all you want about Jackson and CGI effects but at some point we’re going to run out of Beatles content and all we’ll have left is CGI depictions of computer generated content based on AI generated algorithims. Not to mention gritty reboots of A Hard Days Night and the creation of Beatles multi-verses in which all individual members of the band fight super-villains and contrarian Millenials who think they’re overrated
This almost started happening.https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Yellow_Submarine
Peter Serafinowicz as Paul McCartneyI’d have paid money to hear that
I accept venmo, bitcoin, and postdated checks from Slovenian online banks.
Look up “A Full Day in the Life” then.
I’d be fine if George just fought Yoko.
The Beatles – 100% snark-proof.
I was waiting for it, too. I mean, they were all cis white men!
I love it when the Beatles let their real scouse accents rip uninhibited, but it sounds like John was laying it on intentionally thick here.
Oh, I’ll watch the holy hell out of this. Jackson does know his way around documentary footage, judging by They Shall Not Grow Old.And Forgotten Silver, I suppose.
Forgotten Silver is really delightful. It took me a little while to get on its wavelength, but once you clear that hurdle it’s by the far the best fake-documentary about cinema that’s also a cheeky celebration of New Zealand I’ve ever seen.
McCartney once said the he and Lennon would often get together when Paul was in NYC. The one rule is that they wouldn’t discuss “the business.” Lorne Michaels told the story about how one of the times he offered $3,000 for them to get back together on SNL, the two of them were watching and called to see if they could come down to the studio. It was late into the episode and they’d get there just before 1AM. They decided to have the two of them act like they were just there just to wave as the show was ending and then play for a half hour. Michaels rushed to call the network executives to okay it but their response was that it would be too much of a hassle to clear it on all the local stations. Michaels was so disgusted, and didn’t want to waste their time, that he told them not to bother.
There’s a really good movie about this that came out on VH1 years ago. It was pretty good.
I’d forgotten about that. Don’t think I’ve seen it though (It’s called “Two fo Us” BTW). As a side note, my mom moved a few weeks out and as I was cleaning out my folks basement, I found the issue of Playboy with the interview that Lennon talked about this. His story is slightly different than Lorne Michaels’ though.
I think I’d like to borrow that issue. For, uh, the articles, of course.
I’ll be honest, in this day and age reading the articles in a 40+ year old issue of Playboy is way more plausible than masturbating to it.
That’s pretty cynical.
It’s the 21st century, and we’re a more evolved species. If it’s not fauxcest, it’s not erotic.
still…cynical…
If anything this clip could turn out to be the new official (unofficial) video for the song “Get Back” now certainly climbing the YouTube pop charts.