Is 'Let It Be film restored' once again a broken promise?

[jspaceman]

The "remastering" hack job on the image of Get Back appalled me. No grain. Everything was squishy, plastic and lifeless. Disgusting. Can't believe there are actually people who thought it (visually) looked good.

I was beginning to think that I was the only one who thought this. Some of the footage is absolutely appalling, although I had feared it might have been this way after watching Jackson's "They Shall Not Grow Old".
There are some parts where clothing looks like someone has just painted it on with a brush, and then on another shot the material looks ok. It was disappointing and, for me, a huge distraction.

[Tex]

This is the problem new tech. People tend to only see what is gained and not what is lost.

This applies to remixing as well.

[Lord Reith]

The "remastering" hack job on the image of Get Back appalled me. No grain. Everything was squishy, plastic and lifeless. Disgusting. Can't believe there are actually people who thought it (visually) looked good.

I was beginning to think that I was the only one who thought this. Some of the footage is absolutely appalling, although I had feared it might have been this way after watching Jackson's "They Shall Not Grow Old".
There are some parts where clothing looks like someone has just painted it on with a brush, and then on another shot the material looks ok. It was disappointing and, for me, a huge distraction.

I think those parts are where it is very zoomed in, to get close ups. So the resolution drops accordingly. I think he may have even said something about that in an interview. Kind of like the Shea film, where it's obvious that some of the tight shots are blow ups. In those sections the grain becomes hugely noticeable, so i guess he drove the noise reduction harder on those parts to make it more consistent from one shot to another.

Compared to the "restoration" done on the 1+ bluray and Magical Mystery Tour I think it is generally good. MMT just looks like smeary garbage, and the 1+ promos sourced from video are a masterclass in how NOT to do it.

[Fun 4 None]

I understand Peter's idea. By blowing the film up to widescreen and doing the DNR, it would make it look like a modern digital film. Problem is the 16mm isn't high quality enough for that. I'd say Twinkenham has some of the worst stuff because the crew would occasionally do balcony shots and those were very excessively zoomed in by Peter.

[millerTEK]

Apple sure has been quiet about all the hype that the original MLH Movie would also be restored and available...

While I cannot imagine this still being a controversial decision based on the same reasoning why it has never been re-released since the VHS and LD days, I can only suspect now it could be an economics issue? They could have added it to the Get Back Box as a bonus feature for historical purposes...which would not have required much more costs, etc.

If PJ has restored ALL video footage and sound from the NAGRA sources - I guess he could have literally taken that remastered footage and reEDITED a version of the original movie, too. Who knows....

All we can do is wait and see. However, based on the interviews and PJ's statements that Get Back was created to also show the remaining Beatles and their fans "a different and more positive perspective", I would find it odd if they packaged a remastered release of the original movie by itself as a money grab.

Personally, I would love a complete release of all restored footage, but you know that much content and packaging would have to be sold at a much higher cost to recoup it's value in many ways...just like releasing all the MAster Tapes of each album - each take and overdub, etc...we're lucky a lot still exists, but it's got value and they know it. LOLOL

[millerTEK]

BTW - has anyone tried to find out through all the inventories made of the PJ Get Back released footage - if that 80 minutes was also shown in bits during the 3 part series? Might be possible for someone to edit together the original film if so....

[Rickenbacker325]

BTW - has anyone tried to find out through all the inventories made of the PJ Get Back released footage - if that 80 minutes was also shown in bits during the 3 part series? Might be possible for someone to edit together the original film if so....

He went out of his way to not use the same footage as Let it Be…there’s a few exceptions though

[skynet]

Apple sure has been quiet about all the hype that the original MLH Movie would also be restored and available...

While I cannot imagine this still being a controversial decision based on the same reasoning why it has never been re-released since the VHS and LD days, I can only suspect now it could be an economics issue? They could have added it to the Get Back Box as a bonus feature for historical purposes...which would not have required much more costs, etc.

If PJ has restored ALL video footage and sound from the NAGRA sources - I guess he could have literally taken that remastered footage and reEDITED a version of the original movie, too. Who knows....

All we can do is wait and see. However, based on the interviews and PJ's statements that Get Back was created to also show the remaining Beatles and their fans "a different and more positive perspective", I would find it odd if they packaged a remastered release of the original movie by itself as a money grab.

Personally, I would love a complete release of all restored footage, but you know that much content and packaging would have to be sold at a much higher cost to recoup it's value in many ways...just like releasing all the MAster Tapes of each album - each take and overdub, etc...we're lucky a lot still exists, but it's got value and they know it. LOLOL

The issue i see with the original LIB movie, is that (and just being pulled and watch the German print) is really a piss poor editing job, i was just watching it, having fond memories of it... and i came out... empty with disappointment, i mean, do not take me wrong, but maybe nostalgia played badly with me, but i remembered differently, after watching it again is just a drag in comparison, in any case i have never been someone who are here to "watch them play" or nitpicking about the frame ratio or things like that... i am a Beatlealogist because of their music, so video has little or no importance to me (unless there is music that i don't have in it, that is)... again do not take me wrong (by the way has someone heard also the discrete 7.1 mix, PJ team has done great things there, example is the "Some other guy" fragment from the cavern, even for a fragment it just kick ass, bass is punchy and those guitars... man...) but, now even the Furmanek mixes does not sound so good for me anymore (in any case i was never been really a fan of his work)... just my two cents, but sans a couple of notable cases (such as the nice people in this forum), who else would buy a "Let It Be" BR?... we are the curators of that history, and it has been demonstrated time and again that Apple, and now Universal, does not give a damm shit about things like Shea, or LIB, maybe they are saving it for 100 anniversary... preserve those things seems is and has been in our hands for the last 60 years, i guess

[Lord Reith]

The issue i see with the original LIB movie, is that (and just being pulled and watch the German print) is really a piss poor editing job

The way I see it is that the movie flounders without any direction or point to it. It's cut together in a documentary narrative fashion, but there's no narrative. There's no story. It just comes across as bunch of guys going through the motions and looking at their watches waiting to go home. And while the rooftop concert may be legendary now, from the perspective of the time you've got four guys who only four years earlier had played to a sellout crowd at Shea Stadium... and there they are playing on a rooftop, invisible to all but a handfull of lukewarm onlookers who can barely even be roused to clap. Some local business owners get upset and two coppers are called. It's a pretty bum gig by any standards let alone Beatles standards, unless you happen to know it is their last ever public appearance. That part of the film only works because The Beatles deliver a cracking performance. But that was their own talent at work, and nothing to do with the production crew.

It wouldn't have been possible to use the Peter Jackson narrative in 1970, but it would have been nice if the director could have found some thread of a storyline. My guess is that they kept delaying its release this century because they find it a bit embarassing. And now that PJ's film has made a silk purse out of a sow's ear, the chances of it ever surfacing again have plummeted even further. It's now become like the embarassing relative the family tries not to invite to social occasions. They've got a new improved incarnation of Let It Be and that has effectively sealed the fate of the old one. Gone for good. That's my two cents anyway.

[millerTEK]

I have it! Got it back in the 90s as a trade...

germanletitbe.JPG (24.86 KiB) Viewed 615 times

So - first off, it;s in PAL format - but luckily where I worked (a media company), they had an industry converter, so I made an NTSC conversion. IT was amazing when I watched it. First there is a trailer for an Elvis movie (hilarious because it is dubbed in German!)...but when the LIB movie started - the aspect ratio was awesome - you got to see more background. Also the color was not as intense, it was calmer (more normal). Then the movie was in ENGLISH (thank god, I was worried at first after the Elvis trailer). There were 2 parts during the LIB movie where German subtitles appeared (both during the 2 longer conversations only). It was beautiful!

Yes, I was a bad boy, In the 90s, internet was new and my only Beatles resource was a NEWSGROUP call rec.music.beatles. I offered for sale NTSC conversions of the original PAL German VHS for sale. Money orders came flying in! Of course, I spent it all on partying at my age, but that's okay! I made a bunch of Beatles fans happy! Note this was before Anthology, too...

anyway to comment to your reply - I don't take what you say wrongly! I'm a Beatlealogist, too - and we all have our specialties! So regarding your audio comment - they didn't have surround sound back then like they do today. I have all of the original US, Laserdisc, etc releases and they are not in surround or even stereo. REMEMBER - the audio source for the video was NAGRA and in mono. Even Peter Jackson with today's technology - had the mono source to work with as well...he expanded that mono audio to 7.1 surround, but really if you listen carefully, it is just echo and some bass/treble separations for those channels. So that 7.1 surround is not discrete channels, but each and signal bouncing. NOW THERE WAS AN EXCEPTION - after the Beatles moved to Apple - besides the mono NAGRA audio still being recorded with the video, we KNOW Glyn Johns would record requested items ONTO multitrack reels when requested. So when I watch the PJ release of Get Back - I see ALSO during the Apple sessions, PJ still stuck with expanding the mono NAGRA audio to maintain sound continuity with everything else PJ included that Glyn John's did not record onto multitrack. The Apple Rooftop concert though - you'll notice the surround sound seperation improves - and that's because he used the Glyn Johns multitrack sources for that.

Now, let's look at the Furmanek audio and video remixing...he too used technology that existing back then (not as advanced as what PJ got to use!). His Video remastering was limited to what existed back then...and though His AUDIO remixing to Stereo definitely was nice - you also have to consider another audio source HE HAD as well. When the Beatles moved to Apple - though the NAGRA audio was still mono - we know SOME ITEMS were recorded in multitrack by Glyn Johns. He might have had access to those sources to help his stereo remixing as well.

Pleasure chatting with you!

Apple sure has been quiet about all the hype that the original MLH Movie would also be restored and available...

While I cannot imagine this still being a controversial decision based on the same reasoning why it has never been re-released since the VHS and LD days, I can only suspect now it could be an economics issue? They could have added it to the Get Back Box as a bonus feature for historical purposes...which would not have required much more costs, etc.

If PJ has restored ALL video footage and sound from the NAGRA sources - I guess he could have literally taken that remastered footage and reEDITED a version of the original movie, too. Who knows....

All we can do is wait and see. However, based on the interviews and PJ's statements that Get Back was created to also show the remaining Beatles and their fans "a different and more positive perspective", I would find it odd if they packaged a remastered release of the original movie by itself as a money grab.

Personally, I would love a complete release of all restored footage, but you know that much content and packaging would have to be sold at a much higher cost to recoup it's value in many ways...just like releasing all the MAster Tapes of each album - each take and overdub, etc...we're lucky a lot still exists, but it's got value and they know it. LOLOL

The issue i see with the original LIB movie, is that (and just being pulled and watch the German print) is really a piss poor editing job, i was just watching it, having fond memories of it... and i came out... empty with disappointment, i mean, do not take me wrong, but maybe nostalgia played badly with me, but i remembered differently, after watching it again is just a drag in comparison, in any case i have never been someone who are here to "watch them play" or nitpicking about the frame ratio or things like that... i am a Beatlealogist because of their music, so video has little or no importance to me (unless there is music that i don't have in it, that is)... again do not take me wrong (by the way has someone heard also the discrete 7.1 mix, PJ team has done great things there, example is the "Some other guy" fragment from the cavern, even for a fragment it just kick ass, bass is punchy and those guitars... man...) but, now even the Furmanek mixes does not sound so good for me anymore (in any case i was never been really a fan of his work)... just my two cents, but sans a couple of notable cases (such as the nice people in this forum), who else would buy a "Let It Be" BR?... we are the curators of that history, and it has been demonstrated time and again that Apple, and now Universal, does not give a damm shit about things like Shea, or LIB, maybe they are saving it for 100 anniversary... preserve those things seems is and has been in our hands for the last 60 years, i guess