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Best of the Beatles
Lightyear Entertainment // Unrated // August 30, 2005
List Price: $19.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
One of the more interesting stories in the history of rock is that of Pete Best, who was the drummer for the Beatles in the early days of the group, before the beatles became The Beatles and Best was replaced by Ringo Starr. Although not a story that hasn't been told before (despite mixed reviews, see "Backbeat"), "Best of the Beatles" is an interesting and enjoyable documentary feature that expands upon Best's story and the story of the early days of the band over the span of two hours.
As the filmmakers have been able to get Best to participate, he is the focus of the feature and spends much of the running time offering stories about the early days of the band - playing shows, experiences in different cities, the Liverpool music scene and eventually, the moment he was let go from the band - without a sufficent explanation. Given how long ago these events actually took place, it's impressive that Best remembers these tales as clearly has he does, recalling small details that fans will likely enjoy hearing. There are also interviews with such noteworthy individuals as Astrid Kirchherr, Klaus Voorman and Tony Stewart, among many others.
The issue I had with this documentary is that, despite the fact that the filmmakers have rounded up an impressive amount of friends and associates to discuss Best and the early days of the Beatles, there are quite a few interviews that are very dry, and, at two hours, the documentary does start to drag at times in the second half, especially given that there are a lot of "talking head" interviews. Also, the documentary suffers from seemingly being a little one-sided in favor of Best. Whether he was a good drummer or not, we really only get the side that he was in this case.
Overall, hardcore Beatles fans who would like to have some additional insights into the early history of the band may want to check this title out.
The DVD
VIDEO: Lightyear presents "Best of the Beatles" in approximately 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. The documentary, which appears to have been shot on digital video, generally looked good, if inconsistently so. Sharpness and detail varied throughout the feature, with some scenes appearing fairly sharp and others looking soft.
While detail/definition waiver a bit, thankfully there are not many other concerns. Some minor shimmering appears at times, but is hardly noticable. No pixelation or edge enhancement is present, and the materials (aside from some archive footage, understandably) are in fine shape. Colors remained bright and vivid, with no smearing or other issues.
SOUND: The audio is Dolby 2.0, and is "documentary style", with much of the audio focusing on the interview dialogue.
EXTRAS: The DVD offers a series of featurettes that add up to about an hour of bonus material. These include: "Decca Sessions: Truth Revealed" and "Hamburg Revisited", which go into further depth about this early time period for the band, as well as "Never Say Die" (Best discussing a horse his mother bet on, which resulted in a major win and major changes), "Love Me Do With Andy White" (Best talking about the rumor that Andy White was brought in to replace him, which includes White and Best sitting down to discuss the story) and three featurettes that look at Best's work after leaving the Beatles: "Life After the Beatles - 1962-1968", "Original" and "Band on the Road".
Final Thoughts: Although this story has been told, "Best of the Beatles" does add some additional analysis and insight into the tale of Pete Best, with Best himself offering a lot of stories, as well as his thoughts on being let go from the Beatles. The DVD offers satisfactory audio/video quality, as well as a very nice collection of supplemental features.
One of the more interesting stories in the history of rock is that of Pete Best, who was the drummer for the Beatles in the early days of the group, before the beatles became The Beatles and Best was replaced by Ringo Starr. Although not a story that hasn't been told before (despite mixed reviews, see "Backbeat"), "Best of the Beatles" is an interesting and enjoyable documentary feature that expands upon Best's story and the story of the early days of the band over the span of two hours.
As the filmmakers have been able to get Best to participate, he is the focus of the feature and spends much of the running time offering stories about the early days of the band - playing shows, experiences in different cities, the Liverpool music scene and eventually, the moment he was let go from the band - without a sufficent explanation. Given how long ago these events actually took place, it's impressive that Best remembers these tales as clearly has he does, recalling small details that fans will likely enjoy hearing. There are also interviews with such noteworthy individuals as Astrid Kirchherr, Klaus Voorman and Tony Stewart, among many others.
The issue I had with this documentary is that, despite the fact that the filmmakers have rounded up an impressive amount of friends and associates to discuss Best and the early days of the Beatles, there are quite a few interviews that are very dry, and, at two hours, the documentary does start to drag at times in the second half, especially given that there are a lot of "talking head" interviews. Also, the documentary suffers from seemingly being a little one-sided in favor of Best. Whether he was a good drummer or not, we really only get the side that he was in this case.
Overall, hardcore Beatles fans who would like to have some additional insights into the early history of the band may want to check this title out.
The DVD
VIDEO: Lightyear presents "Best of the Beatles" in approximately 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. The documentary, which appears to have been shot on digital video, generally looked good, if inconsistently so. Sharpness and detail varied throughout the feature, with some scenes appearing fairly sharp and others looking soft.
While detail/definition waiver a bit, thankfully there are not many other concerns. Some minor shimmering appears at times, but is hardly noticable. No pixelation or edge enhancement is present, and the materials (aside from some archive footage, understandably) are in fine shape. Colors remained bright and vivid, with no smearing or other issues.
SOUND: The audio is Dolby 2.0, and is "documentary style", with much of the audio focusing on the interview dialogue.
EXTRAS: The DVD offers a series of featurettes that add up to about an hour of bonus material. These include: "Decca Sessions: Truth Revealed" and "Hamburg Revisited", which go into further depth about this early time period for the band, as well as "Never Say Die" (Best discussing a horse his mother bet on, which resulted in a major win and major changes), "Love Me Do With Andy White" (Best talking about the rumor that Andy White was brought in to replace him, which includes White and Best sitting down to discuss the story) and three featurettes that look at Best's work after leaving the Beatles: "Life After the Beatles - 1962-1968", "Original" and "Band on the Road".
Final Thoughts: Although this story has been told, "Best of the Beatles" does add some additional analysis and insight into the tale of Pete Best, with Best himself offering a lot of stories, as well as his thoughts on being let go from the Beatles. The DVD offers satisfactory audio/video quality, as well as a very nice collection of supplemental features.
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