In 2021, The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson surprised Beatles fans with The Beatles: Get Back, a newly restored documentary series that added further context to the Beatles’ final movie, Let It Be. The band broke up in 1970, shortly before the release of Let It Be, which chronicled their final recording sessions together. Let It Be was briefly available on home video during the beginning of the ’80s, but it spent over four decades in a vault, leaving modern fans unable to watch it… until now.
Next month, Disney+ will host the streaming premiere of Let It Be, marking the first time that the general public has seen it in over 40 years. And just as he did on The Beatles: Get Back, Jackson oversaw the digital restoration of Let It Be that will make the film look better than ever before.
What’s different about the restored vision of Let It Be?
During an interview with The New York Times, Let It Be director Michael Lindsay-Hogg shared his first impressions about the restoration of his film.
“When Peter first showed me some restored images of the film, one was of a couple of the Beatles from the back, and their hair in the original looked very clumped,” said Lindsay-Hogg. “Then he said, ‘Now let me show you what we’ve been working on.’ It was the same shot, but you could see the individual strands of hair. The new version is a 21st century version of a 20th century movie. It is certainly brighter and livelier than what ended up on videotape. It looks now like it was intended to look in 1969 or 1970, although, at my request, Peter did give it a more film-style look than Get Back, which had a slightly more modern and digital look.”
What does Peter Jackson think about the film’s re-release?
Via Variety, Jackson was very enthusiastic about getting the chance to revisit this chapter in the Beatles’ history.
“I’m absolutely thrilled that Michael’s movie, Let It Be, has been restored and is finally being re-released after being unavailable for decades,” said Jackson. “I was so lucky to have access to Michael’s outtakes for Get Back, and I’ve always thought that Let It Be is needed to complete the Get Back story. Over three parts, we showed Michael and the Beatles filming a groundbreaking new documentary, and Let It Be is that documentary – the movie they released in 1970. I now think of it all as one epic story, finally completed after five decades.”
“The two projects support and enhance each other,” continued Jackson. “Let It Be is the climax of Get Back, while Get Back provides a vital missing context for Let It Be. Michael Lindsay-Hogg was unfailingly helpful and gracious while I made Get Back, and it’s only right that his original movie has the last word… looking and sounding far better than it did in 1970.”
When will Let It Be premiere on Disney+?
Disney+ has announced that Let It Be will be available on Wednesday, May 8.
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