As most everyone has said, the movie is a absolute delight. The performances are all strong and the cinematography just right. It's one of those films you can watch over and over again, and see something different each time. Most highly recommended, especially to fans of early Beatle music.


A raw look at the "fab 5"   March 7, 2005
 9 out of 9 found this review helpful

Before The Beatles changed the world of music, they were a scruffy rock 'n' roll five piece. Lennon and McCartney were already writing music together but Lennon spent much of his time hanging with fellow artist Stu Sutcliffe. Lennon talked his pal into spending the money from the sale of a painting into buying a bass guitar and suddenly "The Silver Beatles" had a new bassist--albeit one that couldn't play any instrument but that soon changed.

This terrific film chronicles the early days of the band in Hamburg before they broke it big and the strong friendship of Lennon and Sutcliffe. Ian Hart virtually steals the film from Stephen Dorf (who's also quite good)capturing Lennon's swagger and sarcastic wit in full stride. Directly Ian Softley focuses more on the duo of Lennon and Sutcliffe than the rest of the band chronicling their friendship. Sutcliffe never lived to see Lennon and the rest of the band achieve their dreams of going to the top and conquer the world. It's a fascinating glimpse into the past and it's clear that Softley did quite a bit of research to make this marvelous film. Hart had played Lennon once before in "The House and Times" a film that portrayed a supposed homosexual fling between Lennon and the band's manager Brian Epstein.

Most of the performances capture the essence of the The Beatles even if they don't always look exactly like the people their playing. The duo Hart and Gary Bakewell at least resemble Lennon and McCartney. While Softley claims he was trying to capture the raw sound of the band in the beginning (which I'm sure he does), my only complaint is that the singers don't sound all that much like Lennon or McCartney. Still, the supporting musicians drawn from members of REM, Afgan Wigs, Nirvana and other groups do create quite a sound.

The big difference between this and the bare bones release of a couple of years ago are all the extras: We get Ian Softley's "Sundance Channel Interview"; an interview of Softley and Hart discussing the making of the film; an audio interview with Astrid Kirchherr (with old photos of her, Stu and others along with footage from the film to illustrate what she's saying); two deleted scenes; footage of "the band" of actors rehearshing; audition video shot for the movie; behind-the-scenes photos and an audio commentary from the director. Univeral has done an exceptional job in remastering the video and audio.

It's a terrific package. I'm glad that this drama has finally made it to DVD in such a deluxe presentation. Take a trip into the past and rediscover what made The Beatles so special to begin with in "Backbeat".


A love story between 2 men....   July 27, 2003
 7 out of 13 found this review helpful

When perplexed Roger Ebert reviewed this movie, he joked that saying this movie is about the early Beatles is like saying Hamlet is about a gravedigger who meets a prince.

A synopsis of this movie is: John Lennon convinces Stuart Sutcliffe (Stephen Dorff), an art school friend, to join his band as a bass player. The band gets a chance at a professional gig, and off they go to Hamburg. The other band members are bewildered as to why John insists that such a relatively untalented muscian as Stuart Suttcliffe is in the band in the first place. Paul wants to kick Suttcliffe off the band, which results in a confrontation with John, who threatens to quit the band if Suttcliffe is asked to leave. "What is it with you two," asked a truely bewildered Paul. In the meantime, Sutcliffe, meets Astrid (Sheryl Lee), a bohemian photographer, who encourages him to pursue his interest in painting. John and Astrid spar over Suttcliffe's affection. After a violent confrontation with Stuart over Asrid, John finally accepts that Stuart is leaving him, and gets on with his life.

One might venture to ask WHY a movie that is supposed to be about the early Beatles has a plot revolving around the relationship between John Lennon and Stuart Suttcliffe?

Stuart Suttcliffe, 'the 5th Beatle' is actually a bit of trivia in the story of the Beatles. On the other hand, it's a key to understanding who John Lennon was.

This is a love story between two men, BEFORE the relatively NEW and rigid concept of orientation was established in the Sexual Revolution of the 70's and 80's. The fact that the intimacy between Lennon and Suttcliffe was never 'consumated' in an actual sex act doesn't detract from the powerful affection between them. It was just the way things were before Gay Liberation.

This is a beautiful compelling gay love story. Buy it, rent it, watch it!


This movie rocked and rolled   May 16, 1999
 6 out of 6 found this review helpful

This movie has everything from tear-jerking emotion to all-out action. The actors portraying the characters of John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe (Ian Hart and Stephen Dorff) are fantastic in their roles as do-or-die best friends. This movie really captured the rough and tumble action of the early days of the Beatles, and the heartbreakingly deep friendship between John and Stu. The acting is amazing and really grabs you by the heartstrings. I never cry during movies, but the ending to this one had me bawling, something that's very rare. But despite this, Backbeat is a wonderful mix of charismatic fun, tough attitudes, unbreakable friendships, betrayl, and of course great music. This is by far the best movie made about the Beatles, and even if you aren't a fan of theirs you won't be able to help yourself from liking this non-stop thrill ride of a movie. I also loved the way it gives long over-due credit to to my personal favorite member of the early group, Stuart Sutcliffe, who died before the band made it big, and left the future biggest band in the world, for love and to do what he wanted to do despite the fact that it was one of the hardest things he ever did because of his friendship with John. In short, this movie was a really well-crafted piece of entertainment that also serves to give respect to one of the least well-known but greatest painters of our time who was also a big influence on the greatest band of all time.