Unseen recordings of The Beatles emerge in the trailer for Peter Jackson’s The Beatles: Get Back
The three-part docuseries kicks off on Disney+ starting November 25
Aux News The Beatles
The Beatles fans rejoice. The trailer for Peter Jackson’s docuseries The Beatles: Get Back, offers a first look at hours of never-before-seen footage of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr as they prepare for what would be their final live performance in 1969. After being locked in a vault for over 50 years, all of the video and audio recordings have been restored and ready for audiences.
Directed by three-time Oscar-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson (The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, They Shall Not Grow Old), The Beatles: Get Back brings viewers in the room where music history happened as the band prepares for their first live concert in three years.
The docuseries follows The Beatles as they attempt to write 14 new songs for an album, which would eventually be scrapped and later retooled into Abbey Road and Let It Be. Faced with a nearly impossible deadline, the strong bonds of the Fab Four are tested, as conflicts arise and the pressure continuously builds on the musicians.
Director Michael Lindsay-Hogg recorded all of the footage over the 21 days prior to the concert. All together, Lindsay-Hogg recorded 57 hours of behind the scenes footage as well as the entire last Beatles live performance from their rooftop concert on London’s Savile Row. Jackson is the only person in 50 years to have been given access to the recordings.
Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon, Olivia Harrison, and Jackson all serve as executive producers. Rocketman’s Giles Martin signed on as the music editor. All of the music has been mixed by The Beatles experts, Yesterday’s Giles Martin and Sam Okell. The duo previously remixed Abbey Road for its 50th anniversary.
The Beatles: Get Back rolls out over three days, November 25, 26, and 27, exclusively on Disney+.
94 Comments
Well, if there’s one thing the world could use more of, it’s Boomers telling us how great the Beatles are.
I mean if this documentary does its job well, it won’t need to tell us, it can just show us. And as somebody who loves the Beatles (and isn’t a boomer), that’s honestly what I really want, just to see. And hear.Because I agree, if there’s one thing we desperately need less of at this point, it’s Beatles meta commentary. It’s long been the thing that’s made people enjoy the Beatles considerably less.
I enjoy listening to the Beatles just fine, I’m just tired of the endless parade of documentaries and outtake releases and remasters and yadda yadda yadda.
I’m not trying to be mean, but you know- don’t watch it.
I think you already know I’m not going to watch it.
This one is of real interest though. They went through hours and hours of never-before-seen professionally shot footage of them actually being in the studio and working and whatnot. Quite intimate. And pretty special. That’s something we haven’t really seen before in that scope. And it was put together by a world class filmmaker. This truly isn’t just another Beatles doc. I promise, dawg.
I have little to no interest in musicians’ creative process in general. There’s exactly one musical artist I’ve ever cared enough about to watch behind the scenes stuff, and when I did, I barely found it interesting at all.I’m sure this doc makes all previous docs look like garbage, or whatever, just as I’m sure the same thing has been said about every previous Beatles doc, and I could not possibly care less. I just wish creative talents spent on fellating the Beatles over and over would be spent on something new, instead. How many people fawn over the Beatles while bemoaning that creative industries never do anything new?
I don’t know man. But lots of people care about the creative process of musicians. I guess it’s just a thing for the people who have a deep enough fascination.I think it’s a little insulting that you’re saying what I’m saying has been said about every single Beatles doc (which isn’t even remotely true by the way). Like, I’m not pulling this out of my ass. There are some legit reasons I have, based on facts I’ve learned, and I’ve even named them.I’m getting a lot of cynicism (and not a lot of substantial criticism) from you in this thread, which is fine, that’s your journey, but I mean, lots of people are really passionate and excited about this, and it seems like you’re not one of them, so why waste so much energy on being against it?
Man, you and I are having two totally unrelated conversations on two different articles and I keep getting confused about where we are.Anyway. I’m perfectly fine with other people being interested in music documentaries, even if it’s the Beatles (again); they’re not generally my cup of tea. It just gets on my nerves when, multiple times every year, there’s some “new” Beatles thing, even though they haven’t produced new material in fifty years. Like, we get it! They were the most influential rock band ever!The quality of the doc isn’t the issue; it’s the notion that “yeah, but this one will be really good” justifies yet another Beatles doc. Like, sure, you may be right; by any even remotely objective measure of the quality of the material, this might well be the greatest Beatles doc ever, or at least in the top tier. Good for them, good for Peter Jackson, good for whoever really enjoys watching more stuff about the Beatles. I’m just tired of hearing about it, and no amount of “but this one’s really good” makes me any less annoyed. Are people who already love the Beatles and will enjoy this doc somehow enjoy the music even more after watching this?so why waste so much energy on being against it?This trope of “you’re wasting energy by disliking something” has got to stop. We’re all “wasting” time and energy dicking around on the A.V. Club comments; pretending that the way someone else wants to spend their time here is “wasting” a resource, but that yours isn’t, is bullshit.
You’re right. That was some bullshit on my part. Of course we’re all wasting time here. I was just feeling some pessimistic energy (which for the record is totally fine with me) and was unsure on how to address it. Honestly I knew it wasn’t the right way when I hit “publish”.No, I’m not thinking this will convince anyone who isn’t already interested. I was just going against the point of this just being another Beatles doc, because I do believe this is a cut above others, just in terms of quality content. I wasn’t trying to convince you to watch it. I just do not agree with that particular statement about this particular movie and I wanted to set that straight.
Fair enough; and like I said, this might well be in the top tier of Beatles docs, or even the best one ever, so I’m not arguing that it wouldn’t be valuable to someone who’s interested in and excited by it.
To put it in perspective, my favorite movie ever is Casablanca, but if there was another Casablanca documentary or retrospective or outtakes release or whatever, two or three times a year, I’d be just as annoyed.
That’s fair. And with most Beatles docs, I’ve felt the same. Like that Ron Howard one. That was fucking pointless. Just a rich boomer building another shrine to his youth.But this one is basically the great lost doc, so to speak. So that’s something special. It’s all footage from before a time when The Beatles were, like, historical, dude.But as those things tend to be, it’s for the fans and probably nobody else. So yeah, file under “yet another one of those”, in your case. Cause that’s what it is.
Was the Howard thing that bad? I’ll probably still check it
Nah, it wasn’t bad. It was just pointless.
Enjoyably pointless.
Probably, yes. I was personally a little irritated by its pleasantness. I’m afraid I can’t explain it any better than that. I don’t have anything against people enjoying it, needless to say.
Considering that the the original Let It Be film has been out of circulation for decades, and probably will never return, this project is the closest we’ll be getting to this famous element from their history. That’s what the big deal about this particular project is. That it has a talent like Peter Jackson working on it is just a bonus. I’m really not sure what all Beatles content that is coming out all the time that is so upsetting. For better or worse, beyond anyone’s opinion about their music, they are of interest historically at this point. It’s a bit like complaining about yet another WWII or National Geographic documentary- they are just gonna be around. I’m a big Beatles fan, but most of the shit that comes out about them is just product to me- I tune it out. Not this time.
“This trope of “you’re wasting energy by disliking something” has got to stop.”Absolutely right. The correct sentiment is “You’re wasting energy by not shutting the fuck up about what you dislike.”
I’m beginning to suspect that you aren’t very splendid at all.
But…really…this one will be good.
Musicians’ creative process can be tedious. In my experience, someone brings in a new one and sometimes you have to hammer away at it until it becomes what it’s supposed to or you go “This ain’t happening” and move on. It’s not exactly a thrilling process.
Yup, that’s why certified guy with a lot of patience Peter Jackson sifted through all of it and selected the goods for us, hopefully!
Yeah. I’ve written several novels (and a bunch of other things) and I’m well aware of how much long, hard work goes into creating something. Most of it is just sitting there trying a bunch of shit that doesn’t work until it does.The doc of course is going to be edited together into an interesting narrative, which means that it’s not quite an accurate picture of what the creative process is like. I’m not saying that’s an inherently bad thing, because obviously not that many people (even Beatles diehards) are going to spend 57 hours on a Beatles doc. But people tend to absorb what they’re exposed to, and they come away with the notion that the creative process is like the edited parts, and then will later on make assertions and arguments based on that implicit belief.There’s probably a name in the psychological literature for the effect where when questioned directly, a person will (honestly) profess that they believe A, but their actions later indicate that they believe B instead.
Ok…you can’t say one and then not say who that one is???
And yet, here I am, not saying it. 😉
Boo to the you.
We get it, you don’t care, don’t like’em, and won’t watch it.Thanks for wasting your time replying/posting multiple times you insufferable git.
whatnot = British guys bickering without ever changing the tones of their voices.
I seriously cannot take Lennon’s voice seriously, I’ve heard it parodied so many times that it sounds like he’s doing a bit.
whaddya gonna do?
Not exactly… I think they tend to have two different pitch levels and they stay mostly on the higher one, occasionally dropping lower, mostly at the end of sentences.
I like when they say “LIT-tra-lee” instead of “LIT-er-ah-lee”
And “alumin-ium”. Idiots! Even if that’s the correct way of saying it!
That’s a good one.
It does look incredible and I must admit the way they showed the preparations for the roof concert, but did not show any of the concert itself this time, was sort of a nice change of pace.All of this footage was for a movie, so it’s just 50 years late. We are STILL waiting for Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair going on 20 years now let alone the next Game of Thrones novel.
Endless parade? Do tell.
[SNIFFS]I smell sarcasm.
Oh! A Simpsons reference. I’ve never seen one those on the A.V. Club dot com before.(That was sarcasm.)
*Kinja explodes*
Eh. It would have done that anyway.
we wish
I smell farts. Oh, hey Kirk!
I mean, they are great. Certainly much better than whatever shitty flavor of the month band you consider to be “great.” Oh and no, not a boomer.
But the Beatles were just really great.
Cardi B. is staggering.
She should probably stop and rest for a minute then, or maybe sober up, depending on why she’s staggering.
She might be top heavy.
She’s So . . .
…Heavy??
I think the thing about dredging up all this material that might seem superfluous is that, despite being such a huge presence in the history of pop culture, they were only around for like…7, 8 years? Compare that to today’s pop sensations that regularly seem to chug along for 10, 15, 20 years with no signs of stopping. With the Beatles, you really have whatever they made in that short time together, and then…whatever stuff is lying around you can find. That’s why people still care about something “new”…because in that short of a time, there’s only a finite amount of stuff available.
The Beatles themselves were members of the Silent Generation, all born prior to 1945. The Boomers did not exaggerate how great the Beatles were, they’re the worst generation ever because they didn’t listen.
Yes, I’d much rather listen to Yung Thug myself.
There has been a lot of re-examining of the Beatles in the last few years. Sorry to tell you but it has been concluded that they were even more brilliant than they were given credit for. And I am not a boomer (oh and you should listen to boomers – they can teach you things).
Peter Jackson was born in ‘61, I feel like Gen X can claim him.
Pretty sure boomers were like…babies, when The Beatles were popular.Maybe, just maybe – they’re just a really fucking great, timeless band that appeals to a wide variety of ages? Couldn’t be!
I am just a little excited about this.
Just about wept during the trailer. I don’t know if I’ve ever been more excited for a film release in my life.
Really can’t express how excited I am between this and the Let It Be remix coming out.As into the Beatles I’ve gotten, seeing the story behind these sessions finally being rewritten and closer to the truth.It’s wonderful.
The Sgt. Pepper remix blew my mind after listening to that shitty stereo mix all these years. Can’t wait for the Let It Be one either. The few tracks I’ve heard from it sound excellent.
I’ve always preferred Naked to the original Spector mix.But if Giles has found a good balance and makes it feel less wall of sound and more just flourishes to the songs. I’ll be very happy.
Having seen the original version of Hoggs “Let It Be” film in the theatre circa 1978 and when it was released on VHS in the 80’s I’m very interested to see what Jackson does with the material. The valid criticism of the original film is that it’s a slog of bad feelings, bad performances and bad overall karma that was specifically edited to sensationalize the grievances of the individual band members at the time of the break-up. This is certainly a valid criticism, based on the scene from the new film that Jackson released last year he actually showed the band enjoying making music together.
The image quality is really good. It makes them all seem eerily tangible somehow — relatable even. It’s so easy to forget that they were just a bunch of dudes whose music was monstrously popular.
Granted I’m watching on my laptop, but it looks so good that I stopped noticing the image quality after a few seconds. It looks unmistakably like film, but it doesn’t look remotely like late-60s filmstock that was run through a late-60s portable 16mm camera and then stored in a vault for half a century. Ditto the restored soundtrack, though obviously the “outtakes” stop being “outtakes” once they’re professionally mixed. At least they have original material – one of the first DVDs I bought was “Ziggy Stardust – The Motion Picture,” and I still have mixed feelings about the fact they overdubbed parts of the soundtrack where the source elements were degraded.
Yeah, I think the restored footage might even contain frame interpolation? The frame rate seems higher than it should be for film. That just adds to the feeling that you’re somehow peering into a window through time. The colours are also really vibrant. It just doesn’t seem like the footage is from its own era. Feature films from the ‘70s are of much worse video/audio quality. This Beatles doc just looks anachronistic, and that makes it feel more real to me. It’s a bit like seeing WW2 era colour footage.
The current film restoration revolution is really fucking with my ability to date media. I used to be able to tell whether a movie or show was from the 90s/80s/70s/60s/etc. just based off the film quality, but the other day I saw some restored footage from 20s, and it looked like it was shot yesterday.
It’s so easy to forget that they were just a bunch of dudes whose music was monstrously popular.a bunch of dudes in their late 20s at that, they were so young
In the end, what more is there for a band… any band?
Not only a “bunch of dudes” but a bunch of young dudes. It was all over before any one of them hit 30.
The footage that’s been released before was really good, but I found this to be distractingly upscaled with that Topaz AI look. It’s an uncanny valley that takes away the film “feel” for me. And it’s not all that great, just have a look at the writing on the piano in most scenes.
I’m OK with losing the film feel for a documentary, particularly if it makes its subjects appear more relatable. I was honestly so focused on the people that I didn’t notice the writing.
I absolutely cannot wait for this.
I guess it’s time for my semi-annual “join a streaming service and immediately cancel my subscription.”I seriously wish we could go back to cable, or even Blockbuster. Fucking anything is better than 20 different streaming service subscriptions.
Peter Jackson: Can we get a better camera angle on this scene?Director of Photography: Not without inventing a time machine.Peter Jackson: ….and?
James Cameron: Actually…
Peter Jackson: “How can I turn this into a 9 hour ‘thrillogy’?
Peter Jackson: 57 hours? That’s a good start…
“Let me know if Ringo isn’t lively enough. I can just do Ringo on the computer”
The Beatles fans rejoice. And five seconds later they howl in outrage.
The only thing I’m “worried” about is if Jackson re-mastered the film to like 1200 fps (because he can) and completely ruins the filminess to it. The 60 fps Hobbit was abysmal (yeah, abysmal) and although the idea behind They Shall Not Grow Old was great, the execution was lacking. And I hate to say that because the technology to do it must’ve been phenomenal but the end result was just kind of weird and offputting. I did enjoy seeing it colorized though.
I don’t know why I’m surprised that they guy who thought The Hobbit should be eight hours long keeps churning out four-minute “trailers.”
The Beatles were worse than the Kinks, and both wholesale stole their sound from black bands at the time. Furthermore, John Lennon was a wife-beating racist piece of shit. Them, and Elvis, suck dogshit out of a straw.
The Beatles (and Stones) went out of their way to acknowledge and promote the Black musicians who pioneered the blues and rock & roll. That was the profound irony of the British Invasion.A bunch of Brits had to educate white American audiences about American musical traditions and heritage. The music had to cross the Atlantic, be reinterpreted by Brits, then reimported to the USA for white audiences to take notice.The norm before then was for white musicians to claim they were the true pioneers. That’s exactly what happened with jazz, for instance.
The Beatles also refused to play to segregated audiences in the south, leading to many venues removing their segregation for the first time.
Today I Learned that black bands created psychedelic rock!Also, does that mean that Bad Brains suck because they stole punk rock from the white bands at the time?
lol… listen to this guy.
John Lennon was a racist?
The nerd in me had to search for the soda at 2:38. They are Cokes.https://www.google.com/search?q=coke+label+red+white+diamond&tbm=isch
Holy shit this looks epic.
Wow it looks amazing in HD , the original footage was well grainy IIRC
jesus imagine the smell
tobacco, mainly
and people only showered about once a week then
as you can see by the state of their hair
I was already looking forward to this, but the trailer boosted my anticipation to another level.