It lay dormant for over 50 years Beatles documentary Let It Be behind closed doors. The work, which was recorded during the making of their last album and brought to TV screens in 1970 shortly after their official breakup, was too painful for many fans of the successful band.
Peter Jackson’s The Park Road Productions team has now restored director Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s documentary in a complex process. The result is now available on Disney+ can be seen with a streaming subscription.
Let It Be on Disney+: Beatles documentary seen for the first time in 54 years
In 2021, Peter Jackson released the documentary series The Beatles: Get Back on Disney+, using extensive raw footage behind Lindsay-Hogg’s iconic documentary. Now it can be seen in its original version for the first time in over 50 years. After the film in Aired as a TV special in April 1970 It has not been officially available since 1982 and can only be seen via VHS copies and recordings, which eventually found their way into dubious corners of the Internet.
After Jackson studied the original material extensively for Get Back, the Lord of the Rings director sees the release of the restored version as an expansion of his Beatles series. Here’s what he explained in an official statement (via Variety):
I’m thrilled that Michael’s film Let It Be has been restored and will be available again after decades. I was lucky to be able to get excerpts from the film for Get Back I’ve always thought that Let It Be had to complete the Get Back story. Over three parts we showed how Michael and the Beatles made this groundbreaking documentary and Let It Be is that documentary.
Watch the trailer for The Beatles: Get Back here:
The Beatles Get Back – S01 Trailer (German subtitles) HD
Even though Peter Jackson was able to tackle the raw material behind Let It Be in Get Back in a much more extensive way with a running time of almost 8 hours, Lindsay-Hogg’s original still contains material that was not yet seen in Get Back.
It provides an uncommented and raw insight into the Creation process of the successful album Let It Be, as well as joint rehearsals by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr with beautiful and difficult moments as a band. The London Apple Corps rooftop concert in January 1969 is also the crowning conclusion and climax of the documentary, which also represents the very last live appearance of the Beatles before their separation.
Director Michael Lindsay-Hogg also gave his full support to Jackson’s plans for a restored version. He advocated the new release of his film for an audience that can now look back differently on this special final period of the Beatles:
How often do you see musicians of this caliber bring what they imagine in their heads into song? And then you get on this roof and you see theirs Excitement, their camaraderie and the joy about playing as a band for what we now know will be the last time, and we view it all with a full understanding of who they were, who they still are, and with a little melancholy. I was completely overwhelmed about what Peter did with Get Back from the material I shot over 50 years ago. Now on Disney+: Restored version of Let It Be brings the music documentary back to life
In an interview with the New York Times, Michael Lindsay-Hogg explained what the restoration by Peter Jackson’s team meant to his iconic documentary. The film arrived in the 21st century 54 years later, but without losing the charm of the late 1960s:
The new version is a 21st century version of a 20th century film. It’s definitely brighter and more vibrant than what ended up on the videotape. It now looks like it should have looked in 1969 or 1970, although at my request Peter gave the film a more cinematic look than Get Back, which had a slightly more modern and digital look.
You can now see for yourself what it all looks like on Disney+. Let It Be has been since then May 8, 2024 Available as a subscription on the streaming service.