I'm a HUGE Beatles fan, and have been since the mid-1970s. I'd watch anything involving John, Paul, George, and Ringo, or even tangentially related to them. But, this is so overboard, that even I had difficulty staying awake through it all.
The good: The video quality is simply amazing, and a lot of it (especially after they move to Apple) has a home movie type of feel to it, which is kind of nice. And, there are a few subtle insights to be gained, although those sorts of things are likely only of interest to hardcore fans.
The bad: It is just way, way, way, way, way, way, way, ..., too long! If I'd been in charge, I'd have cut the first episode to no more than 1 hour, the second to 15 minutes, and the third to about 1 hour. That would have resulted in a fairly long movie, but one that could have maintained a sense of pace. This thing just plods on forever, with nothing much happening most of the time (especially in the 2nd episode).
The ugly: I remember reading a George Martin quote to the effect that, when the Beatles went into the studio, it was magical, except for the one time that they tried to make a movie about it (obviously referring to this epic fail). With the exception of 4 or 5 songs, the music ranges from lame to absolutely terrible. There are a bunch of things that later needed up on Abbey Road, and those are mildly interesting, but the good versions of those are available on the Anthology album. Of the remaining 4 or 5 decent songs, only a couple take much screen-time. The most dreadful of all is "Dig a Pony" which, IMHO, is far and away the worst Beatles song that ever made it onto one of their LPs. The making and performance of that awful song takes up a big chunk of time and it is simply cringe-inducing.
The bottom line: If you are big Beatles fan, you'll want to watch this show. But even for fans, don't hesitate to fast forward. The chance that you'll miss something interesting is remote...
The good: The video quality is simply amazing, and a lot of it (especially after they move to Apple) has a home movie type of feel to it, which is kind of nice. And, there are a few subtle insights to be gained, although those sorts of things are likely only of interest to hardcore fans.
The bad: It is just way, way, way, way, way, way, way, ..., too long! If I'd been in charge, I'd have cut the first episode to no more than 1 hour, the second to 15 minutes, and the third to about 1 hour. That would have resulted in a fairly long movie, but one that could have maintained a sense of pace. This thing just plods on forever, with nothing much happening most of the time (especially in the 2nd episode).
The ugly: I remember reading a George Martin quote to the effect that, when the Beatles went into the studio, it was magical, except for the one time that they tried to make a movie about it (obviously referring to this epic fail). With the exception of 4 or 5 songs, the music ranges from lame to absolutely terrible. There are a bunch of things that later needed up on Abbey Road, and those are mildly interesting, but the good versions of those are available on the Anthology album. Of the remaining 4 or 5 decent songs, only a couple take much screen-time. The most dreadful of all is "Dig a Pony" which, IMHO, is far and away the worst Beatles song that ever made it onto one of their LPs. The making and performance of that awful song takes up a big chunk of time and it is simply cringe-inducing.
The bottom line: If you are big Beatles fan, you'll want to watch this show. But even for fans, don't hesitate to fast forward. The chance that you'll miss something interesting is remote...