Michael Lindsay-Hogg's 'Let It Be' is coming!

[MarkRJones1970]

"Black and white director's cut?" Never heard that before . . .

Footage of it has been seen on MCP and HMC DVDs as well as the "Picture Perfect" Winter of Discontent DVD. The reason for it being black and white was because it was a print of the negative. From my understanding, the only time the negatives were cut is when the actual final cut of Let it Be was made.

Is it established, which footage was left out of the final cut exactly and how much of it has found its way to the bootleg public?

Nope!

[Wogew]

I'm hearing Disney+ in May and physical release later this year.

[MarkRJones1970]

I'm hearing Disney+ in May and physical release later this year.

So that'll mean NO extras on the disc!

[WOA76]

"Black and white director's cut?" Never heard that before . . .

Years ago I had a VHS with black and white footage from Apple Studio filming and saw Yoko painting
I have never seen this since would this be from that?

[noirbar]

And now for your Daily Howl: if it's truly happening, I just don't understand the purpose (or appeal) of this project, at all.

I have friends who really like the Beatles and enjoyed the doc, but of course they aren't obsessives like me. I'm guessing most D+ subscribers who caught any part of GB knew very little, if anything, about Beatles history (or certainly Jan '69), and probably many were younger, entirely brand new fans.

So MLH LIB comes out and wouldn't the reaction be: "Wait there's another Beatles film about the exact same thing I just watched for 9 hours? But it's kind of different and much older? And maybe doesn't look as good? And it's the same story and songs?" And I would want to watch this ...why?" (Speaking of the endlessly rehearsed songs, per this very thread, many of us here rank them much lower in the catalog to begin with. But that's what Disney is putting out, again?)

Unless it was PJ who pushed for this, maybe to honor and give overdue credit to MLH -- possibly (and thankfully) in part because he's still with us, I cannot figure the drivers here. We love this stuff, but I don't see Disney corporate putting much of any energy behind it. All of which also relates to my ongoing general disappointment with these vague, half-hearted offerings from Apple of late: Greatest Hits/R&B, an "AI single"; mini (unusable) '45s, lego Sullivan. (By the way, Feb '64 blew the entire roof off this country - maybe a bit of missed opportunity in 2024)? Despite these phenomenal, historic opportunities at hand, now we get the original, slightly depressing (and from what we now know, not entirely accurate) LIB film, 2.5 years after the incredible excitement and joy of GB. Just seems it's pretty much guaranteed to land flat, and there's that nagging disappointment again...

[SM7609]

And now for your Daily Howl: if it's truly happening, I just don't understand the purpose (or appeal) of this project, at all.

I have friends who really like the Beatles and enjoyed the doc, but of course they aren't obsessives like me. I'm guessing most D+ subscribers who caught any part of GB knew very little, if anything, about Beatles history (or certainly Jan '69), and probably many were younger, entirely brand new fans.

So MLH LIB comes out and wouldn't the reaction be: "Wait there's another Beatles film about the exact same thing I just watched for 9 hours? But it's kind of different and much older? And maybe doesn't look as good? And it's the same story and songs?" And I would want to watch this ...why?" (Speaking of the endlessly rehearsed songs, per this very thread, many of us here rank them much lower in the catalog to begin with. But that's what Disney is putting out, again?)

Unless it was PJ who pushed for this, maybe to honor and give overdue credit to MLH -- possibly (and thankfully) in part because he's still with us, I cannot figure the drivers here. We love this stuff, but I don't see Disney corporate putting much of any energy behind it. All of which also relates to my ongoing general disappointment with these vague, half-hearted offerings from Apple of late: Greatest Hits/R&B, an "AI single"; plastic '45s, lego Sullivan. (By the way, Feb '64 blew the entire roof off this country - maybe a bit of missed opportunity in 2024)? And now we get the original, slightly depressing (and from what we now know, not entirely accurate) LIB film, 2.5 years after the incredible excitement and joy of GB. Just seems it's pretty much guaranteed to land flat, and there's that nagging disappointment again...

No disappointment for me. It’s a necessary and vital part of the story for me. At this point, it’s probably optional for most, but I hardly see this as a big deal. To me, this is one of the five movies The Beatles made (yes, I am counting MMT) and that alone justifies the release.

[Gringo557]

"Black and white director's cut?" Never heard that before . . .

Years ago I had a VHS with black and white footage from Apple Studio filming and saw Yoko painting
I have never seen this since would this be from that?

I know the footage you're talking about, it's in The Winter of Discontent and probably tons of other version of LIB outtakes. However, "Director's Cut" implies it's an official edit . . .

And for my money's worth I'd love to have a new print of Let It Be. Peter Jackson mentioned awhile back that they had restored it and I'm all for putting it out.

[harrylime]

And now for your Daily Howl: if it's truly happening, <cut>

I have friends who really like the Beatles and enjoyed the doc, but of course they aren't obsessives like me. I'm guessing most D+ subscribers who caught any part of GB knew very little, if anything, about Beatles history (or certainly Jan '69), and probably many were younger, entirely brand new fans.

So MLH LIB comes out and wouldn't the reaction be: "Wait there's another Beatles film about the exact same thing I just watched for 9 hours? But it's kind of different and much older? And maybe doesn't look as good? And it's the same story and songs?" And I would want to watch this ...why?" (Speaking of the endlessly rehearsed songs, per this very thread, many of us here rank them much lower in the catalog to begin with. But that's what Disney is putting out, again?)

I wouldn't view it as another Get Back, that's a bit of why it wasn't released paired with it in the first place. It's that it's a curiosity in the Beatles filmography that wasn't unseen or unheard of at all, I would even say argue it was better known than MMT (and no Paul, you didn't inspire the great directors of the next generation). It's a historical movie that turned out saddening but it still was significant. Get Back is much more like They Shall Not Grow Old, use archival footage and audio, compile something watchable out of it. And luckily PJ went so far as to make it an extensive documentary of the entire month, not just some highlights of some days.

<paste>I just don't understand the purpose (or appeal) of this project, at all.
...
Unless it was PJ who pushed for this, maybe to honor and give overdue credit to MLH -- possibly (and thankfully) in part because he's still with us,

So you do understand some angles of purpose/appeal after all...

I cannot figure the drivers here. We love this stuff, but I don't see Disney corporate putting much of any energy behind it. All of which also relates to my ongoing general disappointment with these vague, half-hearted offerings from Apple of late: etc etc

I'm not sure Disney has anything to do with it, they bought the distribution rights for the Get Back project. I would reckon this is simply another Apple film re-release, don't forget this was part of the Universal Artists canon. In 20/20 hindsight the LIB Deluxe should have been delayed until the movie could have been paired with it though, but as always, Apple's gonna Apple with these things and produce underwhelming results. I stopped getting bothered by it. When I started my Beatles fandom we just have had the sloppy DVD's except for YS and the stereo CD's. Now we have a whole conundrum of improved products that each have their faults but also their merits. Overall I believe things have improved tremendously.

[Tex]

I think it's safe to assume PJ rebuilt a version of "Let It Be" along with his own.

[FestVideoRoom]

There's no assumption necessary.

PJ outright stated a while back that following the restoration of the footage, he and his team made it available to MLH along with a decision list: basically a playlist of the footage necessary to rebuild the original LIB film from scratch. The only thing PJ did NOT do was the color timings on the footage as that is traditionally the responsibility of the film's director.

What you'll be getting on Disney+ will almost certainly be a brand new rebuild of the original film in the digital realm with no further access of old film stock or negatives. Very likely, the original optical credits will have been recreated to match the originals -- also in the digital realm.

Whether or not there will be anything extra on the inevitable home release is a good question, but it should be noted that Disney no longer manufactures their own Blu-Rays or DVDs or UHD discs. Instead, they have now opted to farm that work out. It *was* noted quite some time ago that MLH had recorded a commentary track for Let It Be: presumably that at least will be included.

S.