Let It Be from HMC
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| Front and back cover of booklet |
Word from the HMC bootleg company is that their release of the 1992 Furmanek restoration of The Beatles’ Let It Be movie is going to be out in just a few weeks. They have also made public this image of the front and back cover of the booklet which accompanies the release.
Here’s what they are writing on the back cover:
Let It Be is a 1970 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.
The film was originally planned as a television documentary which would accompany a concert broadcast. When plans for a broadcast were dropped, the project became a feature film. Although the film does not dwell on the dissension within the group at the time, it provides some glimpses into the dynamics that would lead to the Beatles’ break-up.
The film has not been officially available since the 1980s, although original and bootleg copies of home video releases still circulate (as does bootlegs of various television screenings. WogBlog). The film’s director Michael Lindsay-Hogg stated in 2011 that a DVD and Blu-ray was possibly going to be released in 2013, but did not happen due to the film’s negative (though accurate) portrayal of The Beatles. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr collectively won an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score for the film.
A tracklist is also supplied, referring to both the DVD and CD included in the package, so it seems the film’s soundtrack is simply repeated on the CD. Because of the time limit of a CD, we are guessing that some of the dialogue must have been omitted there.
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| Flyer distributed by HMC vendors. |
This is an unofficial release, which qualifies it as a bootleg. At one point in 1997, a U.K. based company revealed plans of releasing this 1992 remastered edition of the film as an official video cassette. As with all later announcements of an impending release of the film, this never happened. The film and outtakes from it have been the subject of several later transfers, restorations and remasters by Apple Corps Ltd, none of which have seen the light of day in full, although clips from the results of these restorations have been shown in documentaries, mini-documentaries and as standalone promotional videos released to television companies only. For a full overview of the history of the Let It Be home video releases and attempts to re-release the film, we refer you to our main Let It Be post.
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| The bootleg company is also bringing back some of their older releases. |
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Great news, really.
Is it only me who is noticing the aspect ration on the clips from this is incorrect, distorting the image?.
I hope this can be corrected before the discs surface.
What appallingly bad cover design. And what an appalling font to use.
I agree. HMC consistently brings out quality releases with the worst looking covers. The Shea release (one of their first) was tremendous, but since their first few we have been in comic sans territory.
I should be getting this one next week.
The clips from the ending portion of the '92 version that were up on YouTube for a short time some months back definitely had a distorted/squeezed picture.
My recollection is that everything was slightly vertically squeezed even though the frame was still the original 4×3 ratio. This left slight black edges on the picture. It didn't look like anything was cropped; it was just squeezed slightly so everybody looked a little elongated.
I would certainly hope this isn't what this disc looks like, as it would kind of defeat the purpose of putting it out, which would be the video quality and the correct uncropped aspect ratio of that '92 restoration.
I have been informed that the discs will in fact come with the elongated/stretched picture. Apparently this was how the master tape was presented.
No doubt, any discrepancies in the picture ratio will be something for the technically savvy among Beatles fans to work on after this release. What this release will still bring to the fan scene is more scenes with stereo sound, as well as enhanced picture quality.
Wow, ridiculous. If that's true, I won't need a copy of it. I already have copies I'm not happy with. I don't need one where the image is stretched. I assume someone else will correct the stretch, and that will become the best currently available version. The ratio would be toast again, of course, but its easy to imagine that correcting that stretch would become the best available version, perhaps fading in the missing picture around the edge from another version. bleh.
Couldn't you do a quick & easy "correction" on this stretched video by simply playing around with aspect ratio on any good TV?
most of the time, those issues can be fixed without re-encoding. Guess we'll find out when it surfaces.
What sets this release apart for me is Ron's involvement. Better source , better picture and stereo sound is good enough for me. I agree with those who aren't crazy about the artwork. When HMC first appeared on the scene in 2007 with the entire SHEA! concert, the hard back book that contained the discs was beautiful packaging for a CD release. HMC is a collector's label that I love. They go the extra mile for Beatles fans and I appreciate that. Frankly, I play their CD and DVDs all the time.
How does one go about getting these HMC releases anyway?
I just wish they would have corrected the stretch even if it required some letterboxing. I can wait for the corrected versions to surface. Should not take too long.
Nice blog thanks i love the beatles
I've just seen the back jacket of this item and it appears that 2 songs are missing , in the film right after the Beatles play Dig It is "Two Of Us , Let It Be , and The Long And Winding Road are played , but according to this jacket , Two Of Us & The Long And Winding Road are missing , now whether this is a typo or not I do not know , But I sure hope they haven't left anything out….
The movie is intact, the sound is better then the other versions I have but each side of the screen brought in, almost a fake HD look, anyway, the picture is about the same as my other versions of it I have on DVD overall. Still some tracks sound in stereo from my 5:1 but the next thing to listen to will be the audio CD. Nice packaging, very professional like other HMC releases. Again, I'll listen to the CD in headphones next week.
The CD tracks
01 Paul's Piano Intro
02 Don't Let Me Down
03 Maxwell's Silver Hammer
04 Two of Us
05 I've Got a Feeling
06 Oh! Darling
07 One After 909
08 Jazz Piano Song
09 Paul Talking Down To George
10 Across the Universe
11 Dig a Pony
12 Suzy Parker
13 I Me Mine
14 For You Blue
15 Group Chat
16 Bésame mucho
17 Octopus's Garden
18 Group Chat
19 You've Really Got a Hold on Me
20 The Long and Winding Road (Reggae Version)
21 Medley:
Rip It Up/Shake Rattle and Roll
22 Medley:
Kansas City/Miss Ann/Lawdy Miss Clawdy
23 Dig It
24 Paul Discussing Touring
25 Two Of Us
26 Let It Be
27 The Long and Winding Road
28 Setting Up Rooftop Concert
29 Get Back (Live)
30 Don't Let Me Down (Live)
31 I've Got A Feeling (Live)
32 One After 909 (Live)
33 Dig A Pony (Live)
34 Laughing Get Back
More on my website BLOG section.
I just got my copy and to me it looks and sounds pretty darn good….The sound is really good.
I've got a companion piece to this set, a 2 DVD set by HMC with more rare footage coming out of the Netherlands in a week or two. I'm sure everyone will hear about it really soon. I have a picture I posted of the cover facebook.com/groups/117616281742261/