Let It Be (1970)

The concept, the film making, and most importantly, the content is not only compelling but also, it sums up the story of the most popular band of the 20th century. Unlike the previous films released, this one shows the Beatles in a real sense. From the photography to the separate studio cuts up to the moment of their final performance. Yes, it is as heart breaking for any Beatles fan because this isn't a "happy movie" full of pathos but rather, a bare bones, as real as you get look at how these 4 individual worked together toward creating and completing the work that fundamentally made a deep impact on society, both in the music and entertainment industries but also the social revolution that was going on at the time. Yes John, on behalf of all of us, you and the band passed the audition that will outlive us all...

Saw this movie when I was a kid and just saw it again a few days ago.First, the video quality is pretty bad, I mean ,this is the Beatles you think they would use good quality film equipment but the whole movie looks like those old 8mm home movies.Second, its hard to believe these guys created all those great songs, all I see is 4 guys just goofing around and mindlessly jamming.Without George martin there is no focus or direction.There is no insight to how the songs are created,just a random bunch of video clips.The producers should have taking one song and followed from the beginning to the final mix.But overall its still worth watching though it could have been much better done.

"Let it Be" is not a good documentary. The first half simply consists of a cameraman sitting in on the Beatles recording for the "Let it Be" album. Everyone looks like they are having an awful time. John Lennon obviously could care less about the music, and instead is with Yoko, who sits in on the recordings. Ringo Starr, the usually happy and smiling drummer is sullen and bored. George Harrison has fun helping Ringo, but other than that, he too is angry and seems bored. Paul McCartney is obviously trying to have a good time, and might be more so than the others, considering the bulk of the songs are written and sung by him. The animosity between the group members is painful to watch, and not only that, but it's not interesting. The whole first part of the film, the group members are constantly eyeing each other (along with the cameraman), and they all seem really bored, and because of this, the audience grows bored too. The only positive for this part of the film is some of the music is good, where some of these recordings sound awful and stiffly played.The second part of the film consists of the Beatle's final live performance on rooftop. This was a great pick-up compared to the first half. The Beatles at first seem like they aren't going to enjoy this, but you can tell by most of their faces that they are having a good time. Many of the songs previously recorded in the last part of the film are sung here, and sound better here than before.Now, it might not sound fair that my review of the film is directly affected by the Beatles attitudes during this time, but it really made the film hard to watch. Not necessarily hard to watch in a sad way, because this was not about the Beatles breakup, but about their final months together as a band. It was just not entertaining, or enjoyable. Where the other Beatles films (although they weren't documentaries) were usually goofy and silly, though stupid, this was boring and dull. The only real reason to watch this is if you are a huge fan of the Beatles, if you want to see what the recording studios look like, or if you enjoy seeing unhappy people (excluding McCartney who was obviously trying to keep his cool).My rating: * 1/2 out of ****. 86 mins.

I had heard of this movie for quite some time, and had always been curious about it. The idea of watching the rock and roll legends in the studio, recording wonderful tunes, sounded intriguing. I finally got my hands on it, and I can totally understand why they only release the Let it Be, Hey Jude and Rooftop concert footage. From what I understand, this film was produced due to a contract deal that forced the Beatles into making five films, whether they wanted to or not. Following the disaster of the 'Magical Mystery Tour' film, it's no wonder the Beatles didn't take part in Yellow Submarine (which turned out to be a great film, second to A Hard Day's Night) I've read in various Beatle Biographies that Paul McCartney came up with the idea of having camera's installed in the studio. This turned out to be a bad idea.The Beatles are aware of the cameras, which puts them in a VERY awkward mood. Ringo Starr is silent for most of the time, John Lennon is also quiet and George Harrison seems to fuss with Paul when he speaks. Oh, I almost missed Paul. He speaks endlessly, and makes big broad gestures, pretending to be the genius that we know he is, but coming across as rather full of himself. Camera's are set up for him when he stages Let it Be and Hey Jude, where he is seen staring obsessively at the camera. The camera work is smooth, and very professional. However, when the other Beatles sing a song, the camera is less focused, and more candid. There is also constant, subtle bickering between Paul and George, and at times John. It is wonderful to watch, but very sad to see them act this way together, because I had such a nice picture of them in my mind before i saw this. NOW I KNOW WHY THEY BROKE UP!You'll enjoy the rooftop concert. That is the ONLY scene where all of them seem comfortable together. Well, there was a brief moment where Billy Preston showed up in the studio to play keyboards. They all behaved nicely at that point. I think it is mentioned in the Anthology video.Still, if you did music, you'll have a good time watching, even if Paul gets a little too full of himself.