Movies about The beatles
If you’re in the mood for more rock biopics in the wake of Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman, then look no further than The Beatles, the greatest story in music. Here are some of the best Beatles film biopics to date.
Backbeat (1994)
Another look at the early years of the Beatles, zoning in on their days in the sleazy clubs of Hamburg. American actor Stephen Dorff plays the ill-fated Stu Sutcliffe, who dies aged just 21 and Sheryl “Laura Palmer off of Twin Peaks” Lee is his German girlfriend. Along the way, the Fab Four learn to become stars on stage and find their unique style. The music is performed by a supergroup featuring Dave Grohl, Mike Mills of R.E.M. and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth.
Backbeat (1994) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HQ]
Nowhere Boy (2009)
Aaron Johnson plays the young John Lennon, who is just rebuilding his relationship with his mother, who abandoned him as a boy. Kristin Scott Thomas plays John’s Aunt Mimi, who has been the lad’s guardian and disapproves of this new, disrupting influence in his life. More of a family drama than a rock biopic, it’s a convincing look into the Beatle’s formative years.
Nowhere Boy [Official US Trailer]
The Hours And The Times (1991)
Before Ian Hart played John Lennon in Backbeat, he had a show-stopping appearance in this low key film about the Beatle’s relationship with his manager Brian Epstein. The movie is about the reported relationship that the pair had while on holiday in Spain and speculates as to what may have happened. Not the most orthodox of biopics, but a fascinating film all the same.
The Hours and Times — Official Trailer — Oscilloscope Laboratories HD
Birth Of The Beatles (1979)
John Lennon was still alive when this film came out, which must have been weird for him. It kicks off in 1961 with John Lennon and fifth Beatle Stu Sutcliffe are at art school and ends just as the band plan to hit America. It’s a fair attempt at summing up the period (which was barely twenty years before the movie was made, so it looks authentic) and some of the casting is notable today, namely John “Nasty Nick Cotton” Altman as George Harrison and Nigel Havers in the role of George Martin!
birth of beatles clip 1979
Two Of Us (2000)
Intriguing drama directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, the man who directed the real Beatles in their Let It Be film. Jared Harris is John Lennon and Aiden Quinn is Paul McCartney and the movie is another speculative play about what may have happened when the two former Beatles met up in New York in 1976. It’s a compelling two-handed drama that’s surprisingly effective.
Two Of Us — Elevator Scene
John And Yoko — A Love Story (1985)
It’s occasionally embarrassing, but if you want the bare bones story of what happened when Lennon met Ono, this film will do the trick. Mark McGann is John, who embarks on an intense relationship with Japanese artists Yoko, played by Kim Miyori and takes us right up to the fateful night in New York in December 1980. Worth it to see future Doctor Who Peter Capaldi play George Harrison.
John Lennon 1 15 Love Story
The Linda McCartney Story (2000)
If John can do it, so can Paul. Gary Bakewell (who played Macca in Backbeat) is Paul, Elizabeth Mitchell (from the TV show Lost) is the woman who meets him when he’s the biggest star in the world. Together they buy a farm, go veggie and form an even bigger band, Wings. It’s obviously filmed in Vancouver rather than Britain, but this is an efficient look at the post-split McCartney and the live he forged for his family.
The Rutles (1978)
If you can’t be arsed with the real thing, here’s Monty Python star Eric Idle’s bizarre take on the story as the Pre-Fab Four shoot to fame and then fall out over the usual. Neil Innes writes some amazing Beatle parodies and Saturday Night Live alumni like Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi show up as weird characters. Can you spot genuine Beatle George Harrison’s cameo?
10 Movies & Documentaries to Watch to Get a Reel Feel for The Beatles
In light of the recent release of Peter Jackson’s new Disney+ docuseries, The Beatles: Vrať se, we’re looking back at some of the great movies and documentaries that came before it highlighting the Fab Four.
Scroll down for 10 flicks and docs that will give you a reel feel for The Beatles.
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The Beatles: Vrať se
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Top 10 Must See Films About the Beatles
HLAS: Rebecca Braytonová
These Beatles’ films are a must-see for all Beatlemaniacs! For this list, we’re looking at films, documentaries, and maybe a mini-series about and/or starring the biggest band there ever was. Our countdown includes “Magical Mystery Tour”, «Help!», “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years”, and more!
top 10 must-see movies about the Beatles
Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the top 10 must-see movies about the Beatles.
For this list, we’re looking at films, documentaries, and maybe a mini-series about and/or starring the biggest band there ever was.
Let us know in the comments which you think is the best portrayal of these famous faces.
#10: “Good Ol’ Freda” (2013)
Big fans will already know the story of the Beatles’ career by heart, but they may not know much about Freda Kelly, their long-time secretary. This interesting documentary puts a fresh spin on the Beatles’ history, following Freda’s role from when she joined the crew in 1962, staying until the break-up was finalized in the early 1970s. Rumors swirled around Freda just like everybody else in the band, including that she was getting married to Paul McCartney at one point. She was there through thick and thin, and it’s clear from her charisma in the talking heads why she became so popular.
#9: “Magical Mystery Tour” (1967)
Of all the movies the Beatles made themselves, “Magical Mystery Tour” performed the worst critically; but that doesn’t mean it’s not required viewing for any Beatles aficionado. This one was made for TV alongside the soundtrack album of the same name, originally airing on the BBC in the UK but getting a brief theatrical release in America some years later. It follows the band, of course, on a strange and surreal tour shot primarily in an abandoned, British air base. But Lennon eventually spoke out against the film’s poor critical reception, blaming the BBC for airing it in black-and-white. Yeah, black-and-white certainly will ruin a colorful, surrealist musical adventure.
#8: “Help!” (1965)
Unlike the first film starring the Beatles, this one was shot entirely in color, and they definitely took advantage of that by building big, exciting, colorful sets for the boys to inhabit. This time, Beatlemania is even more sinister, with an entire cult out to get Ringo; they’re left with only each other for protection as they flee from the various people who are after them. It didn’t do as well as its predecessor, but it’s a look at the Beatles just before their music began to evolve into the surrealism they became known for in the latter part of the decade. Years on, and “Help!” is more than just a gimmick; it still stands up as a classic.
#7: “Nowhere Boy” (2009)
Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars in this biopic of John Lennon’s early life, which begins with his time at school as a teenager and ends when he, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison left for Hamburg in 1960. Though they were all equally talented, Lennon was really the core member at the beginning who brought the others together through his previous band, the Quarrymen – which you’ll see in this movie. But more than that, it’s about Lennon’s complex family, as he was raised by his Aunt Mimi and only reconnected with his mother Julia as a teenager. It’s a sad but heartfelt portrayal of one of history’s greatest songwriters, with its title being inspired by the “Rubber Soul” song, “Nowhere Man.”
#6: “George Harrison: Living in the Material World” (2011)
Martin Scorsese is one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, so it’s only fitting that it was he who examined one of the greatest musicians of all time in this documentary about George Harrison. He’d already sadly passed away in 2001, a decade before the documentary was made, but his widow Olivia Arias provided Scorsese with a wealth of personal material and home videos to help craft this beautiful portrait. Harrison was arguably the one driving the Beatles’ change of sound in the late ‘60s, despite his famously quiet demeanor; it was his idea to go to India, for instance. He was a more than worthy subject for this three-and-a-half-hour masterpiece.
#5: “Yellow Submarine” (1968)
Taking inspiration from the “Revolver” track of the same name, “Yellow Submarine” exemplified the psychedelic flower-power imagery of the late 60s. Other than a live-action closing appearance, The Beatles themselves weren’t too involved with the movie, which was directed by George Dunning with a story by Lee Minoff based on “Yellow Submarine” that was subsequently adapted into a screenplay by a few collaborators. A few as-yet-unheard songs also debuted in the film, however, like George Harrison’s “Only a Northern Song”. Despite the fact that their cartoon counterparts were voiced by other people, the Beatles did like the musical comedy in the end, with Lennon even showing it to his son. It was certainly an “Alice in Wonderland” for the twentieth century; thankfully, the planned CGI remake was canceled.
#4: “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years” (2016)
In 1966, following four solid years of Beatlemania, the band decided to retire from touring and live performance. This documentary takes a close look at what those chaotic four years were like, going from when the Beatles first made it big through their successful US tour and huge performance at Shea Stadium, and ultimately ending after a difficult American tour and the backlash that erupted following Lennon’s contentious comments about Jesus. They then retreated into the studio and gave the world “Sgt. Pepper.” It is quintessential viewing to understand their meteoric rise to fame, their immense talent, and the vital role their manager Brian Epstein played in their discovery and marketability.
#3: “A Hard Day’s Night” (1964)
Undoubtedly the best Beatles movie starring the actual Beatles, “A Hard Day’s Night” was a smash-hit in 1964 and remains a cultural touchstone for the era; no movie captures the zeitgeist of Beatlemania like this one as we see them battling to escape their legions of dedicated fans. Much like their other movies and, indeed, the music itself, “A Hard Day’s Night” is both an emblem of the decade and absolutely timeless. It’s still fresh, it’s still funny, and still a relevant testament to how pretty much everything the Beatles ever touched turned to gold. They were as fun and chaotic as they were talented.
#2: “Imagine: John Lennon” (1988)
Released over 7 years after Lennon’s tragic murder in New York, “Imagine” is Lennon in his own words, carefully constructed from never-before-seen footage recorded before his death. It’s probably the closest thing we have to a look at Lennon’s life the way he wanted people to see him. In fact, it was commissioned by his widow,Yoko Ono, hence why the filmmakers were able to get such close access to Lennon’s personal effects. And it goes beyond his time with the band through his long solo career of the 1970s, in which he generated many more classics. We see him compose his masterpieces, talk about his home life, put together his and Yoko’s protests against the Vietnam War and more.
Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few Honorable Mentions:
“Yesterday” (2019)
In a World with No Beatles, Can One Man Bring Them Back?
“I Wanna Hold Your Hand” (1978)
Will These Beatlemaniacs Ever Get to Meet their Favorite Band?
«To co děláš!» (1996)
If the Beatles Were American, They’d Have Been the Wonders
“The U.S. vs. John Lennon” (2006)
It Shows How American Authorities Repeatedly Failed to Deport Lennon
#1: “The Beatles: Get Back” (2021)
In 1970, the documentary “Let It Be” was filmed and released alongside the album — but none of the Beatles showed up to its premiere. Capitalizing on the in-fighting just before they broke up, it was the only version of this story we had for a long time. However, Peter Jackson’s mammoth, almost eight-hour documentary, for which he had access to the original 60 hours of footage from “Let It Be” changes history; and yes, because it was originally meant to be a feature film, we’re counting it as one despite its division into 3 parts on Disney+. In “The Beatles: Get Back,” we see that the Fab Four didn’t only have fun together writing songs despite the impending breakup, but also that they tried to talk out their issues. It puts to rest many myths about the Beatles and gives an incredible insight into their process.
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