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[Early Access!] The Beatles Cinematic Universe (Patreon)

Published:
2023-09-26 05:15:21
Edited:
2024-09-09 12:23:46
Imported:
2026-06

Content

Hey everyone,

This one's been a long time coming! My YouTube video on the five films of the Beatles: A Hard Day's Night, HELP!, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine, and Let It Be.

I've uploaded it here a few days early, ad-free for Patrons with Early Access.

I hope you all enjoy it, I think it's the best video I've made in a while!

Thanks,

E.

P.S. The thumbnail is a work-in-progress so don't be alarmed by the jankiness of it!

Files

The Beatles Cinematic Universe

The films of The Beatles: A Hard Day's Night, HELP!, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine, and Let It Be. Five movies that had a profound impact on both 1960s culture and the future of cinema. In this video I look back on how and why these were made and analyse how the Beatles’ identity and evolution as a band informed these films and how the films, in turn, informed their identity. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/elliotroberts Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elliotroberts Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElliotRoberts5 Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/elliotroberts

Comments

Bradley Hughes

I’ve only seen the artwork but yes yes YES

DannyDevours

I love the vastly different styles of artistic expression throughout their career as a band. It’s so interesting and creates an amazing atmosphere no matter what album era you are delving into. So fun rediscovering The Beatles lately considering I hadn’t listened to them since I was a kid.

Fathom

Yessss. I'm at home sick atm - this is the perfect pick-me-up. Thanks for your work, Elliot!

Sarah

So happy to see the notification for this! Thank you for shouting out John Lennon looking for the sugar, love seeing that silly side of his

Eric Cheung

I saw the films out of order, so I wonder how much that reflects my memories of them. I saw Help! soon after the Beatles Anthology came out, as that's when I started being a fan, and the VHS was a Christmas present. I agree that Help! kind of drags a bit during the Buckingham Palace sequence, but I loved the absurdity of the film, and the pace quickens back up nicely. Not long after that was Yellow Submarine. For me, the film drags when they get to that hideout in Pepperland. The film even seems to think so, when it gets more quiet around that time. It's a similar point in the film as with Help!, so it also picks right back up again, soon after. I thought the phrase "Beatles to battle" seemed a bit counter to the narrative of both the Beatles and the film, but I absolutely loved the idea that they invited the Blue Meanies to the party at the end.

Eric Cheung

I saw A Hard Day's Night at a rerelease in cinemas in college. I was the only person at the screening, except for a mother and her young boy, who hoped he'd get to see Help! in a cinema at some point. This film has probably been the film I've revisited the most since seeing it, though I watched Help! and Yellow Submarine a lot in the 1990s. It really does prove that a lot of mid-century cinema just plain looks better in black-and-white because there's a real artifice to the lighting of color film of the period. It's also every bit as good as everyone says it is. In fact, I saw it again in the cinema at a screening in 2009 to celebrate Beatles Rock Band. The host asked who was watching it for the first time and a woman said, "Oh, you're so lucky!" when she saw a bunch of AHDN virgins raise their hands.

Eric Cheung

The next one I saw was probably Let it Be, from a bootleg I borrowed from a friend. He bundled it with a certain infamous Rolling Stones documentary that was barred from any screenings without the director present. I agree with your assessment that it's less a document of the disintegration of the band and more a Rorschach Test for people who already had that context going in, while Get Back is actually darker in some ways, simply because it is unvarnished, but much more cohesively told, showing the ups-and-downs in a clear timeline. I'm still hoping we'll get the 18-hour cut at some point.

Eric Cheung

Magical Mystery Tour is one I think I borrowed from the library some time in the aughts. It can be a sleepy experience, if you're not in the mood to pay attention to it, but if you are, then it's a fun, light experience. "Deathcab for Cutie" is kind of the stand-out sequence for me. I mean, it was compelling enough that a band took it for its name.

noremac

another great video, ive always thought ‘a hard day’s night’ had tons of artistic merit and still would even if the beatles had nothing to do with it

Matt Tregortha

Been looking forward to this one! Btw thanks for your Weyes Blood video Elliot - I’m a huge fan of her music now and my wife and I are seeing her live later this year! 👍

Peter Melling

Another fantastic video, Elliot! I haven’t seen the Beatles movies ever since I was a really little kid, so hearing your take on them has motivated me to check them out again. Richard Lester’s direction is especially noteworthy, as I feel people don’t talk about him often enough in “great director” circles - Superman II’s troubled production might have quashed that discussion, What I find so impressive about Magical Mystery Tour is that despite the change away from Richard Lester, the special maintained the manic energy of his two movies. I had feared it would be a Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park-tier mess, but it’s a relief to know it isn’t.

Bennett Billard

Time to put on The Beatles Movie Medley to set the mood.

Marshal Riley

I always loved the adventures of paul on the floor segment from help lol

Marshal Riley

but also LOVE the video, I've been curious what your thoughts are on these for a while

Kathryn Coffey

When hearing the other Beatles talk about the Magical Mystery Tour film, it's almost as if they're saying, "that was all Paul's fault." lol. In all seriousness, though, I love how you explained how the films they made over the years tied into how the group evolved. Plus, George was always my favorite part of any Beatle movie (The scene where John the Wizard brings tea for his fellow wizards is one of my fav scenes, too).

Grafty

Ahhh. Loved this. I’ve still not seen Magical Mystery Tour. The original plan (or press release anyway) with Get Back was to eventually re-release the Let It Be film as well, but it’s been all quiet since then, so I dunno. Quite want to see you do a video on Spiceworld…!

Bennett Billard

The description of Magical Mystery Tour here not only describes exactly why I love the special but also why that period up to early '68 in general is among my favorites.

Larry Leviathan

Another banger video. I love how you didn't elaborate on the Elvis clip, just let it stand for itself lol. I recently watched HDN and I did not care for it at all sadly but this helped me appreciate it more. It also struck me how the New Yorker quote sounded exactly like what I've heard older people say about Taylor Swift. The others seem much more interesting! I always finish your videos with a slightly larger watchlist on letterboxd lol. Also love your sweater!!

Alexis Angiano

Woo!! I’ve been waiting for this one. I love A Hard Day’s Night so so much I quote it often. Specifically “he’s right you know.” “There ya go.” But I have to say that Help! is a personal favorite because it’s just absolutely chaotic, very campy & it’s my favorite Beatles album. I love the absurdity & the wackiness of it all. When I found out years later that they were high while making it, it made me enjoy it even more. But anywho, this video was so informative & I absolutely love how passionate you are about these guys. Excellent video!

Gaby G

I appreciated this video so much! The Beatles Cinematic Universe has always held a special place in my heart - the way I "discovered" the Beatles was through watching the 50th anniversary edition of the Help! movie when I was a kid. Even though I hadn't seen or heard much of the Beatles before that, I was instantly mesmerized by the musical performances in Help! and the way they were filmed. (And of course, I loved all the absurdity, and preteen me thought Paul was so cute.) "The Night Before" is still my favorite Beatles song of all time, because I'll never forget the tremendous feeling of awe and excitement that washed over me as I watched that scene. Thanks for bringing back all that nostalgia!

Andrew Doran

This gave me such a giggle with those wonderful cuts with the ‘alternative’ versions of their songs. Loving your work.

Pun

One thing I absolutely loved about Get Back were the many, many silly moments all 4 of them took part in. It just makes me think that they definitely would have created more content after they took time for solo work. They just needed to get that out of their system to find themselves individually. I'm sure millions of fans have already said this but I just get sad thinking about what they would have sounded like AFTER getting back together. What kind of material would they have come back with? I take solace in the fact that there is probably an alternate reality where this did happen and the citizens of THAT world are blessed to know the answer to this question.