‘The Beatles Anthology’ Review: Rediscovering the Band That Changed Everything (Disney+)

Those of us of a certain age remember what a major event it was in 1995 when Anthology was released — the albums of previously unreleased material and alternate takes from The Beatles’ catalogue. That Anthology project also included a documentary series that retraced the band’s history through then-recent interviews with the three surviving members: Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison, who would pass away in 2001. While there were already countless books, documentaries and mountains of video and photographic material about the band from Liverpool, this “official” version of their story felt genuinely fresh, especially for its extensive never-before-seen footage. Being an authorized production, no one expected particularly shocking revelations — but that was beside the point. What mattered was having a complete biography with new material and extensive interviews, including archived conversations with John Lennon.

Thirty years after Anthology — meaning the same amount of time has now passed between this release and 1995 as there was between that edition and the era when the band recorded something like Rubber Soul in 1965 — the material that arrives today may not be groundbreaking, but will undoubtedly be cherished by two distinct groups. On one hand, veteran completists eager for better image quality and a little more footage (most of us first saw it on VHS, so the difference is dramatic). And on the other hand, younger viewers who never saw the series and might not know the band’s story in detail. There are also new add-ons: musically, an “Anthology Vol. 4” with previously unreleased takes of classic songs, and on the video side, something like a “documentary about the documentary.”

Let’s start with the basics. The Anthology series arriving on Disney+ — with the first three episodes releasing November 26 and three more per day on the 27th and 28th — uses the longest version of the original project. Specifically, it’s not the six-part broadcast version from British TV in 1995, but the 1996 home-video edition consisting of eight episodes of just under an hour each. That edition was later reissued on DVD in 2003 and is now presented again, newly remastered, and expanded with an extra episode showing behind-the-scenes moments from the sessions that brought Paul, George, and Ringo together. Some of this footage has been seen before in the DVD special features, but much is new or rarely viewed. These meetings were held to review the archival materials, give joint interviews, and — most importantly — to record “Real Love” and “Free as a Bird,” based on unused demos by Lennon. It was during those sessions that they began working — though did not complete — a third Lennon demo titled “Now and Then,” finally finished and released in 2023.

The eight main episodes revisit in detail every phase of the band’s career, from their early days in Liverpool to their 1970 breakup. Broadly speaking, Anthology begins with each member’s individual backstory, continues with the early days of the group (before Ringo), the pivotal stint in Hamburg, their triumphant return to Liverpool, and their first studio experiences with producer George Martin — now as the definitive lineup. From there comes the story we all know: the band’s meteoric rise in Britain, the explosion of Beatlemania in the United States, the global domination, the controversies that led them to abandon touring, and the creative peaks of the classic albums they released from 1966 onward. Familiar tales, yes — but here presented with remarkable depth and clarity.

Throughout the series, we see footage from every stage of their journey and hear commentary not only from the three surviving Beatles, but also from collaborators such as George Martin, Neil Aspinall, and Derek Taylor, along with extensive archival material. The focus is less on in-depth musical analysis and more on anecdotes — what it was like to live inside the insanity of Beatlemania, and later, the creative boom and eventual tensions that led to the band’s dissolution. One inspired decision by the filmmakers was to show full (or nearly full) live performances instead of the usual quick montages of a few seconds per song — a revelation in itself.

In parallel with the Beatles’ story, the documentary also serves as a journey through the era: the 1960s, the changes in fashion, music, culture, and even the transition from black-and-white to color. Political and social issues are touched upon only lightly and usually only when directly connected to the band’s own experiences (such as their disastrous visit to the Philippines). The tone remains mostly intimate, careful, and diplomatic — avoiding major controversies and smoothing over disagreements — but even with those limitations, the archival materials are so rich that the result is still utterly absorbing.

The relative novelty here is the ninth episode, a reconstruction — in noticeably lower quality and in some segments digitally retouched, apparently using artificial intelligence — of the private meetings where Paul, George, and Ringo reviewed materials and prepared the releases. It is a unique reunion, at least from the audience’s perspective, allowing us to watch them interact more than twenty years after the breakup (the footage was recorded between 1991 and 1995). We see them play, sing, reminisce, tease each other, and share small moments that might seem minor in the grand historical scheme, but feel deeply emotional when viewed today.

Some of the most charming moments come when we see them listening back to their old demos and joking about mistakes or choices they made in certain songs. Or when that dynamic between them — more humorous than nostalgic — resurfaces almost exactly as it once was, with Paul slipping back into the role of the ship’s captain, George remaining a touch more guarded, and Ringo embracing his place as the comic relief. And the most moving moments, without question, are when they play and sing together, accompanying Lennon’s voice on the new recordings. The brief instant when Harrison and McCartney harmonize on the chorus of “Real Love” alone justifies the entire project. It lasts only a few seconds, but in that moment The Beatles seem to exist again. And even if only for a fleeting moment recovered thirty years later, the magic reappears, intact and as vivid as in the good old days.

“Well, next year we’re going to do a stadium tour with mud-wrestling matches,” Harrison and McCartney joke. “And I’ll be the referee,” Starr adds. Despite the years, the stories and the past disagreements, the three surviving Beatles briefly seem like the same mischievous twenty-somethings facing the press on that first arrival in New York. But then the jokes fade and the moment turns emotional. “This has been a really nice day for me, chaps,” Ringo tells Paul and George, sitting together in a garden before saying goodbye. And without the slightest trace of irony he adds: “It’s been really beautiful and moving for me. I like hanging out with you.” We do too, Ringo. We do too.