Backbeat

This is a movie I enjoyed a lot when it first came out. I'm not a hardcore fan of The Beatles, more of a casual fan, and tend to like John Lennon's post-Beatle work more than The Beatles. "Backbeat" is the back story of The Beatles before they made it big. A pre-history of The Beatles. "Backbeat" starts where last year's "Nowhere Boy" leaves off. The years The Beatles went to Hamburg, Germany playing dank clubs in cellars and learned how to play rock `n' roll.Liverpool art students and best friends John Lennon (Ian Hart) and Stuart Sutcliffe (Stephen Dorff) take the proto-Beatles Paul McCartney (Gary Bakewell), George Harrison (Chris O'Neill), and Pete Best (Scot Williams) to Hamburg. In Germany The Beatles resembled more of a punk band than The Beatles that later became famous. They dress in leathers, they're introduced to speed, and their playing is more ragged and raucous. One of the points of contention between McCartney and Lennon is Sutcliffe's lack of ability in playing the bass guitar, but since Sutcliffe is Lennon's best mate Sutcliffe stays in the band. Soon after arriving, Sutcliffe meets Astrid Kirchherr (Sheryl Lee), and several love triangles develop between the characters. The triangle that receives the main focus of "Backbeat" is between Lennon, Sutcliffe, and Kirchherr, then the close relationship between Lennon and Sutcliffe, and the more subtle love triangle of Lennon, The Beatles and the pull of fame and recognition Lennon craved. All pull with equal gravity on Lennon and Sutcliffe.Hart as John Lennon disappears into the role he makes a believable Lennon without it falling into impersonation or parody. While not many people were familiar with Sutcliffe before "Backbeat" in the special features section of the DVD are pictures of Sutcliffe and Dorff looks remarkably like Sutcliffe. Dorff was about the same age as Sutcliffe when he made this movie, and due to the enormous input of Astrid Kirchherr to the movie it would be safe to assume Dorff has the same handle on Sutcliffe as Hart has on Lennon. Sheryl Lee also plays Kirchherr very subtly. She seems shy but her influence on Sutcliffe's life visibly grows during the course of the film, and the conclusion seems preordained to us. As the movie ends we fill in the blanks. It's the point where the historic Beatles begin and almost everyone knows (or thinks they know) the history of The Beatles.A lot of attention seems to have been paid to the details of both the era and the relationships of the person's involved. As we discover in the special features director Iain Softley developed the screenplay with a lot of input from Astrid Kirchherr. Softley admits that some things have been changed for dramatic purposes but nothing that changes the overall story or the characters.The special features include an interview with Astrid Kirchherr, that her relationship with Sutcliffe, and includes photographs of Sutcliffe and his paintings. There are two interviews with director Iain Softley the first at Sundance which tells a lot about how he developed "Backbeat" with the input of Kirchherr. The second interview with Softley and Hart is a little redundant in places because Softley reiterates how he came to make "Backbeat." The commentary is rather minimalist in approach and you can easily watch the movie around it.As I mentioned "Backbeat" carries on where " Nowhere Boy " left off. Although these two movies weren't conceived as such and were made 16 years apart, they make nice companion pieces and fit nicely together in the Lennon/Beatles story.

Great movie

I got a kick out of the current "Spotlight" review of this DVD, the one referring to a portrayal of an unrequited "homosexual" love affair between Stuart Sutcliffe and John Lennon. People see what they want to see, I guess, but I didn't see that at all in this wonderful movie. Sure, the John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe characters experience a deep felt "love" for each other, but love in a non-sexual sense. A man can feel intense love for another man (or a woman for another woman, a mother and daughter for instance)and it doesn't have to be (nor is it usually) sexual. Maybe it takes a quite a few years to realize it, but sexual love is really the weakest kind of love out there. Sexual love often boils down to nothing more than lust, and the friendship between John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe that is portrayed in BACKBEAT is in a world apart from than that.As most everyone has said, the movie is a absolute delight. The performances are all strong and the cinematography just right. It's one of those films you can watch over and over again, and see something different each time. Most highly recommended, especially to fans of early Beatle music.

An honest attempt to retrace the ambitious, youthful, and often turbulent times of a band that would alter the course of music as we have come to know it. A tall order indeed, because we fans love the Beatles and all of us key on certain ideas, beliefs, myths, along with our own perspectives of how we want our boys perceived. This movie came pretty close in capturing the Fab Four's youth and raw vitality while in their prime. We get a glimpse early on in their career honing their skills, living life's challenges before their unprecedented success and popularity. This movie was a must see for me, and is a part of my study of everything about them. Having said all that, the acting, and yes; the music was superb and very believable. I enjoyed this film for it's content and intended purpose, and also for the boost to my imagination, and memories of those four lads from Liverpool that rocked the world.

This movie was way better than I was expecting it to be. The two things that stuck out to me was that Paul was too tall and it sounded nothing like John singing when they were on stage. At least Paul sounded like Paul when he was singing. Besides that, they did a really good job. Stephen Dorff is great as Stuart, but I think the best parts were the scenes of John and Paul talking to each others, that's what we really want to see. Ian Hart was incredible as John in the movie. He had the look and voice down. Overall, a really sad movie about a guy that gave up being in the best band in the world for the woman he loved. That is the message of the movie.

Saw it when it first came out, years ago, and was fascinated by it. It's not the greatest movie ever made, but if you're a Beatles fan, it's an interesting one. We tend to forget that the Beatles were at one time just kids, trying to put a band together, play in front of an audience and inching toward becoming "The Beatles" as we know them today. They were punks playing 'Long Tall Sally" and other cover tunes in dive Hamburg bars in between strip shows. Layer in the story of Stu Sutcliffe, and it's a well-rounded tale. The actors are good, the accents are passable and there are moments of triumph and tragedy. Worth watching if you're a music fan.

One of the best Beatles-related movies ever!! The story focuses mainly on John Lennon, Stu Sutcliffe, Astrid Kirchherr and, to a lesser degree, Paul McCartney (George Harrison, and especially Pete Best, have only a few lines of dialogue between them!). The musical segments of their performances in Hamburg are fantastic and provide the viewer with a taste of the raw energy and excitement of those early days. But the real focus of the movie is the beautiful and bittersweet love story of Stu and Astrid. A must-see for any Beatles fan!

I didn't know anything much about this part of the Beatles' history.I thought this film was well written and acted, and entertaining too.

In tempo, perfetto, lo cercavo da anni. Ancora celofanato.

Backbeat tells two stories; the first is about The Beatles' formative years in Liverpool and Hamburg, the forces and experiences that shaped them. The second story is lesser known. It is about the relationship between John Lennon and Stu Sutcliffe, who is sometimes referred to [incorrectly] as the "fifth Beatle." Their complex relationship reveals a great deal about John Lennon and the things that held The Beatles together and ultimately pulled them apart. A must see film for anyone who remembers the late 50s and 60s or simply loves The Beatles' music.

El tache no es para Amazon, pues su servicio hasta ahora ha sido excelente. La verdad lo compré creyendo en la máxima de que ahora Blu ray, por su espacio, se quita de problemas incluyendo subtítulos incluso en el material extra, además de que la calidad en la imagen y sonido debe ser superior, porque de lo contrario, para eso siguen existiendo vhs y dvd. Pues no, quien "re editó" esta versión, pareciera que tomó un vhs y lo copió tal cual a un blu ray.No tiene subtítulos en ningún idioma (solo trae en inglés para sordos y hasta eso, mal hechos), la imagen no se ve restaurada y el sonido menos, con el detalle de que al seleccionar el 5.1, se escucha en estéreo, y viceversa. Si pones el estéreo, se escucha en 5.1 (muy malo, por cierto). Lo único que salva a este disco es el material que en sí representa para cada bitlémano, sobre todo para quien jamás lo ha visto, pero de ahí en fuera, tendré que seguir conformándome con mi antiguo vhs subtitulado.De hecho esta compra la hice para una persona que está muy interesada en aprender sobre el cuarteto (sí, ya se que no es fiel esta historia, pero no deja de ser imprescindible para un fan) pero como no sabe inglés, no le sirve.A eso agreguemos que el precio no es muy accesible que digamos, al menos no para la pésima calidad del disco. Si pueden, evítenlo, y quienes ya lo adquirimos, tendremos que esperar hasta que alguien más inteligente y con mayor interés en este material se preocupe por sacar una versión realmente mejorada y con subtítulos en todos los idiomas.

Tout est dans le titre :-) Les apparences sont trompeuses et c'est bien de se souvenir que, contrairement à ce que disaient les journalistes à l'époque, les Beatles étaient à la base des voyous marginaux qui ont réussi à passer pour des jeunes hommes de bonne famille et les Stones des jeunes hommes de bonne extraction qui ont réussi à passer pour des voyous.Un très chouette film, très bien joué et une atmosphère permanente de calme avant l'orage de la Beatlemania :-)Ma playlist de films sur les Beatles : 1) Nowhere Boy sur l'adolescence de John Lennon 2) Backbeat sur Hambourg 3) Birth of the Beatles sur les débuts de la Beatlemania et 5) Story of Linda McCartney sur la fin... Et bien sûr tous les films faits par eux :-))))