"The Beatles: Eight Days A Week" (Ron Howard movie) (The Beatles Live Project) | Page 13 | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

The copyright issue would explain why neither She´s a woman or Everybody´s trying to be my baby was added to the premiere screening. Yes, the sound was improved, but it was advertised just before it started as a “30 minute concert”, which of course it wasn´t. It was difficult to tell whether it was the original sound being used or the partly re-recorded sound. I looked specially at Ringo´s mouth during his song, and it seemed to be the real thing. Maybe they just had access to the original film but had an option to use another sound recording. Time will tell. The film still had the weird edit during “A hard day´s night” where at least two edits have George playing his Gretsch instead of the Rickenbacker which was the guitar being used for that song. I wonder what called for those edits?

The documentary itself was nice, but not much more. What meanmistermustard wrote sums up several of the issues. No footage of any kind at all, Beatles or no Beatles, from Hamburg, not the 1962 colour film, way too much studio talk over still images, too many people without connection to the story telling their views -many of which were identical. No taped of filmed interview with Mal Evans were included, he was barely mentioned. Neil A, Brian E, Derek T, Tony B and several others were vital parts of the story that could have been featured a little but more. 

The fan footage was not used to a great extent, as expected. The Anthology pre-production staff spent years buying every little bit of film of the Beatles, but obviously failed with the original untouched Shea Stadium footage. Ok, and now this production company did the same with fan films, advertising for it, getting it, and using very little of it. Such a shame. Quality may be poor, but the historic importance is not. that would have added to the story the bit “The Beatles as seen from the fans´ view”. The story just covers the bit that the fans could not hear them because of all the screaming. No mentions if they could see them, or how or what they could see.

I may have to see the film again though. Because of the live streaming from London, the sound was slightly behind throughout the interviews, the film and the Shea do. Those interviewers by the way, did not really do a good job, I think. Calling the group an “overnight success” and then cutting off Paul and Ringo when they try to tell him they were not caused the man next to me to shout aloud “Shut up!” to the man on stage who was so full of himself. He even took time -on the stage- to take selfies with himself and the two Beatles. Yoko seemed to be a bit off, not really saying much beyond “you know”. But, I think it was her who said “It´s all about the great music they made”. So true.