What makes it different from others?

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

As a younger Beatles fan latching onto everything Beatles I can find, I was hoping for the ultimate with the Beatles Anthology.The problem with reviewing the Beatles Anthology is making the distinction between the band, the content and the series. The band are undoubtedly great, the content in the series is unrivaled, but in all honesty the production of the series is very disappointing. The editing looks absolutely amateur, and the cutting in of interviews to tell a narrative does not work. Hearing Paul speak on a topic for minutes and then a three word grab from a poorly recorded historical interview from John is farcical at times. The series really suffers for a lack of a Narrator.I also found it relatively tame and a selective at times, which you would have to expect from an official project.But all that said, it's definitely worth watching because of the amazing footage.

Until I saw this documentary as a kid, I didn't know about the Beatles that much even as I had heard a few of their songs. This documentary then, which originally ran three nights at two hours at a clip, was recorded each night and I watched the tape repeatedly over the years. It's got lots and lots of great music (not just of the Beatles but some others as well, influences in the early rock and roll and rockabilly to Bob Dylan and then to Ravi Shankar), and all of the interviews fold into one another without them becoming disjointed. If anything its quite amusing, and always of interest, to hear the similar sides to the same story, or the different sides to them, both significant and not. But it is incumbent upon most Beatles fans to check out the DVD set, which extends the running time to a point where you basically will not be able to watch it all in one sitting. This doesn't diminish its value in being long; like any other made-for-TV documentary it packs in all the information that would be needed to tell the story, all the little ins and outs (did you know, for example, that there were five Beatles that played only once at shows in Hamburg in 1962?) It's got some magnificent clips to put along to it as well, all archival, with some obscure (like John Lennon reading excerpts from a poetry/kids book he wrote in 64, or the Beatles off on retreat in the Himilayas) and others quite well-known (their movie clips, Ed Sullivan appearances, "All you Need is Love", etc). In short, its not only worthwhile to the fan to seek this out if you have not yet, it's almost essential viewing in some ways, a telling of an epic story of rock and roll, pop culture, mass hysteria, and the 60s all wrapped up around the 'fab-4'. Some of it is also very funny.

Very long, exhaustive documentary following the Beatles from their births up until their breakup in 1968. All three of the remaining Beatles are interviewed (as of 1995) to share their views of the band. We even hear John Lennon's thoughts--he recorded quite a large number of tapes about the band before he was tragically murdered.I saw it on TV back in 1995. It was great but the DVD is 100 times better. The picture and sound are crystal clear and the songs are nice, loud and in stereo (with THREE separate audio options to choose from). There is rare concert and studio footage all during the movie. Just mesmerizing.However some things are conveniently ignored--their manager Brian Epstein's homosexuality and attraction toward John (purportedly it was consummated); the horrible way they treated him; their drug use is REALLY played down; the hatred that Paul had toward Yoko Ono is ignored and Paul and George's battles are sort of glossed over. Also there is next to no information of their personal lives at all.Still, this is a definite must-see for all Beatle fans. If only they hadn't ended it with that dreadful "new" song "Free As A Bird".

If you could roll the respective significance of `Citizen Kane,' `Gone With the Wind' and `Lawrence of Arabia' into one film, you might have somewhat of an idea what the Beatles mean to contemporary music. Indeed, while Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly laid the groundwork, the Beatles forever defined the musical and artistic boundaries by which all future pop players would be judged. Indeed, the DVD format has provided modern day audiences with a chance to see why the Fab Four's legacy is something much more significant than a mere history lesson. `The Beatles Anthology' (released April 1, 2003 on DVD) picks up where the 2002-issued collector's edition release of `A Hard Day's Night' left off, providing more insight into the minds and music of the band that put Liverpool on the map. In addition to the in-depth chronology taking viewers on a magical mystery trip through the 1960s, new and never-before-seen material features interviews with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the late George Harrison at Abbey Road Studios in May 1995 as they listen to classic Beatles tracks with producer George Martin. The jewel of the release is additional footage of the three one-time mop tops jamming together in George Harrison's garden.DVD extras? You get them here. Indeed, the DVD release features a bonus disc featuring approximately 80 minutes of material more than the deluxe, eight-volume VHS release that expanded on the ABC special broadcast on Nov. 19, 22 and 23, 1995. Needless to say, all fans of rock music and 20th century pop culture should own this collection.