This week, The Beatles continue their fab partnership with Disney+ by releasing a fully remastered and expanded version of their 1995 documentary, The Beatles Anthology. The series is the closest thing we have to a definitive telling of the legendary band’s story, compiling hours of archival footage and interviews with John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, along with key members of their inner circle. It’s about as all-encompassing a look at The Beatles as anyone could want, and it’s only gotten better with this 30th anniversary re-release.
With a total runtime that falls somewhere between 11 and 12 hours, the Anthology is a commitment, and in some ways, less for casual fans and more for those obsessives who seek to devour all they can about The Beatles (i.e. me). But thanks to a slew of content that has dropped on Disney+ in recent years (Get Back, The Beatles ‘64, a remastered Let It Be), more are converted into Beatlemaniacs every day, and for those first time viewers, this new presentation of the Anthology will be an absolute treat.
As for those who wore out their original Beatles Anthology tapes because they watched them so many times (again, me), you will be very pleased with how good this remastered version looks and sounds, and especially if you never checked out the 2003 DVD release (also me). Beyond that, there is an additional episode’s worth of newish material which serves as a very nice coda to the whole project. The Beatles Anthology was already a deep retrospective worthy of the iconic band, but this impressive restoration has turned the documentary into a real treasure.
The Beatles Look Fantastic Thanks Again To Peter Jackson
Plus, Giles Martin Has Them Sounding Better Than Ever
When The Beatles: Get Back released in 2021, it was the first time the technical wizards at Peter Jackson’s Wingnut Films had applied their revolutionary restoration technology to a Beatles project, but it would not be the last. Since then, each of the subsequent Disney+ Beatles releases has involved Jackson’s team, and the results only improve with each endeavor. For the Anthology, the footage originally came from different sources and was of varying resolutions, but now it all looks so clear.
Giles Martin again steps into the shoes of his late father, the legendary Beatles’ producer George Martin, and cleans up the audio with the same machine learning first implemented in Get Back. The overall clarity is great, bringing a crisp sound to even the oldest footage. For proof of just how improved this version of the Anthology is, look no further than the restored Shea Stadium concert. The quality on display here is shockingly good, and it really makes an argument for a new release of the full show. Perhaps as the next Disney+ collaboration?
The New Beatles Anthology Episode Is A Bittersweet Sendoff
While watching the new episode added for this release of the Anthology, I cried more than once, but I also had a huge grin on my face the whole time. That’s the dichotomy that comes from telling the story of The Beatles – it’s one of joy, but also tragedy. John Lennon was murdered only a decade after the band broke up, and 15 years prior to the release of the Anthology. He’s a part of it thanks to a trove of past interview material, but his absence still hangs over the whole documentary, and no more so than in this new episode.
It consists mostly of footage showing the three surviving Beatles working to complete three songs John recorded but never finished: “Free As A Bird”, “Real Love”, and “Now And Then”. It’s also about the Anthology itself, how it came to be, and how they feel reflecting on their legacy, bringing everything full circle. The best parts are those of Paul, George, and Ringo hanging out together, allowing them to reminisce in real time or geek out over their own clever compositions, at times giddy as they remember one anecdote or another.
Then there’s a part where George talks about how healing the process of working on the Anthology has been, noting how it’s allowed them to come together again after ending the band on bad terms. He mentions how he wishes John could have experienced this as well, and it absolutely broke me to hear that. John did deserve that chance, and it’s heartbreaking to think of what could have been. “Even though John’s not here, he’s here,” Paul later says, giving the situation the positive spin you’d expect while also illustrating how therapeutic it has been.
This new episode of The Beatles Anthology is a cathartic one, and even more so when looking back on it 30 years later. In the time since, both George Harrison and George Martin have passed away, making their involvement at the time all the more special. That track of John’s which was giving them so much trouble, “Now And Then”, has since been finished, released last year as ‘the last Beatles song’. The band’s story has continued on, but luckily, we have this retrospective snapshot that has been so lovingly preserved.
The Beatles Anthology 2025 will premiere on Disney+ across three nights, beginning on November 26.
- Release Date
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1995 – 1996-00-00
- Directors
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Geoff Wonfor
- Writers
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Bob Smeaton
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Billy Preston
Self (archive footage)
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- Essential viewing for Beatles fans made available to stream for the first time.
- A truly stunning restoration of the 1995 doc.
- A new episode that works as a beautiful coda to the whole project.
