We've all seen Michael Lindsay-Hogg 1970 documentary about the last days of The Beatles, Let It Be. And if you haven't, then know this – spoiler alert! – it's a colossal downer.
The good news is, no-one needs to watch it ever again. Peter Jackson' s Get Back documentary is now streaming in its entirety on Disney+ and it's the music documentary of the year: 55 hours of unseen footage (shot by Lindsay-Hogg) and 140 hours of unheard audio, edited together over two years to create an eight-hour doc that does nothing less than bring The Beatles back to life.
At the time of writing, Rotten Tomatoes has scored Get Back 88% (critics) and 90% (audience) and the only way to see it is by subscribing to Disney+.
That's not the drag it sounds. At $7.99/£7.99 for a month, that you can cancel at any time (paying just for that first month), Get Back works out at $1/£1 an hour, even if you don’t watch another thing on the channel.
It's the music TV event of the year and, unlike most music docs with their focus on sex, drugs and scandal, this one is of particular interest to musicians. This is a documentary about writing songs, and the joy and agonies of being in a band.
All three episodes are available to stream now.
- At the end of June 1967, The Beatles Played Live to an Audience of 400 Million. Is It Any Wonder George Fluffed His Solo?
- How George Harrison Made the Epic Concert for Bangladesh Happen
- What Hendrix Meant To Me – By Some of the World's Greatest Guitar Players
Director Peter Jackson isn't exactly known for his brevity. This is the guy who managed to turn Tolkien's The Hobbit – a relatively slim book for kids – into a three part epic that spanned eight hours. With Get Back, the director's seeming inability to cut has been welcomed with open arms.
"More Beatles, you say? Lovingly restored and unflinchingly portrayed? A fascinating look at the creative process that's also an insight into the personalities of four men we tend to see as gods? And we get to witness them write those songs in (almost) real time? Count me in."
The reviews have been rave: “Funnier, louder, sadder, realer than anyone even hoped,” said Rolling Stone. "But it’s not really about the making of an album or a concert. It’s a stunningly intimate portrait of a friendship — the world’s favorite foursome."
“In Get Back,” commented Variety, “we’re not seeing grainy old footage with a fake contempo gloss. We’re seeing the footage de-aged, so that it looks like it was shot yesterday, and so we feel like we’re right there in the room with the Beatles, who look and sound just like themselves. As an act of restoration, Get Back is a marvel.”
The Wall Street Journal called it "joyous, tedious, euphoric and fab, “The Beatles: Get Back” feels like a documentary made yesterday rather than 52 years ago, an epic reimagining-cum-excavation
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