RATINGS
REFERENCE
EXCELLENT
GOOD
FAIR
POOR
Subtitle it, Let It Breathe. When The Beatles: Get Back initially aired across three consecutive nights on November 25, 26, and 27, 2021 on the Disney+ streaming platform, it was, to say the least, a cultural phenomenon. Not only did Get Back grant a new generation access to many of the sights and sounds required to understand the full scope of the ongoing impact of The Fab Four to this day, but director Peter Jackson’s almost-8-hour docudrama also served as a redemption of sorts for the lingering, decidedly mixed reactions to the 1970 band documentary directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Let It Be.
The Collector’s Set edition of Get Back is spread across three BDs, one for each designated “Part,” all of it housed in an admittedly handsome, sturdy hard-shell slipcase. Shot on 16mm, the visuals are reflective of the times—filming took place across 23 nonconsecutive days in January 1969—and the color schemes and palettes mirror the many fashions of the day (Paul McCartney’s Fanta-orange sweater with much visible pilling on the shoulders, the AstroTurf-green carpet in the Apple Corps recording studio).
Part One finds The Beatles and original director Lindsay-Hogg gamely trying to make a go of it while ensconced within the way too big main stage at Twickenham Studios, purportedly to both document new-album recording sessions and prep for a performance in front of a live audience that is ultimately, and wisely, scrapped. Part Two relocates everyone to the makeshift studio in the band’s Apple Corps HQ at 3 Savile Row in London—but it’s the best thing that could have happened for all involved. Here, The Beatles finally get down to enacting some seriously magical, mystical real-time songwriting and arranging, all of it made even more enchanting once pianist Billy Preston arrives to further galvanize everyone’s creative juices.
BLU-RAY
STUDIO: Disney/Apple 2022
ASPECT RATIO: 1.85:1
AUDIO FORMAT: Dolby Atmos, Dolby
TrueHD 7.1
LENGTH: 468 mins.
DIRECTORS: Peter Jackson (Get Back), Michael Lindsay-Hogg (original footage)
STARRING: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo
