I've got it on order, but I'm eager to hear what any other Beatlemaniacs who've picked this up think of it -- comments?

It's a great set. I went directly to the bonus disc. Some cool stuff here (like more of Paul, George and Ringo together). Only complaint is that the bonus disc is not in 5.1 or DTS (except the video for "Real Love"). The rest of the set is top notch. Packaging is A++.

I just got done watching disc one and its a great beginning to what looks like a marvelous set. Lotsa footage from their early concert days and some great insights as well..

Disc 2 is calling me already...

Was this ever on TV?

I was told it was on PBS at least once.

I have the set ordered to and am looking forward to recieving it.

The Anthology first aired in the UK in 1994, then was released on VHS awhile later.

Is it mostly live performance footage, or documentary stuff? I'm not much of a Beatles fan, but would be interested in a documentary about them providing it was not heavy on the concert stuff.

There are supposingly alot of compression issues in the video quality. And this aired on ABC.

"Supposingly?"

It aired,if I remember correctly, over three nights on ABC seven or eight years ago. However, what with comericals and all, much less than half of the footage on the DVD set was on ABC.

And there are reviews here, here, here, and here.

I believe it was four.

Four what?

Four nights? No, I really think it was three. I seem to remember that I thought it was odd that they had taken three specials and made them into eight.

Four reviews? Yes, I posted links to four different reveiws.

Four Beatles? No, I'm pretty sure there were five: John, Paul, George, Ringo, and Murray the K.

Everyone always forgets poor Pete Best....

Yeah, but Pete was replaced. When Pete was in the band, he was the fourth Beatle. When he was replaced, Ringo became the fourth Beatle. Now, Murray the K, or Billy Preston, or George Martin, that's something else. And then there's Stu Sutcliffe. How do you think he feels? I mean, the guy's been dead for forty years. That's gotta suck.

Anyone remember the old SNL skit where Eddie Murphy played the fifth Beatle, Clarence?

"Actually, the song was originally called 'She's Got A Ticket To Ride and the B**ch Don't Care."

Are there full performances of the songs? Or just cut-ins while a talking-head yammers on about the music?

For example, do they show the entire video of "Revolution"? Do they show entire songs from their set at Shea? If so, I'm gonna have to risk divorce(*) and buy the set.

(* On DVD-buying hiatus until we get through our current stack.)

Theres lotsa full videos. I Am The Walrus, Hello Goodbye, Lady Madonna is in full. So is a lotta earlier ones. Then theres the Real Love and Free As A Bird videos. This is a DEFINITE must buy for Beatles fans....

Not sure about Revolution as Im not there yet to that part.

For the videos, are those songs remixed to dts and dd 5.1?

Apparently, the music quality was (wisely) the main focus of this set. The four discs that hold the Anthology documentary present all audio in Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS, and uncompressed PCM audio. When you cram all of that, plus two and a half hours of video on one disc, that will lead to some compression artifacts. Here is another review that goes into the specs a little more fully: http://dvd.ign.com/articles/392/392112p1.html

Revolution, Something, (I think) three songs from Shea, etc. are all full performances.

Revolution, Something, (I think) three songs from Shea, etc. are all full performances.

Just published my review of the set here on DVD Talk:

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=6023

Enjoy!

There are well over a dozen complete, uninterrupted song performances on the set.

This site lists all the performances/videos, and if it says "complete," then it's complete.

Got Another One Here