Has anyone watched Birth Of The Beatles on amazon?

[Lord Reith]

I'm surprised that it can be bought in the UK, but is this some public domain release taken off youtube or did they actually get hold of the master?

I've seen some truly rotten stuff wind up on Prime.

[applebonkerz]

I'm surprised that it can be bought in the UK, but is this some public domain release taken off youtube or did they actually get hold of the master?

I've seen some truly rotten stuff wind up on Prime.

I can't vouch for the truth of this statement, but over on the Hoffman site where a discussion of this film has been building, someone located in London posted "Recently hired off Amazons prime video {uk} and it seemed mint compared to any you tube or private dvd copy out there." Take that as you may, but hopefully it helps you.

[Lord Reith]

Hmm, thanks!

[Mr Bump]

It's an odd film. I understand Pete Best was a consultant on it, which makes it all the more odd that it's filled with inaccuracies, for example the Beatles all wearing leather while John is still at art school, long before they went to Hamburg.

It's watchable though. I put it in the 'so bad it's good' category. Perhaps I'm being too harsh.

[Lord Reith]

I like it because it's the first Beatle film I ever saw. It was just around the time I started buying their records in earnest but before I knew anything about their story or personalities. So it was enjoyable for me in that I didn't know any different. It was and still is quite funny and is the only portrayal of them that has ever come anywhere near getting their humour right. The guy who played John really nailed his sense of humour. The music on the otehr hand... I thought it was terrible and the singing amateurish. Occasionally the guy who sang Paul's part was a bit like him, but the guy who sang John's parts sounded like a 13yo with a blocked nose. I've meant to go through and demix out the vocals and replace them with the real Beatles voices but have never had a good enough copy to work with. Unfortunately Amazon UK is the only place that has it, which is really really stupid. Oh well.

[cliftdean74]

I have a soft spot for the film too. I saw it when I was a kid in the early 80s and in the throes of Beatlemania. I also like it because it was filmed at a time that wasn’t too far removed from the original events which inherently gives it that air of authenticity.

[Lord Reith]

I have a soft spot for the film too. I saw it when I was a kid in the early 80s and in the throes of Beatlemania. I also like it because it was filmed at a time that wasn’t too far removed from the original events which inherently gives it that air of authenticity.

That's true, it was only 15 or so years after the actual events. Like 2009 is to now.

[Qwazi]

Plus I’ve always been fascinated by the thought that John could have seen this. I don’t know of him ever referencing it, and he probably didn’t - but he COULD have.

I loved Lord Reith’s experiments with the BBC versions substituted for the Rain versions. I guess the only ones that couldn’t be done would be “Love Me Tender” sung by Stu and “Don’t Bother Me” which shouldn’t even be in the film. I guess the “Shake, Rattle and Roll” from Get Back might be jarring.

This too was, for me, before I knew their personalities well. I believe I had the Roy Carr/Tony Tyler book, was accumulating the proper releases and that was it. Don’t think I’d ever seen AHDN or Help

[Lord Reith]

There are a few cringeworthy moments, but also a lot of moving ones. The earliest scenes really bring over the sense of hopelessness that must have descended on them sometimes. There's a great sense of triumph when they finally break through. Even the scene where Brian is beaten up for being homosexual and John comforts him in a rather rough northern manner is pretty brave for 1979. I think Stephen McKenna basically saved the film, bringing John's soul and humour to the story. I can't think of a single Lennon impersonator since who has been able to achieve that.

The big problem for me is the music or, more specifically, the singing. It stinks. But just replacing the music altogether is too jarring. And besides the backing is actually not too bad and reasonably authentic.

[silver_2000]

I'm surprised that it can be bought in the UK, but is this some public domain release taken off youtube or did they actually get hold of the master?

I've seen some truly rotten stuff wind up on Prime.

I can't vouch for the truth of this statement, but over on the Hoffman site where a discussion of this film has been building, someone located in London posted "Recently hired off Amazons prime video {uk} and it seemed mint compared to any you tube or private dvd copy out there." Take that as you may, but hopefully it helps you.

Is this version streamable?