The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years

Name: The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years
Genre: Music, Documentary
Released: September 16, 2016
Duration: 137 min
Rating: 72

2016

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews

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Universal acclaim based on 30 Ratings

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The Beatles: Eight Days A Week-The Touring Years

Now Playing: The Beatles: Eight Days A Week-The Touring Years

Movie Details & Credits

Abramorama | Release Date: September 16, 2016 | Not Rated

Summary: The Beatles: Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years documents the first part of The Beatles’ career (1962-1966) – the period in which they toured and captured the world’s acclaim. Ron Howard’s film explores how John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr came together to become the extraordinary phenomenon, The Beatles. ItThe Beatles: Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years documents the first part of The Beatles’ career (1962-1966) – the period in which they toured and captured the world’s acclaim. Ron Howard’s film explores how John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr came together to become the extraordinary phenomenon, The Beatles. It chronicles their inner workings – how they made decisions, created their music and built their collective career together – all the while, exploring The Beatles’ extraordinary and unique musical gifts and their remarkable, complementary personalities.… Expand

Director: Ron Howard

Genre(s): Music, Documentary

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 137 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Paul de Barros

Sep 14, 2016

A thoroughly delightful, crisply edited film. Read full review

Ty Burr

Sep 15, 2016

It’s a long, jangling, melodious soak, rich with backstage incident and wall-to-wall hits. Read full review

Joe Morgenstern

Sep 15, 2016

The substance is enchanting. Read full review

Fionnuala Halligan

Aug 16, 2016

By focusing on the touring footage, Howard’s picture distinguishes itself by allowing us to remember them as they started out while emphasising their skill as musicians (there’s an interesting comparison with Schubert and Mozart) and the endearing closeness of their unit. Read full review

Anthony Lane

Sep 19, 2016

As “Eight Days a Week” springs from color to black-and-white, and as frenzied action is intercut with stills, we get a delicious sense of doubleness. The Beatles now belong to an honored past, stuck there like an obelisk, and yet here they are, alive—busting out all over, time and time again. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Read full review

Kenneth Turan

Sep 15, 2016

The music is so strong, and such a demonstration of how potent the group was in action, that it alone makes the film worth seeing. Read full review

Guy Lodge

Aug 16, 2016

It comes as little surprise that Howard, a nimble and proficient storyteller in non-fiction and fiction like, hasn’t a natural documentarian’s drive for information: This diverting, brightly assembled boomer nostalgia trip won’t open the eyes of any existing Fab Four fans, however much it pleases their ears. Read full review

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User Reviews

Brent_Marchant

Sep 18, 2016

A fun, lively, nostalgic but never starstruck look back at the early days of the iconic rock 'n roll band that changed the music business, as well as the art form and the culture at large, forever. The combination of restored archive footage, along with new interviews with the band's twoA fun, lively, nostalgic but never starstruck look back at the early days of the iconic rock 'n roll band that changed the music business, as well as the art form and the culture at large, forever. The combination of restored archive footage, along with new interviews with the band's two surviving members and with diehard fans of the group, works tremendously, providing a balanced perspective that's both entertaining and informative. In a world beset by myriad challenges, it's refreshing to have a fun respite from its everyday worries, and this documentary fills the bill perfectly.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

AndyChaplin

Oct 15, 2016

Much more interesting and entertaining than I had expected. Well worth seeing and a good reminder about how varied their music was and how basic early concert technology was.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

43in2014

Nov 23, 2016

Related media: I grew up long after they broke up. I have seen some documentaries about them, but there are just so many documentaries. I have also read up about them on Wikipedia, but again, there are just so many things to read up on.
>
What's it like?: The first two-thirds is the usualRelated media: I grew up long after they broke up. I have seen some documentaries about them, but there are just so many documentaries. I have also read up about them on Wikipedia, but again, there are just so many things to read up on.
>
What's it like?: The first two-thirds is the usual documentary-style coverage of the Beatles's Touring Years: 1962 - 1966. The remaining one-third is the post-credit 35 minutes of restored and remastered footage of their 1965 concert at Shea Stadium. >
Tip: This documentary really out-did Marvel films in the post-credit department. It had 35 minutes of material after the credits had fully rolled. If you had left the cinema after watching the average content of the first two-third, you'd be kicking yourself. Leaving this chunk of the documentary to after the credits, without any indication that there is more coming up, is ridiculous on the part of the director! >
Pros: The post-credit 35 minutes of restored and remastered footage of the 1965 concert at Shea Stadium is what truly made the film. It was great!
>
Cons: The first two-thirds was decent but not very interesting if you already know a lot about the Beatles. How would the the different age groups rate it?
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Children: Average Teens: Average
Young adults: Average
Medium age adults: Good
Old adults: Good
My rating: 4/5 (no half scores). It is worth spending your money and watching it in the cinemas.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

TVJerry

Sep 26, 2016

Ron Howard directed this look at the Fab Four from their first recorded performances thru their last show at Candlestick Park. The footage (some of which is being shown for the first time) captures the magic and energy that the foursome generated…not to mention the endless screaming crowds.Ron Howard directed this look at the Fab Four from their first recorded performances thru their last show at Candlestick Park. The footage (some of which is being shown for the first time) captures the magic and energy that the foursome generated…not to mention the endless screaming crowds. It also contrasts their early charming "mop top" beginnings with the less enthuiastic experiences that ultimately ended their live concerts. It's crisply intercut with interviews from the Beatles and famous fans that adds a personal perspective to deepen the appreciation of their impact on the world. If you're like me, you'll sing along with every song and revel in the joy that their music still brings. (Look for Sigourney Weaver as a fan in the Hollywood Bowl crowd.) NOTE: This is being simultaneously released on DVD & Hulu, but without 30 minutes of the re-mastered Shea Stadium concert that plays in the cinema.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

Guldfisk

Sep 16, 2016

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This movie is nothing revolutionary. I've watched some Beatles documentaries (mainly anthology) and seen a lot of videos on youtube from them playing live and there was certain things I expected from this movie:

-Proper editing of the interviews. They had done a lot of interviews for this and it was apparent they couldn't keep everything in, so they cut people mid sentence to a later part in that sentence and you could tell there was a cut. It could have been done better but this is a very minor point.

- Different cuts on live performance, I suppose what I've seen from the youtube videos is what the TVS aired at that time, I would've liked to see them go to the source material and change how the performances were cut. The sound was pretty fantastic though so I guess it's better they put effort on that rather than the visuals but I really would've liked to see more lingering shots instead of this "modern" or what to call it cutting where there is a cut at least every five seconds.

- More humanisation. This I feel is quite a big flaw, there were many live performances I've seen on youtube that you can tell that John is messing up the lyrics, and it was kind of overshadowed in this video, I even felt as though cuts had been made to shy away from this. Another thing which I've seen from the anthology is Johns stage humour where he would portray a "spastic" and stomp his feet and clap his hands. That was also being shied away from through cuts and not talked about which I felt tried to portray a romanticised version of how John was and not his true self. A minor point on this was how they talked loads of how they couldn't hear themselves but they never once mentioned that they were so stressed they played every song really quickly. But that's a minor point. The Beatles are in a way not really portrayed as humanly as they could, their humour is talked about, the struggle but in a way they seem to have overlooked their flaws and that's a shame because it deprives me some of the realism.

Ron Howard did talk about how he wanted to portray the story of the touring years, which I can agree was the main focus. They briefly mentioned that they got medals from the queen and then cut to an interview where the person asked them how that would change their image. That was good. Overall it's a nice Beatles documentary and I did learn new things.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

dspratlin

Nov 19, 2016

What’s it about?

Beatlemania. What did I think? Four boys. Four years. That’s all it took to take the Beatles from the grimy basements of Liverpool to the center of a claustrophobic global touring hurricane. This was the birth of teenagers losing their minds in epic proportions over theWhat’s it about?

Beatlemania.

What did I think?

Four boys. Four years. That’s all it took to take the Beatles from the grimy basements of Liverpool to the center of a claustrophobic global touring hurricane. This was the birth of teenagers losing their minds in epic proportions over the cult of celebrity, and the most revelatory moments are the screamed, sobbing reactions to the barely-out-of-their-teens-themselves Fab Four. The heady rush of the first tours quickly turn to jaded dissatisfaction: by the mid-’60s the mop-tops had become caged animals in the circus, and their final tour gig ends with them carted away in a literal meat locker. Beatles for sale, indeed. Movie-goers (and only movie-goers, I'm told) are treated to the previously unscreened ‘65 Shea Stadium concert after the credits, yet this film merely skirts the Beatles lore and footage available in the Anthology series. But then, that damn thing lasted nearly 12 hours.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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