WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Melanie Bouvet The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

ackstasis The Beatles were involved in five feature-length projects as a band. Certainly, 'Let it Be (1970)' is a far, far cry from 'A Hard Day's Night(1964)' and 'Help! (1965),' which were enjoyable, slightly goofy, comedies featuring the band at the height of their fame. Michael Lindsay-Hogg's documentary, on the other hand, is a fly-on-the-wall account of rehearsals and recording for the Beatles' final studio album. Though commissioned by The Beatles, originally as a television special, this is not a puff piece; instead, it documents a musical group struggling to hold together. The band members each sport untamed, unflattering facial hair; John Lennon has a constant shadow watching silently from his side; Ringo looks bored most of the time.But there's some great music hidden in there amid the rabble of rehearsals. It's particularly awesome to see the musicians, particularly George and John, really getting into a performance of "Dig It!" (a terrific jam-piece unfairly shortened for the final album release). The documentary, of course, culminates with the Beatles' final public performance from the rooftop of Apple Studios, which brought street-traffic to a screeching halt, and had policemen milling around confusedly. John signs off with the memorable line, "I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we pass the audition"(fans of "The Simpsons" will no doubt note parallels with the rise-and-fall of barbershop quartet The Be Sharps).There are a few curious things about this film. The theatrical cut was rased from a 210-minute rough edit, the final editing performed in the absence of John and Yoko. It's astonishing how Lindsay-Hogg wordlessly condemns Yoko Ono; his camera regards her with something bordering on contempt. By unexpectedly cutting away to her, always silent and watching, during the band's rehearsals, the director underscores the intrusiveness of her presence. She shouldn't be there, and we know it. Based on what I'd heard, I had anticipated a few more heated arguments between the band members. There's a fair bit of frustration evident, particularly towards the officious Paul, but probably nothing that spelled immediate doom for The Beatles.

MisterWhiplash OK, so let me get this straight: Magical Mystery Tour, which I've yet to see but have heard is quite bad and pretentious and dated, is allowed to be on DVD, but *this* is banned by the 1/2 Beatles? Why? Because at one point Paul and George have a little argument over a song? As the British would say, bullocks! What they show in the film of arguments and sulking is what happens in ANY band, and in fact is usually much worse - I was almost surprised there wasn't more of the taped back-and-forth exchanged in the film, given what's been said how bad it got amongst the fab four during their final year in recording, particularly on Let it Be aka Get Back (the most chilling thing overall is the presence Yoko, who keeps popping up looking like she could duke it out with Bergman's Seventh Seal Death dude and probably win).While I watched it on a reasonable if as a given muddy and slightly scratchy transfer online on bootleg, it was pretty much the film intact as it played almost 40 years ago. What makes it a must-see is not the direction, which is at best competent and at worst the weakest thing going for it - sadly, Al Maysles was already taken by the Stones, as his eye would have been perfect - but the Beatles and the music. I'd argue after watching this and listening to Let it Be... Naked that the majority of the songs are as great as the main tracks on Abbey Road. Indeed a few of the songs in the movie here, Maxwell Silver Hammer, Octopus Garden, wound up on that album, and are practically interchangeable from the rest of the output.We see the Beatles do what they do best, be Beatles, play and work out the kinks in classic songs, and also the camaraderie that shows what underneath the image given by the other goofier movies that they were simply incredibly talented musicians. This is evidenced by the scenes where they don't actually play or rehearse their own songs but goof around, play rhythm and blues tunes and even at one point a mariachi number sung by Paul! There's not a lot of time spent with them just talking or shooting the s**t - at most we get some reminiscing between Paul and John about the Maharishi or some noodling around here and there between takes. It's not even entirely accurate to say it's documentary, as it's more like an all encompassing, authentic home movie with some extra cash to spare on cameras and editing.It all leads up to that rooftop concert that is still one of those big bad-ass moments in rock and roll history (if, again, not filmed with the best lenses or cameramen, it was perhaps a given that they had to shoot it on the fly). The energy and fun comes through all the way, and contrary to the film's reputation Let it Be shows the Beatles as having fun and doing what they do best even in what was their darkest, near-end period. Maybe there's a longer cut out there that shows more of the arguments, more bickering back and forth and maybe some of Yoko leering on like a supernatural delusion. For me, at least, I'd rather not see it: what remains, and what should for God sakes be shown to a wider and more receptive Beatles audience, is very good stuff. 8.5/10

HelloTexas11 It's impossible for a Beatles fan such as myself to be objective about 'Let It Be,' so this is more remembrance than review. For example, I remember being 14 years old, picking up the newspaper one day and seeing a small headline that read, "Beatles back together!" or something similar. This, I thought, was good news even though I wasn't really aware that they had permanently split. The headline as it turns out was misleading, to say the least. It simply meant that 'Let It Be,' the movie, was finally opening in our town. I didn't see it then; it was several years later, when it was a staple at 'midnight movie' showings (as was 'Magical Mystery Tour'). The average non-Beatles-loving film critic typically describes 'Let It Be' as slow-moving, boring in places, with only one really good scene- the rooftop concert at the end. For someone though who's early life played to an ongoing soundtrack of Beatle songs, 'Let It Be' is a wistful, sad, occasionally funny, open yet closed look at our heroes as they make preparations for their own funeral. The Beatles actually would continue for another year after the film was shot (they had yet to make 'Abbey Road,' for instance), but it is clear that 'Let It Be' catches them at as low a point as they were to reach in many ways. John sings but talks very little; he was into 'non-verbal communication' at the time, which basically meant staring blankly at other people and not answering them. When you consider there were hundreds of hours shot and Lennon was famous for his wit, it is a bit depressing that what we see in these ninety minutes was considered the best footage available of him. George Harrison is somewhat more talkative and not very happy either; he tries to appear reasonable but it's clear that Paul McCartney is like a festering wound to him that won't heal or go away. At times this animosity boils over (though only occasionally in the released version; there are many more examples in the unreleased footage) such as the infamous exchange between Paul and George during a dispute over how George should play a guitar part. "I'll play whatever you want me to play, or I won't play at all if you don't want me to play," Harrison snaps. "Whatever it is that will please you, I'll do it." Ringo provides a comforting presence, his hang-dog, neither here nor there expression almost uplifting given the circumstances. The only one of the four who seems able to muster enthusiasm for the project, or anything else for that matter, is Paul McCartney. He is seen throughout as cajoling, joking, arguing, pestering, and in general urging the others on, suggesting ideas for the film and beyond. Depending on one's point of view and opinion of McCartney, he is either the one Beatle still trying to create magic, or a colossal pain in the ass. It seems clear the other Beatles consider him the latter, at least at this point in time. There are lots of off-key rehearsals in the film, but also a few finished set-pieces, mainly of McCartney songs like 'Two Of Us' and the title track, which is a wonderfully subdued performance by the four. Still, by this point in the movie, one begins to feel that the only way 'Let It Be' can redeem itself is by all four Beatles setting up their amps and drum kit somewhere and playing some good old rock and roll. Which is exactly what they do, on the rooftop of the Apple building. For the last twenty minutes or so, all the bad vibes magically, mysteriously vanish and the Beatles are the Beatles again, charging through 'Get Back,' 'I've Got A Feeling,' 'Don't Let Me Down,' and 'One After 909', before reprising 'Get Back' as London police show up to wag their fingers and tell the Fab Four to turn that noise down. It's a great, funny, energetic scene that has since passed into legend, and rightfully so. And it sees 'Let It Be' ending on just the right note, as our heroes exit the stage for the last time.

Neil Welch Several people have mentioned poor synchronisation - this was obvious to me as a 19 year old, watching Maxwell's Silver Hammer when Let it be first came out.Audio tape was cheap, and the film crew had 2 sound recorders going constantly while the Beatles were recording, staggered so that one was still recording while the tape was changed on the other. As a result, pretty much all the performance and recording audio was preserved.Conversely, film stock, even 16mm, was expensive (Let it be was before video was commonly used for documentary purposes). The cameramen filmed in short, sharp bursts, and very few songs were captured in anything approximating their entirety.There were two results of this. One, editing the film meant that when there was no visual to match up with audio (Suzy Parker has been given as an example), the editors have to edit around by picking visuals which match as nearly as possible or which, at worst, don't contrast (ie. by showing John, mouth closed, while he's singing on the soundtrack). Two, the bootleg audio is filled with the cameramen saying take numbers followed by synchronisation beeps, because of the multitude of short film takes.Not exactly a review, I know........but see the film anyway. If they ever release it on DVD. It's an important historical document, it's bittersweet, and it's got some GREAT music!