Desertman84 Let It Be was the final film done by the Beatles.It happens to be a documentary wherein the recording sessions of the Fab Four for the release of the final album was being filmed by Michael Lindsay- Hogg.The band is shown rehearsing,performing,recording and sometimes arguing as they try to complete songs.Also included is the rooftop concert of the band which happens to be their final live appearance.Majority of the documentary shows John,Paul,George and Ringo are doing various things.Also,glimpses of Yoko Ono were caught on camera as she watches the band.Then,Billy Preston later join them.The end is near for the most influential and successful band in rock history.The viewer can see that the band members are no longer enjoying each other's company and what they are currently doing.Added to that,it was evident that there has been a lot of infighting among them and they are ready to go to different directions anytime soon. The presence of Yoko serves more of a distraction rather than an inspiration.But despite of the uninspired actions that the band members are currently taking and being on the brink of breaking up,they still managed to make great music.The musical talent of the group just shined throughout the documentary.The Academy Award it won for Original Music during its year of release only proves just that.

preppy-3 Documentary of the Beatles recording their last album "Let It Be". It was supposed to show a live functioning group happily working. Instead we get the Beatles arguing a lot and tearing each other apart verbally. It's unpleasant to watch--especially if you're a Beatles fan like me. Still the movie is fascinating to watch to see the Beatles interacting and developing songs. I caught this multiple times at a revival theatre in the 1980s (they ALWAYS showed it with "Help" and "Yellow Submarine"). Audiences loved it and it was a lot of fun to hear people booing and hissing whenever Yoko Ono or Linda McCartney popped up (everybody blamed them for the Beatles breaking up--which isn't true). The film was very grainy and (at times) inaudible but I still loved it. The rooftop concert at the end was a lot of fun (and imitated in "Across the Universe"). So it is depressing but fascinating. I give it an 8. Recommended for Beatles fans only.

Spondonman As a life-long Beatles fan don't expect objectivity here - I first saw this in the early 70's and found it riveting … and got the same feeling tonight. This was an early ordinary rockumentary about 4 ordinary yet very talented blokes in their late 20's at the peak of their creative powers, in the process of readjustment to being mere hairy bickering mortals again after experiencing a few years of quasi-godhood. "Mr. Epstein" was long dead although Paul was trying to fill his shoes, and their Apple Empire was shrinking. The Beatles almost on their own created intelligent pop/rock music, which imho has not moved on since 1969 where they left it. There have been many excellent innovative and intelligent rock bands that have come and gone since, many borrowing and adapting from the Beatles back catalogue – however I don't count the many cash-in rip-off bands such as Oasis. Has anyone since not ripped them off at some point? I've lost count of the number of times over the decades I've heard a "new" piece of music and said to myself "I've heard that before somewhere – ah yes, such and such by the Beatles". Apart from the quantum leaps in sound technology since then nothing of any lasting musical value has been added – there has been no progression. Led Zeppelin filled stadia – but did they fill billions of hearts? Queen was popular – but did they rule the world? Pop and rock music may have always been ephemeral, but along with Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Lata Mangeshkar, Frank Sinatra and Jimi Hendrix the Beatles weren't. Never mind about their timeless music, they even managed to look timeless while everyone else around them in here looked dated by the early '70's. God works in mysterious ways.John, Paul, George and Ringo got together first in Twickenham Studios then in the Apple basement in January 1969 to rehearse some new songs with the assistance of almost-5th Beatle Billy Preston (and occasionally actual-5th Beatle George Martin) and with the hope of playing live again sometime soon. Yoko (definitely not 5th Beatle) would have probably been on stage with them. As it turned out on they only made it to the Apple roof on 30th January, disturbing the peace of the police on the streets of London below. The Rolling Stone review of the film from 9th July 1970 that I remember so well was typically over-reverential but had some telling points – the first being how deliberately grainy the photography was which still can take some getting used to and that there was over 800 hours of footage from 4 cameras to edit down to the brief 80 minutes we got. How on Earth can it ever be properly remastered and will more ever be officially available in our lifetimes? Maybe we should also bear in mind that the film was to be called Get Back as a return to simplicity for the band, and that McCartney originally penned racist lyrics for this sublime song which thankfully weren't incorporated into any of the final versions. There's a lot of classic pop music in here – from their own then new stuff to rock'n'roll standards from the '50's, which the Beatles were in an ideal and unchallengeable position to translate for listeners both of the Old World of pop and the New World of rock that they left behind them.Highlights: A splendid cod version of Bessame Mucho from McCartney; a loving version of You Really Got A Hold On Me from Lennon; the videos for Two Of Us, Let It Be, Long And Winding Road; and Get Back, Don't Let Me Down up on the freezing roof; so many others. Overall: to a fan, a beautiful and sad account of a unique group of individuals struggling and failing against disintegration; this should also be essential viewing to fans of intelligent pop/rock music who might have sometimes wondered where U2, Bon Jovi, Kings Of Leon et al came from – so far though, this was the artistic pinnacle.

lulurae96 Yes the film is poorly edited--the sound sometimes doesn't exactly sync...but hey its the Beatles. Finally playing themselves in a film designed to show off their musical roots and working toward an album stripped of the "hee, hee, hee" and "blowing bubbles through straws". I saw the film when it was released 37 years ago. I have a VHS copy. I watch it at least two times a year. I still to this day do not see a film about a group breaking up. Albeit--there were some tense moments...but what "family" doesn't have tense moments. I remember the scene between Harrison and McCartney over George's guitar playing for "I've Got A Feeling"/I remember the scene between Lennon and McCartney discussing George's reluctance to "going out on the road". Tense/Uptight--sure--but what shines the most is the music. The rooftop concert shows just how hot a band the Beatles actually were. I actually find the album to be a joy...they actually get a chance to rock out just like they did in the early days. And with a nod to Lennon, they actually had a bite to these new songs. To dismiss this film is a big mistake. If anything--it should be looked upon as a historical document. I am all in favor of the film coming out on DVD. It would be a blast to see the unused footage and more.