I caught Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years when it first aired on Hulu in September 2016. Because of the high bar set by the extensively detailed Beatles Anthology series from 1995, I wondered what else could be said. To his credit, director Ron Howard put a unique spin on the chaos and mania that surrounded the Beatles when they were on the road. Pretty much everything else I have to say about it can be found at this review.
Now, just in time for the holidays, comes the DVD and Blu-ray release of Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years with the inevitable extras. The double-disc special edition features 100 minutes of extras. There are segments that explore the Lennon -McCartney songwriting team, as well as George Harrison’s contributions as a guitarist, musician and songwriter in his right. Then there’s rhe Beatles as a collective, their humor, women and their role as a musical movement. There’s quite a detailed look at the band’s roots in Liverpool and the friends who helped them. Ronnie Spector talks at length about hanging out with the Beatles.
Additional pieces include shooting A Hard Day’s Night, going to Australia and Japan, and playing Shea Stadium. Through it all, there are previously unseen interviews with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, Paul Greengrass, Stephen Stark, Peter Asher, Malcolm Gladwell, Sigourney Weaver, Whoopi Goldberg, Richard Curtis, Elvis Costello and many others. Throw in five performances of the Beatles in concert and a 64-page booklet with rare photos, and you have a sure hit with any Beatle fan on your list.
~ Shawn Perry
