Beatles Anthology DVD??? (1 Viewer)

[Osato]

Has anyone heard whether the Beatles Anthology is being released on DVD? I thought it was and then something happened. Does anyone know the status or what the hold up is?
I see A Hard Day's Night is coming out soon. Great!

Thanks for your input.

 

[Ted Todorov]

Good question... I heard that they were remixing it for 5.1 in Abbey Road Studios over two years ago -- I have no idea what the hold up is.

Ted

 

[Jack Briggs]

Puzzled here, too. About a year or so ago we were under the impression that it would be a year-end 2001 release.

The Beatles film/documentary catalog on DVD is woefully inadequate. The best so far to be found on DVD has been the Maysle Brothers documentary of the band's first U.S. visit. Help appears to be OOP. The Compleat Beatles may apparently never see light of DVD day. And then there's Anthology.

I don't understand this, given the demand for DVD product featuring The Beatles.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Jack,

On the other hand, there is positive
news being reported here and there (and
everywhere), including McCartney doing
remixes at Apple for upcoming Beatles product.

I believe we are very close, but past
reports have led us to believe that some
of this stuff should have been out already.

All in all, at least it sounds as if
material is inevitably going to be released
very soon.

 

[LarryE]

I for one am looking forward to a potential Anthology release more than any other title I can think of. I have been following this one for about 2 years, and it just seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle.

 

[TheoGB]

Yeah, I so want to see the extra 3 hours or so that were missing from the broadcast version. And I want to be able to chapter skip to the animated Sgt. Pepper's cover and such!!

Is there anyone we could email about this? It should be made available!!

 

[Paul D G]

I'm going to quote myself from thread http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...ight=anthology
I have not heard anything since. I think McCartney was recently in the studio working on the DVD for the Driving Rain tour but that's the only Beatle/DVD news I've heard in a while.
As a fan, it's really frustrating how closely they are guarding the Beatles stuff. While I can appreciate their not wanting to flood the market with crap compilations and the like, there is no excuse for not releasing Anthology and properly remastered albums (let alone the highest quality DVD releases for their films). I don't know what they're waiting for. The audience who grew up with them are growing older and, well, the Beatles themselves aren't immortal.
They've proven with 1 that there is still a hunger for Beatle related releases so why they don't start in with an annual Christmastime Beatle release is beyond me.
On the positive side it looks like the Anth DVD will see the light of day someday, and Let It Be might surface soon as well (but I'm not setting aside any cash just yet. I read recently that McCartney was asked why Let It Be hadn't been released yet and he didn't even know it wasn't!
(/rant)
-paul

 

[Brian Kidd]

By the way, the animated PEPPER cover was repurposed footage from a television special from 1987 called, "It Was Twenty Years Ago Today". I believe it aired on PBS.

 

[DanHaya]

Frankly, I have been waiting patiently for this one as well. I have the Anthology on VHS as well as the ABC version which I taped myself. I would love to trade up to DVDs (like with all my VHS tapes) and get some extra material as well as saving some space on my shelf.

I read that Miramax is releasing a new edition of "A Hard Day's Night" soon. Is it possible that the Beatles' catalogue has been in legal limbo or has been changing hands in recent years (like the RKO catalogue)? And was "Let it Be" ever released on VHS? I've never seen it.

Maybe someone should find out who owns the rights to these films and get a status report. They are too good to be sitting in a vault somewhere!

 

[Larry Geller]

And was "Let it Be" ever released on VHS? I've never seen it

It WAS released by Magnetic Video on VHS, Beta & Laser (which I own) in around 1981 or 1982 & pretty much disappeared immediately afterward. The tapes' quality was abysmal, but the laser is pretty good (especially for the time), however, on the Anthology laser you can see how REALLY good this footage could look from the clips used there.

 

[Jack Briggs]

By the way, the animated PEPPER cover was repurposed footage from a television special from 1987 called, "It Was Twenty Years Ago Today". I believe it aired on PBS.

It was. I saw it in the fall of '87 on KCET-Channel 28 in Los Angeles. Good documentary. The PBS affiliate followed it with that "John Lennon Speaks" kind of thing, featuring an actor doing The Great One the way Hal Holbrook does Clemens and the way Ed Flanders did Truman.

Again, Apple is sitting on a goldmine here. The Beatles would make for some impressive DVD sales figures.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Hopefully the eventual DVD release will not have the obscene amount of Edge Enhancement on the LaserDisc release. Some of the interview clips are almost unwatchable with the borders next to people's faces. Also, hopefully the DVD will include the excellent stereo PCM track from the Laser as well but I'm not holding my breath on that one. :frowning:

 

[Derek Miner]

It WAS released by Magnetic Video on VHS, Beta & Laser (which I own) in around 1981 or 1982

Also on RCA SlectaVision CED. I only mention this because I picked one up at a record show basically just to say I have a copy of Let It Be on video, even though I can't play it. I can watch the movie if I want to, but I won't get into that here.

 

[LarryDavenport]

I would love IW20YAT to be on DVD, providing it's the long version and not the shorter version shown on the CBC.

 

[MarkBurton]

Just as an FYI, courtsey of www.mcbeatle.de/macca
Sir Paul granted an interview to USA Today's Edna Gundersen. During the interview, Sir Paul announced that he's working on a reissue of Let It Be: Sir Paul told USA Today that he was working on a reissue of Let It Be, saying "We're cleaning up the film and going back to the original tape, before Phil Spector got hold of it."
The Daily Telegraph provides a bit more information on the project. According to Beatles activist, Keith Badman, "There's been no proper video of Let It Be before, but Apple has done an amazing job of cleaning up the picture quality. John Lennon and George Harrison hated the film, which is why it's been hidden away all these years. Lennon used to describe it as a 'project set up by Paul for Paul'."
Sir Paul still maintains a positive spin on the project saying that in the film, "We showed how a break-up of a group works. We didn't realize that we were sort of breaking up as it was happening." An Apple spokesman is being cautious not to divulge too many details about the project saying, "It's all up in the air and I can't say anything more than that at this stage."

 

[Paul-Gunther]

Doesn't Warner own the rights to Anthology now?

 

[Brian Kidd]

I think Apple owns all the movies and the Anthology. It's kind of like Lucas and STAR WARS. Lucas only licenses Fox to distribute the SW films; they don't own them. It's all up to Apple as to in and when the stuff gets released.

 

[Keith M.]

And Michael Jackson is soon to lose control of the song rights to Sony due to financial obligations...

 

[Jack Briggs]

Well, that's certainly good news.

 

[TheoGB]

Not if Sony won't sell them back to Macca, in my book...:frowning: