Ron Howard's Beatles Documentary Feature Film About The Band's Touring Years, "Eight Days a Week"*

You had me at four...

 

Personally I have serious doubts that Whoopi was even at Shea. I too thought her segment seemed scripted and phony.

Darrin L. raises a valid point. Ronnie Spector had toured with the Beatles and knew them personally. She should have made it in the film instead of Whoopi.

It's about artistic merit. It's nothing against Whoopi she just didn't add anything of value.

 

Good point. Yes...I would also add Sigourney Weaver. To be honest, I forgot about her, because she left no lasting impression at all.

 

Nothing extraordinary about that. Except EVERYTHING. Good lord.

 

Sigourney Weaver was there and she was reasonably eloquent about what it felt like to be a teenage girl at a Beatles concert........but once again that time could have been better used.

If we must have talking heads I'd rather hear from people directly connected to the events shown. That's what I loved about the Compleat Beatles. They was not a minute of wasted footage and the commentators had something of value to say.

 

Just checked back in with this thread, but there was no need to. These are strange posts indeed. You folks are actually debating which B-List celebrities should be interviewed about The Beatles? Why?

 

I would say it's because of the perceived shortcomings of the film. I had not seen it prior to popping for the 2-disc set. I expected something different from what I got.

I really was surprised by the fact it didn't have a lot of footage I didn't already own and the replaced (phony) audio was unforgivable.

This falls well short of Anthology. It's Beatles 101. I wish I had spent the money on vinyl instead.

Why do they release new product like this but deny us a legitimate release of Let It Be, the Compleat Beatles etc...

 

I was disappointed that the movie shows no footage from the '67 or '68 tours. I mean 'Mr. Kite', 'Savoy Truffle' and
'Fool On the Hill' were ELECTRIFYING live! When John fell off the stage in Salzburg, cameras were rolling.
How could Ron not include this stuff!!!!!!!
A travesty!!!!
And no Buddy Hackett interview?

 

LOL

 

I KNOW!!!!! WHERE IS BUDDY HACKETT?

 

No Buddy Hackett, but they did get Buddy Ebsen.

 

I do not know what some of you folks expect...it's the BEATLES for crying out loud....ENJOY IT FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH.....oh wait I feel another great comeback post any minute...wait for it! Bang!

 

I really do not get the general level of negativity regarding Whoopi Goldberg's inclusion in the documentary.

While I cannot say I'm a big fan of hers, and she certainly would not have occurred to me as an obvious choice, the story about her mom taking her to Shea as a surprise was very touching. Imagine how cool it would have been to experience that. I can only guess most of us on this forum never got to see the Fabs live, let alone at Shea.

IMHO, there are numerous flaws in the documentary, most of which have been documented in this thread. If Whoopi's inclusion was the "worst" thing about EDAW, it would have been a great documentary.

 

It is a great documentary.

 

Great? Well...maybe. I think Mr. Ollivander summed it up well.

 

The film is about the Beatles' tours. I'd say, if you were in the audience at one of their shows, you are directly connected to the events shown.

 

I agree. Some people are picking it apart over overdubs, color not right, etc. So what!! It's a fine documentary.
Now some people may not watch it because of the negative comments here. If you are a Beatles fan watch it, I'm sure you will enjoy it.

 

A recent "Things We Said Today" podcast reviewed the DVD and the bonus features.

 

"Most popular" strictly because of the Shea bonus...

"returning" strictly because of the Shea bonus...

 

Wow...that is a very good point. Once the DVD/BlueRay was released, with no Shea, it sent them running to theater to at least see it.

 

Anyone know what this "special extended edition" is that is being given a long theatre run in February/March? It also includes Shea by the way (but as an extra)

 

Has anybody else had an issue with their DVD release of this film not including the film itself, but what appears to be a disc of "bonus footage"? I've started a thread about it in "Visual Arts":

Question about the DVD version of "The Beatles: Eight Days a Week-The Touring Years" »

 

Yes there is already a replacement plan in place.

 

I'm assuming that the reported defect only affects the single-DVD version then, and not the 2-DVD version?

 

I have watched both discs of the 2-DVD version, several times, and I have not detected any defects on either disc.