Let It Be: The long-buried Beatles documentary hits Disney Plus this week

Last Updated on June 5, 2024

Hell truly has frozen over, with a movie many of us Beatlemaniacs never thought we’d see (through legal channels) getting an official release on Disney Plus. The movie, of course, is Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s Let It Be. The film original came out theatrically in 1970 and coincided with the release of The Beatles’ final album of the same name. It followed the group as they recorded the titular album, and while it received a home video release in the 80s, it’s been buried ever since.

Rumours have always been that the surviving Beatles didn’t like how they were portrayed, with the documentary famously revealing the frayed tensions within the group that led to their split. As a fan, I thought it would stay buried, especially after the release of Peter Jackson’s epic-length Get Back, which used all the footage filmed for the Let It Be documentary and serves as kind of the last word on the band’s split in a way this documentary never could. That said, many of us fans hoped one day it would come out, and in the end, Peter Jackson championed the revival, stating that he felt it was the climax of his own Get Back project. He noted that his film provided the context that was missing in the original release, and it seems Paul McCartney agreed with him, with the film getting an exclusive Disney Plus bow, where it’s sure to be viewed by a massive audience.

Everyone always assumed that McCartney was the one blocking the release, but he once told Rolling Stone that not only wasn’t that the case, but that HE was the one advocating for it to come out again. “I keep bringing it up, and everyone goes, ‘Yeah, we should do that.’ The objection should be me. I don’t come off well.”

Certainly, Let It Be will look incredible on Disney Plus, with the notoriously ragged-looking doc getting the same AI-assisted remaster as Get Back. That movie made us feel like we were sitting in the studio right there alongside The Beatles, and while I’m not usually an advocate for things like this (note my coverage of James Cameron’s recent 4K releases), I’m down for this one in a big way.

Let It Be starts streaming on May 8th. Let us know in the comments if any other Beatlemaniacs out there will be giving it a watch.  Now, if only Jackson could get on a remaster of The Beatles Anthology and The Compleat Beatles. Then, all the missing pieces would truly be filled in.