Is 'Let it Be' DVD finally coming?

I got it on view master reels. Great 3D but no audio.

 

I think what it gets down to is on the whole, Let It Be does not show the Beatles at their best, but there are some great moments within the movie. Instead of trying to make a new happy edition director's cut for now, they excerpted the music performances in it to create new music videos. This is not an attempt to push out whatever material is left unreleased, but a marketing move to keep them out there for the current generation of music buyers.

 

uh now WHERE did you EVER hear of such a thing??!?

 

I fell asleep watching it at a midnight showing in a theatre in Montgomery, Alabama in the mid 70's. True story.

 

I hope that the appearance of those clips does not mean that they are going to clean up the audio for the official release. They already fixed John guitar on Get Back when they released it on the Anthology, and that would be OK, since it is so painfully off, but I hope they resist the urge to sweeten things any further. The honesty is one of the film's real virtues.

 

I had a similar experience with Magical Mystery Tour - bought it when it came out on VHS but fell asleep both times I tried to watch it!

Still have never managed to sit through it in one.

 

I suppose it's conceivable that Apple has created "new" music videos to go with those particular songs (using the LP audio). These might be snippets of a bigger project. We know they've been tinkering with the footage since Anthology days (see the various "Naked" promos, Japanese TV adverts, et cetera).

As for the fact that yes, it is out on an old laserdisc and VHS/Beta tapes, the thing about a DVD issue would be that the footage would be considerably cleaned up. "Let it Be" looks awful on those old formats, muddy and dark. The sound is terrible too. And I for one would welcome a Director's Cut along with the theatrical version, which is - I agree - pretty damn boring. Some of the known outtakes are extraordinary.

Were they miserable? Sure, I've read that everywhere. We all have. Is it history? No question. The biggest question is: Since money has always been Apple's prime motivator, why are they letting this thing gather dust?

 

As @Anthology123 said above the film does not show The Beatles at their best and regardless of issues within the camp on whether they want to release this or not, the idea of putting out a film in this day and age showing the band in an unflattering light may not make business sense. However, I would imagine this could be mitigated in some way were the film to be released in a package where it was not the headline product (for the casual consumer - for us it would always be headline I would guess). So should Apple or whomever decide to release this I would think it would be as part of a Let It Be deluxe package, perhaps expanded album, book and film in one with maybe a standalone release as a lower b-strategy marketing product. But then I don't work for Apple, or in marketing, so I could be very, very wrong.

 

Did they? Where?

 

As for the "unflattering light" argument: I mean, it's not "A Hard Day's Night." It's a different sort of film. Do we really think that Apple is concerned with the Beatles' "image" in 2015? It's history. It's like saying "Hey, that Civil War had a lot of dead people ... better not make a documentary about it." Part of the reason the film's reputation as a myth-killing downer is the fact that much of it - the way it was edited, amidst the apathetic Beatle environment at Apple in 1970 - is just plain boring. You can hear on the Nagra reels that there was a good of good stuff happening, too. I think we've all been colored by John's 1970 Rolling Stone interview, where he describes how miserable it was for him (and yes, it was George's "Winter of Discontent" and all that). But it's history. Everybody who cares knows all the stories.

 

I still have my original Beta release copy. LOL

 

I am really sick of this eternal planning for the next decade anniversary campaign nonsense. What a profound lack of imagination in coming up with marketing ideas.

 

I still have my Laser Disc from 1981! Maybe I should have taken that $400 for it 25 years ago! Heck.....there's even bootleg blu-rays of LIB being sold! If it doesn't get released within the next 5 years or by the 50th anniversary in 2020......it probably never will! That said....if it's ever released, I want a physical disc copy and not some downloaded HD version. A Super Deluxe version regardless of the cost, is what I'm hoping for!

 

Did Yoko vote yes or no? She's been a somewhat sympathetic figure in Beatleland for the past 35 years. Let it Be would be a reminder for many who don't realize just how ever present she was during that period.

 

John misses a few notes on the rooftop Get Back. I thought they fixed it on the Anthology. Maybe I am remembering incorrectly.

 

There were several rooftop versions, the Anthology CD and DVD use different takes.

 

I don't have it, and I've never seen the entire thing. It's a Beatles Holy Grail of sorts.

 

I am thinking of the original film

 

The original film had both versions. The 'ragged' version is the last song played, audio also on A3.

 

I'd argue the complete opposite for your first point, and counter that just about EVERYONE knows how ubiquitous she was in that period...

 

Update: They are not new, but popped up as new because of some reorganizing on the YouTube channel

 

I wish they would release it, with the book too. My book fell apart at the binding in the 80's. And my DVD is lousy, jumping from small screen tape quality to wide screen DVD quality and back again, over and over.
Except for the end on the roof, which was cleaned up a few years ago.

 

If all these rumours had been true (including the so-called 'insiders' at EMI or Apple) we've had Let It Be releases every year from 1993 onwards! The only message I believe now is a press release om The Beatles' website.....

 

Am I correct that it was originally filmed in 16mm? It really would be nice to see this as a blu-ray. Even 8mm and Super 8mm film looks way better with a proper hi-def transfer. Proof? Check out the blue-ray of Endless Summer (16mm, blown up to 35mm for distribution), or the blu-ray of Dogtown and Z-Boys (tons of 8mm and S8).

 

I'm really just referring to the general fan that most "new" Beatles products are marketed to, not the folks here who have read/watched/listened to everything a hundred times over.