Gareth Crook Made mostly of archival footage... most of it recoloured, this is quite a nice documentary... I was expecting a bit more though. Aside a few bits here and there, there doesn't seem to be that much that's new... even if there is... director Ron Howard says there is. What could be more familiar than The Beatles though? Certainly not an easy story to breathe new life into! All that said, 50 years on from the time, it remains quite incredible to watch the furore that they created, just how new, fresh, raw they were. So disregard my initial thoughts, forget pointless analysis, it's The Beatles! The greatest band the world has ever seen. Just enjoy it and lose yourself if only for a 106 minutes.

JLRVancouver After more than 50 years, there's not much new that can be said about the birth and rise of the "Beatlemania" phenomenon, so don't expect any great surprises or revelations in Ron Howard's documentary of the Beatles touring period. The footage is great as are the interviews (even the 'celebrity' interviews such as Whoopi Goldberg add something to the story). No reason to suggest Beatle's fans watch this new addition to Beatle-nostalgia (they will), but the movie's worth viewing by anyone who remembers the era or likes the music (or, of course, both). I still find it sad to watch images of John Lennon, knowing how pointless and untimely his death was.

Andrew Marshall I guess most people on the planet know about the Beatles. This documentary looks specifically at their touring years. By modern standards the Beatles weren't together very long. If you look at the major bands headlining festivals nowadays the chances are they've been around for 20+ years. Back in the 60's this wasn't really the norm though, so the Beatles were a very long lasting band by the standard of the time. The documentary looks at the 3 phases of the Beatles; the formative years, the single years and the music years. Those are my classifications. The formative years were played out in Hamburg and small British venues such as the Cavern Club. The single years were from around 1962 through 1965 where they pushed out a bunch of singles that dominated the charts. The music years (or drug years!) were 1966 through 1970 where they pushed the popular music boundaries and changed the direction of popular music forever. This movie is very much focused on the 1960-1965 period as that's when the Beatles played live. There is no doubt that the fervour surrounding the Beatles was unique and is unlikely to ever be repeated, so the movie is really engaging. One of the things that really stood out for me in the movie was the sheer inadequacy of the sound systems they used. Most present day hi-fi systems would have more power than the systems the Beatles were using to play to thousands of people. If you are interested in the Beatles or music in general you should definitely watch this movie.

Asif Khan (asifahsankhan) Reporter: "What place do you think this story of The Beatles is going to have in the history of Western culture?"Paul McCartney: "You must be kidding with that question…it's not culture, it's a good laugh!"When you think of truly iconic musicians, who springs to mind? The likes of Mozart, Beethoven, Elvis and of course The Beatles. And now nearly 50 years after they stopped touring, actor and director Ron Howard has produced a documentary entitled The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years; which looks at the touring years of the band between 1962 – 1966.The Beatles are undoubtedly the most successful group in music history. These four lads from Liverpool – John, Paul, George and Ringo – are estimated to have sold around 600 million albums worldwide since their formation in 1960. They continued to dominate the charts in the UK and overseas, until they split in 1970.In the Music world, these four English lads from The Old Smoke are regarded as the pioneers of the so-called (in America) British- Invasion or the inevitable global industry domination.And Eight Days A Week brings us the story of The Beatles during their touring years of 1962 until 1966. Directed by Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, The Da Vinci Code), this documentary provides a mixture of interviews, footage, photos and recordings of The Beatles, as they worked their way from small venues in the north of England, to becoming four of the most recognisable faces of the 1960s. Along this journey, we see how their manager Brian Epstein created their image, the recording process of the Fab Four, and the changes in their musical style as we move through the 1960s.A milestone in the music industry came when The Beatles played to a crowd of almost 56,000 fans in August 1965, at the Shea Stadium in New York. No other artist had attempted to play to this capacity, and their music was spread around the stadium via the Tannoy system. Footage of this and other concerts can be seen in the documentary, including the overwhelming reaction of the band as they are faced with the screams of their audience. It is interesting to note that two future Beatle wives were in the audience at Shea Stadium; Linda Eastman (wife of Paul) and Barbara Bach (wife of Ringo).Interviews with the two remaining Beatles, Paul and Ringo, and former interviews with John and George are in short supply. Eight Days A Week is mostly images and footage, with voice-overs in place. Those hoping to learn about the childhoods, marriages or personal lives of the Fab Four will be disappointed. Additionally, there is no mention of the breakup of The Beatles in this documentary; its entire focus is almost all on the touring years. However, there is plenty of behind the scenes footage of the band and those around them during the early 60s, as we hear how being a Beatle came with both ups and downs. We also see the relationship the Fab Four had with each other during this period of great success.Any hardcore Beatle fans will not learn anything new from this documentary, but it is still a fascinating glimpse into the early years of a band who have certainly left their mark on Western culture.