The best George Martin’s movies
We present our ranking of the best George Martin’s movies. Do you love cinema? Or are you looking for a movie of your favorite actor to watch tonight? Surely you have some to see or that you did not know yet about George Martin.
The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years
7.8/10
The Beatles stormed through Europe's music scene in 1963, and, in 1964, they conquered America. Their groundbreaking world tours changed global youth culture forever and, arguably, invented mass entertainment as we know it today. All the while, the group were composing and recording a series of extraordinarily successful singles and albums. However the relentless pressure of such unprecedented fame, that in 1966 became uncontrollable turmoil, led to the decision to stop touring. In the ensuing years The Beatles were then free to focus on a series of albums that changed the face of recorded music.
George Harrison: Living in the Material World
8.1/10
Director Martin Scorsese profiles former Beatle George Harrison in this reverent portrait that mixes interviews and archival footage, featuring commentary from the likes of Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr and Yoko Ono.
Let It Be
7.7/10
Documentary film about The Beatles rehearsing and recording songs for the album Let It Be in January 1969. The film features an unannounced rooftop concert by the group, their last performance in public. Released just after the album, it was the final original Beatles release. This film has not been commercially available since the 1980s.
Imagine: John Lennon
7.8/10
The biography of former Beatle, John Lennon—narrated by Lennon himself—with extensive material from Yoko Ono's personal collection, previously unseen footage from Lennon's private archives, and interviews with David Bowie, his first wife Cynthia, second wife Yoko Ono and sons Julian and Sean.
Under the Volcano
7.6/10
The story of George Martin’s AIR Studios Montserrat and the island that changed music forever.
It Was Fifty Years Ago Today! The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper & Beyond
5.5/10
Featuring interviews with former employees, fellow musicians, family members and journalists, and supported by original and exclusive never-seen-before footage, this star-studded rockumentary offers a fascinating insight into the creation and recording of one of the most ground-breaking and influential albums in pop history.
The Compleat Beatles
8.2/10
“Let me take you down…”
Now, for the first time, you can re-live the Beatles legends with this stunning 2-hour musical “Rockumentary”. It’s all there from the wild exuberance of the early Cavern Club days through eight incredible years, to the grim finality of “Let It Be”. See John, Paul, George and Ringo in performance, on tour, in films, recording with George Martin and in rare footage never before seen. Narrated by Malcom McDowell.
The Making of Sgt. Pepper
8/10
This was an official documentary shown on television featuring George Martin taking us through the album tracks and Paul, George and Ringo giving us their memories of the sessions. The Making Of Sgt. Pepper was transmitted in the UK on ITV on 14th June 1992 and featured separate interviews with Paul (filmed on 9th April 1992), George (12th April) and Ringo (19th April). The show also features George Martin playing some unreleased Sgt. Pepper's recordings directly off the original studio 4-track master tapes.
Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of Smile
7.9/10
This film tells (using modern day interviews and archival footage and sound tapes) the story of how in 1967, while his band The Beach Boys triumphantly toured abroad, Brian Wilson was trying to push the boundaries of conventional pop music with a new follow-up to the Beach Boys' cutting-edge mega-hit, Pet Sounds. The new album was to be called "SMiLE". SMiLE pushed the envelope both musically and lyrically, and was supposed to out-do the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper record. But Brian wasn't able to sell the project to his band-mates when they returned. The project was shelved and Wilson's well-documented decline into depression, drug abuse, recluseness, and obesity had begun. Thirty-odd years later, Wilson announced that in 2004, SMiLE would be performed live in its entirety in London. This film tells the story of a damaged but healing artist bringing his greatest work to light.
All Together Now
7.5/10
George Harrison's friendship with Cirque founder Guy Laliberté led them to an inspired idea: bring together the 20th Century's most popular music with the world's greatest circus performers. Though George Harrison passed away before development began, band members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr; along with Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison; pushed the vision forward. Using archival materials, interviews, and footage of the rehearsals and performances that chart the creative process, All Together Now charts the story of this bold collaboration and the resulting live show. This GRAMMY® Award-winning film takes you from the studio, as musical directors George and Giles Martin reshaped The Beatles' original masters into an original, vibrant soundscape, to the historic opening night in Las Vegas.
The Beatles on Record
7.9/10
A collection of interviews and footage of the band detailing how their sound progressed and how their albums were made.
How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin
6.7/10
In August 1962, director Leslie Woodhead made a two-minute film in Liverpool's Cavern Club with a raw and unrecorded group of rockers called the Beatles. He arranged their first live TV appearances on a local show in Manchester and watched as the Fab Four phenomenon swept the world. Twenty-five years later while making films in Russia, Woodhead became aware of how, even though they were never able to play in the Soviet Union, the Beatles' legend had soaked into the lives of a generation of kids. This film meets the Soviet Beatles generation and hears their stories about how the Fab Four changed their lives, including Putin's deputy premier Sergei Ivanov, who explains how the Beatles helped him learn English and showed him another life. (Storyville)
George Harrison: All Things Pass
George Harrison was an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and music and film producer who initially achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles, but went on to sell millions of critically acclaimed solo records. Harrison was referred to as the quiet one of the Beatles, often in the shadow of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. However, he later acquired the respect of critics world wide and is now considered to be on the same level - if not surpassing - Lennon and McCartney as a song writer, a result of creating songs such as ‘Here Comes the Sun’ and ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’. Rolling Stone magazine even ranked him number 11 on their list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time," and he is a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.
The Music of Lennon & McCartney
8.4/10
A 1965 British television special honouring the songwriting partnership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. It was produced by Granada Television and aired on that network on 16 December 1965 before receiving a national broadcast the following evening. The programme mainly consisted of other artists miming to their recordings of the songs. The Beatles performed Day Tripper and We Can Work It Out, and Peter Sellers delivered a comedic interpretation of A Hard Day's Night, in the style of stage actor Laurence Olivier's portrayal of Richard III.
Produced By George Martin
7.5/10
A profile of Sir George Martin, Britain's most celebrated record producer, from his early days at EMI/Parlophone to his work with The Beatles.
The Nation's Favourite Beatles Number One
8.5/10
The Nation’s Favourite Beatles Number One tells the stories behind some of the greatest Beatles songs ever. With interviews from Beatles’ insiders including musicians, friends, fellow performers and celebrity fans, we’ll hear about the stories behind the Fab Four’s best-loved hits
The Beatles: Get Back...Winter of Discontent
This is a "Fly on the Wall" look at The Beatles' recording sessions from productive days at Apple Studios January 23 to 29, 1969. Most of this footage did not make the final cut for the film, Let It Be. We see the Beatles chat, joke, tune, rehearse and try some serious attempts at recording. Over 75% of this footage has not been seen in this form, meaning inferior copies of some of this footage has circulated, but contained few moments of audio that matched the film.
The Abbey Road Story
Television documentary about the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London, England.
Paul McCartney: In the World Tonight
7.7/10
Documenting the recording process for Paul's 1997 album Flaming Pie, In The World Tonight is a fascinating insight into how a studio album is constructed, following Paul around his home studio and Abbey Road as he creates what would go on to be his first studio album in four years. In many ways there are two Paul McCartneys, the legend and the man. In The World Tonight reveals the man behind the public face, intimately capturing him at work, at ease and as candid as ever.
