Customer Reviews

Backbeat (Collector's Edition)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This movie is a good look at the Beatles
before they were a world wide success.
The young John Lennon, Paul Mccartney
and George Harrison spent many years
playing clubs in England and Germany
before finally hitting it big in the U.S.A

Back then- Ringo Starr was just a casual
friend they knew from around the clubs,
and there were two other Beatles in the band.

Pete Best- the original drummer
and Stuart Sutcliffe- the original bass player.

The story mainly focuses around Stuart, who
seemed more interested in art than he was
in music. His German girlfriend, Astrid Kirchherr
was the inventor of the famous "Mop-Top" hairstyle
which would years later become a Beatle trademark.

While this movie is both accuarate and entertaining,
it should really have been more focused on John & Paul.
Stuart Sutcliffe's part should have been a subplot.

Still- this is a good movie, especially for Beatle fans.
The actors do an excellent job at portraying their
characters and the music is very good!

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.

I taped Backbeat from cable two years ago. I had no idea how much my tape sucked until I saw the special features of the DVD. First off I taped it off a bad cable channel so the film was gray and full of snow the entire time. So when I heard the DVD version was coming out, I shouted for joy! I am a hugh Stephen Dorff fan ( he hasn't made many good movies ) which makes me buy any decent film he's been in. DVD lovers will enjoy this special edition release. It has the usual special features like commentary, but it has a screen test section! You get to see the actors studying the part! You get your money's worth buying this on DVD. The only complaint is the photo gallery section. The photos are scrunched in the corner. You can hardly see the pictures. Backbeat fans should get this on DVD now!

Ok, this is one of the greatest filmes of all time. First off, The cast memembers that they got to play the Beatles were very uncanney. You couldnt have picked a better cast! The Script was fantastic. Full of Great dialogue! and last, but certainlny not least, The Cinematography. What more can I say? The picture itself is beautiful! It totaly makes the movie. The Characters themselves are so surreal, I just loved them all! They made you feel like you could have had a good chat with anyone of them. They brought to life a part of the Beatles that very little people saw. You must see this movie if you already havent!

I'm posting this review to let Backbeat fans know how great the extras are on the disc. The DVD is anamorphic widescreen. The features include the following: feature commentary with director Iain Softley, deleted scenes, interview with director Iain Softley, stills gallery, interview with actor Ian Hart, director's essay, casting sessions, and TV featurette.

Ian Hart is my favorite actor and this is the role that introduced me to him. Backbeat is my favorite film and I am thrilled with finally having it on DVD. This is a film that you will never forget.

When perplexed Roger Ebert reviewed this movie, he joked that saying this movie is about the early Beatles is like saying Hamlet is about a gravedigger who meets a prince.

A synopsis of this movie is: John Lennon convinces Stuart Sutcliffe (Stephen Dorff), an art school friend, to join the band as a bass player. He agrees and off they go to Hamburg. The other band members are bewildered as to why John insists that such an untalented muscian as Stuart Suttcliffe is in the band in the first place. Paul and John have an argument over kicking Suttcliffe off the band, which results in John's threat to quit the band if Suttcliffe is asked to leave. In the meantime, Sutcliffe has met Astrid (Sheryl Lee), a bohemian photographer, who encourages him to pursue his interest in painting. John and Astrid spar over Suttcliffe's affection. After a violent confrontation with Stuart over Asrid, John finally accepts that Stuart is leaving him, and gets on with his life.

One might venture to ask WHY a movie that is supposed to be about the early Beatles has a plot revolving around the relationship between John Lennon and Stuart Suttcliffe?

Stuart Suttcliffe, 'the 5th Beatle' is actually a bit of trivia in the story of the Beatles. On the other hand, it's a key to understanding who John Lennon was.

This is a love story between two men, BEFORE the relatively NEW and rigid concept of orientation was established in the Sexual Revolution of the 70's and 80's. The fact that the intimacy between Lennon and Suttcliffe was never 'consumated' in an actual sex act doesn't detract from the powerful affection between them. It was just the way things were before homosexual Liberation.

This is a beautiful compelling movie. Buy it, rent it, watch it!

The movie was a great way to show what Stuart was in the beatles.
The actors that played Stu, John and Paul are very incredible, i even found myself forgeting they were not the real deal. But the only part that bugged me was John singing a little richard song when We all know that Paul was the only one to sing those. Hey forget what i said it is a very good movie.

If you're looking for accurate info on the Beatles I don't know if this movie is the number one choice. But if you're into great Rock N Roll, this movie is pretty good. Stephen Dorff was very good and so was Ian Hart. Sheryl Lee was terrible and didn't fit the role. Sorry but her acting brought down the relationship between Stu and Astrid. Yet she and Dorff surprisingly had chemistry. BackBeat is full of class and humorous charm. This film is not perfect by all means...but so so entertaining.

Like most bisexuals, I hold with the belief that your true sexual orientation is expressed by who you fall in love with, not necessarily about who you are having sex with, or even who you marry. Any sensitive person can see that the REAL love story here was the one between John Lennon and Stu Suttcliff.

Stu was John Lennon's first real crush, a love he expressed in his attachement toward Stu. But like so many same-sex innocent adolesencent or young adult homosexual crushes, it was never physically expressed.

Most gay or bisexual man can recite for you a number of these frustrating adolescent crushes. You knew that you felt a powerful emotional attraction to someone, but you were too young and ignorant to understand what it was. Or if you did understand it, you were too scared to do anything about it.

It is a mystery what Stu felt, and the movie is ambiguous about it as well. But what John felt is plainly obvious. This movie certainly sheds a lot of light on the nature of John Lennon, and adds more evidence to those who have pointed out the underlying gay aesthetics of the early Beatles.

Gay or straight, rent this movie!

This movie is not just for those who love the beatles. This is a movie for anyone who loves a great story. the dialogue and acting are absorbing and not full of cliches. the dynamics between John Lennon , Stuart Sutcliffe and Astrid draw you in whether you ever heard of the Beatles or not.
The love story of Stu and Astrid will captivate all romantics and the music and raunchiness of Hamburg nightlife will enthrall rock lovers.
Just a great movie to watch more than once. you will fall in love with the characters. Steven Dorf is amazing and underrated in this movie....