Eight Days A Week: The Touring Years

[wolvesgirlgonewild]

Has anyone had the pleasure of seeing the film yet? If so is it worth seeing? Thinking of buying it for myself with my birthday money

[Chippa]

I'm seeing it this week. It looks like a must-see for Beatles fans.

[wolvesgirlgonewild]

Ooh lovely, would love to know what you thought of it!

[queenofthehours]

I sooooo much want to see this film but I don't know when it will be as I'm too busy to travel to movies right now.

I hear it's by Ron Howard and this both worries and reassures me.

Reassures, as there is, on the whole, no such thing as a bad Ron Howard movie.

Worries, as this will mean that the film will be very USA-centric and not focus on the British tours so much.

[wolvesgirlgonewild]

I think I'll be very excited over listening to Paul and Ringo speak I agree that there is a worry he will focus on the US tours rather than all the other tours but seeing my babies will be enough for me I think haha

[Chippa]

Saw it today. It was an interesting look at the band's early years.They were definitely a great live band, before the whole insanity of fame drove them back into the studio. Good to hear Ringo and Paul giving their insight as well. Probably one of the better music docs I've seen.

[wolvesgirlgonewild]

When's it coming out on DVD? I'll probably buy it with my birthday money 😉

[queenofthehours]

I have no shame saying here that my main point of interest in the film is George. Though I expect, being the "quiet one" he'll be overlooked for Paul and Ringo - as they are living - and John because he's a legend.

Each Beatle at different points in my life has been my favourite and now I've finally discovered George I think the world has been missing an awful lot by overlooking him.

[wolvesgirlgonewild]

I do love George a lot because of his nature and I think me listening to The Traveling Wilburys really made me realise how much I've overlooked George's talents o mean he was very talented in The Beatles but was overlooked by John and Paul a lot, same with Ringo. I love them all for different reasons but I do have a soft spot for Paul and Ringo slightly

[queenofthehours]

I went to see this marvellous documentary the other night. I don't know which parts of my review might be spoilers for anyone but if you are worried about spoilers then don't read on!

First I want to point out that if you are a big Beatles fan it is in your best interest to see this movie in a cinema with a big screen and loud speakers. A DVD would be adequate but you will enjoy it more when it’s loud and your attention is on the boys 100%. I say this because it will be the closest we can get to seeing and feeling the Beatles live as you would as a fan at the time. Honestly, I felt like I could easily have turned into one of those screaming, crying fans right there in the cinema (actually, THIS is one benefit of watching on DVD – privacy to scream and cry!). The whole feeling of Beatlemania is just there in the film and the music. If you want a taste of how it would have felt to be a fan in 1964 you have it here.

My favourite parts of the movie were the old film clips of Blackpool and Manchester (the only British gigs featured I think) and other performances. The clips looked as fresh as if they were filmed yesterday and the colour was excellent. There was also a lot of footage and pictures that I had never seen before.

Other than the band, my favourite character in the film was the “George has sexy eyelashes” girl. She was so adamant! Look out for her .

I think the documentary does Ron Howard proud. It has its faults but what are faults for one viewer might not be the same for another. Personally I would have liked to see a lot more George, but then I'm biased! I did spend the whole time marvelling at how beautiful he is but then I'm sure Ringo, John, and Paul fans would have liked more of their favourite too. There was a lot more of John than the others in the old film clips though I think. I would also have liked more about the band before the "Touring Years" and after them, though I realise this wasn’t the point of the film. I think the movie glossed over a lot of things and was quit simplistic - you don't learn much but you do discover a great deal. I mean, if you didn't know your Beatles you wouldn't learn anything deeper than you needed to (just like the Beatles Story in Liverpool) but you do discover things about those touring years you might have overlooked before, like just what an excellent live unit they actually were.

My biggest issue is with the interviews. They seemed to interrupt the flow of the film, sort of breaking the fourth wall perhaps. Maybe if Ron had simply played the voices over the Beatles clips I'd have liked it better. I also think some of the wrong people were interviewed. Why is Eddie Izzard there? Why him in particular? Though the chap I hadn't heard of before from the USA radio station, who didn't think much of going on tour with the band, provided some interesting new viewpoints. I thought the film was very nicely put together. You actually feel the right feelings you'd expect with a Ron Howard film but it would definitely have had a different tone if John were alive to be interviewed, he may have made it less sugary – not that the movie was overly sweet. The ending and credits were both what I expected and what I didn't expect. Of course 'A Day in the Life' was going to introduce the end of the film as the band moved from touring to Sgt Pepper. I'd hoped to see some of the rooftop concert at Savile Row and was not disappointed. The credits obviously featured 'Eight Days a Week' over them but as a nice touch, afterwards, the Beatles Christmas disc 1963 was unexpectedly played. The audience I saw it with enjoyed this very much as there was plenty of laughter.

Next, after the movie, as a second treat, the Shea concert was shown. It was wonderful and revealed just how good a band the Beatles were, especially in such circumstances as Shea was. Those fans! You could see from the band’s faces that they were enjoying the gig. I loved seeing Brian Epstein standing at the front looking very calm like he was thinking “yeah, I knew my lads could create a performance like this right from the start, I’m not surprised”. I didn't want the show to end! With the novelty of hearing the group as loud as if you were really there, I felt almost like I did when I saw ELO. There I was tapping my feet, singing and nodding along thoroughly enjoying everything. I was very "in the moment"  .

It was just a fun film, like the movie was. You left the theatre feeling 100% better than when you went in though you do feel the loss in the knowledge that the Band are no more! I left the theatre with ‘She’s a Woman’ lodged in my head and it’s still there now!

I know a few people here are huge Beatles fans but, at a guess, I expect wolvesgirlgonewild will take particular enjoyment from this movie/concert package and may even turn into a bit of a Rosie Petrofsky?  -

(clips of this Robert Zemeckis film used to be on YouTube but this is the only place I can find them now)

[wolvesgirlgonewild]

Thank you for the wonderful review of Eight Days a Week queenofthehours I really look forward to watching it! Ah just seen the clip you put on the post, don't think I'm quite in the fangirl lead the girls in this film are but I do get very excited when I see my boys on screen, especially Paul and Ringo!

[queenofthehours]

DVD out 21st November, the special edition looks tempting - 100 minutes of extras!