Beatles Video:

		List Price: $19.98		Label: Sunset Home Visual Entertainment (SHE) / Good Times Video Salesrank: 73089 Released: August 5, 2003
		Our Price: $1.35
		Used Price: $0.01
		MPAA Rating: G (General Audience) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
THRILL TO LIVE PERFORMANCES BY THE BEATLES FROM THEIR VERYFIRST AMERICAN CONCERT & MORE.

The Beatles (Unauthorized) Reviews:
not that bad--but it could have been better
2009-07-06 - The Beatles Unauthorized is a mediocre DVD with footage extracted from The Beatles' performances in Washington, D.C. and at The Hollywood Bowl. We also get footage from their final press conference right before their concert at Candlestick Park. Unfortunately, the picture quality pretty much all the way through IS grainy just as other reviewers have noted; and the sound could definitely be better, too. The entire DVD has a poorly made feel to it that disappoints me and that's a shame. In addition, at 51 minutes running time the DVD is woefully short.

In addition, there's a segment of this DVD that features former Beatles drummer Pete Best; he was replaced by Ringo Starr not long before The Beatles became famous. Pete says he quit while others say he was fired; but at any rate he looks so sheepish when he appears on TV's "I've Got A Secret!" Pete realizes all too late that he shouldn't have left The Beatles; and he probably appeared on TV just to "cash in." This means we're paying good money to watch Pete Best "cash in" on The Beatles' fame. Sigh.

On the other hand, this still has it plusses. It could be a starter DVD for newcomers to The Beatles who are deciding if they like the group enough to dig deeper into the pockets and shell out more money (and that can be a lot more money, by the time you're through building a really good Beatles collection) for some really good DVDs, CDs and DVD sets like The Beatles Anthology. I guess I could also see this being useful for the diehard fan because they may want the Pete Best footage or some other concert footage that is hard to find commercially.

"The Beatles (Unauthorized)"
2009-05-06 - I have watched this DVD several times now. Yes, the visual & audio portions are of very poor quality. But, you know what? That is how I remember them! Seeing 'The Beatles' on TV in B&W was the only way to see the ""Fab Four" back in 1964-1960. Only the rich, big shots had color. lol! After reading the Beatles forum here on Amazon, to most of you, I say 'Nay, Nay! All this remastering and such changes the original sound of my childhood & that of millions of Beatles fans! Leave it alone. Remastering has it's place, but don't take away the original. By the way, you can find this DVD almost anywhere else for around $5.00. You would be silly to pay more than that. I have enjoyed it everytime I've seen it. Get it, but watch what you pay for it! Papa Larry H

Not For Casual Beatle Fans
2007-05-17 - Yes, the concert footage on this DVD is quite poor. But...

Besides concert footage, this DVD contains press conference footage from around the Rubber Soul era which I found very interesting. Far from the quick and witty Beatles of the first U.S. visit, here they look world-weary and tired. Their attempts at the zany, funny answers seem forced and half-hearted, and even the questions from the press are overly serious and even morbid ("Are you going through the IRS to pay taxes from the tour?", "What would happen if you weren't transported in an armored vehicle, do you fear you'd be physically harmed?")

There are a couple of songs from the farewell Hollywood Bowl show. Here again, the Beatles appear to have run out of enthusiasm, and the poor quality of the footage cannot explain away their tired and lackluster performance.

Juxtapose this with footage from a couple of years earlier, their first U.S. concert in Washington D.C., just days after their Ed Sullivan debut. Here, the Beatles are still in disbelief over how their fame has preceded them. They are forced to grapple with an appalling stage-in-the-round, where they have to alternate different sides of the stage, including turning the drum set around. But they still manage to sing their hearts out, and with an innocent enthusiasm. One funny for instance: John sings the wrong verses in "Twist and Shout", but Paul and George render the correct "answer vocals", and seem to get some amusement over the fact that it is obvious that John is singing the wrong words.

Also included is a Pete Best appearance on "I've Got a Secret". After his "secret" is uncovered, he explains that he quit The Beatles to do his own thing -- the real story now quite notorious, and no secret to any Beatles enthusiast!

The D.C. concert footage is notoriously bad, so I had no great expectations when I purchased this DVD. The fact is, I usually spend more on a sandwich than I spent on this DVD, so I have not complaints. It's an entertaining package for people who have already pursued other Beatle archive material -- but if you're looking for quality concert footage / documentary, I would highly recommend "First U.S. Visit".


A Decent Compilation
2007-04-07 - No, this is not the greatest Beatles compilation out there. But it's far from the worst. This is probably the best DVD release of the Beatles' 1964 Washington concert. Six songs are presented in full, plus the first half of "Twist and Shout" - it cuts off at the point where the film ran out. The quality is quite good on that portion. Next up is the Beatles' Hollywood Bowl concert footage. Good video quality, but very bad audio. However, the version of "Twist and Shout" here is not edited like it is on some of the bootleg versions I've seen. The final segment is the press conference from 1966. That is very interesting to hear.

I am giving this video 4 stars mainly because of the Washington concert. It is the best presentation of that concert yet. The rest of the video gets three stars, due to the lack of remastered quality.

In conclusion, this is a fair compilation, but it is not Anthology. If you don't have the Washington concert yet, get this. If you do, don't bother with this one.

Not the Best
2004-06-19 - This DVD features three segments: the Beatles' 1964 Washington, DC concert, their 1964 Hollywood Bowl concert, and a press conference from their August 1966 final tour. In between segments you see a blue screen with music notes all over it, which looks like it was done on a home computer. Next comes the quality issue: I have bootlegs that look and sound better than this DVD. Then comes the issue of completeness: At least two out of the three shows (I'm not sure about the interview) are incomplete. Of the Washington concert, only 8 of the 12 songs are presented. I have a bootleg DVD with all twelve - including "Long Tall Sally." Of the Hollywood Bowl concert, 2 of the 10 existing songs are here. I have a bootleg of the entire performance. If you want the complete Washington concert, check out the Beatles Around the World DVD. As for the Hollywood Bowl, one other song is presented (and in much better quality too) on the Anthology. So after all that, why is my rating so high? Well, yes the quality is bad and the shows are incomplete, but there are few other places where you can legally find this material. So it may not be a bad buy.