Living In The Material World[Blu Ray] [Blu-ray]

Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese's documentary on the late Beatle George Harrison, GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD, named after  the singer's 1973 album of the same name , was released in the U.K. last fall on DVD and Blu-ray, and aired in the U.S. on HBO. Finally, the U.S. DVD/Blu-ray is out, and it is well worth the wait.The film airs in two parts: Part 1 covers George's life from his Liverpool childhood through the height of Beatlemania and beyond. Part 2 begins with the White Album-era tensions between The Beatles, and the group's eventual split, then focuses on George's solo career and his personal life. There is one significant gap: the documentary seems to skip from his 1974 U.S. tour (essential unseen footage here) to the Traveling Wilburys era, and leaves out his Dark Horse Records solo work from 1976-1992, including his 1987 comeback album  Cloud Nine  and his 1991 tour of Japan with Eric Clapton.  The Dark Horse Years 1976 - 1992  box set does fill these gaps, as does a recently released iPad Multi-Touch e-book on iTunes. The film's most glaring omission is during the segment on John Lennon's murder and its effect on George, which unfortunately does not mention Harrison's wonderful tribute song, "All Those Years Ago," recorded with the other surviving Beatles, which was a #2 hit for George in 1981 (Kim Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes" was Number One).The film does cover Harrison's career as a filmmaker with his company HandMade Films, including such hits as LIFE OF BRIAN and TIME BANDITS, with a brief mention of The Rutles thrown in for good measure, but wisely skips HandMade's Sean Penn/Madonna box office flop, SHANGHAI SURPRISE. It also candidly deals with George's near-fatal 1999 stabbing and his ultimately losing battle with cancer.There's much archival footage of George throughout, much of it from  The Beatles Anthology , including some outtakes, There are highlights of his musical career too, including the best-sounding versions of The Beatles' 1962 Hamburg Star-Club tapes that I have ever heard. Whoever did the remastering on those songs should be hired by Apple for a proper re-release of those tracks. There are interviews with Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, Sir George Martin, the late Neil Aspinall, George's lifelong friends Eric Clapton and Ravi Shankar, fellow Wilburys Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne, his wife Olivia and son Dhani, race-car drivers Jackie Stewart and Gordon Murray (George loved Formula One racing, and even wrote a song about it ("Faster," from 1979's  George Harrison  album)), and others. Pattie Boyd Clapton, George's first wife, speaks candidly about their troubled marriage, and her affair with Eric Clapton, who she would subsequently marry and divorce. Even convicted murderer "Crazy Phil" Spector gets into the mix, discussing the production of  All Things Must Pass [BOXED EDITION ] and  The Concert For Bangladesh (Limited Deluxe Edition)  - the interview was probably done before his imprisonment.Overall, the film is a fine, loving tribute to George, just as the late David L. Wolper's  Imagine: John Lennon (Deluxe Edition)  was for John.The Deluxe Edition contains the film on two DVDs, and a single-disc Blu-ray. Both have eleven bonus features, including six (not specifically indicated on the packaging) that are not on the standard DVD or Blu-ray release.The four musical features are: 1) George playing his ukelele to (it sounds like) the old standard "A Shine On Your Shoes" (uncredited); 2) a soundcheck of the B-side "Deep Blue" from The Concert For Bangladesh; 3) a segment from Abbey Road Studios where George Martin and son Giles "break down" the master of "Here Comes The Sun," much to the delight of Dhani Harrison; and 4) a Shankar Family and Friends instrumental called "Dispute And Violence," recorded live during the 1974 U.S. tour.The seven interview segments include pieces on George's growing up in Liverpool, George describing the origins of the poem "The Inner Light," which became the basis for his first Beatles B-side, and interviews with Paul McCartney, Neil Aspinall, Jeff Lynne, and race car drivers Gordon Murray and Damon Hill.The sort-of soundtrack CD, also available separately as  Early Takes Volume 1: Music From The Martin Scorsese Picture Living In The Material World , consists of 10 Harrison demos and alternate takes, most, if not all, from the early-to-mid-1970s.The four discs are housed in a deluxe gatefold book with a Hamburg-era photo of George on the front cover, and a Linda McCartney photo of George (probably late '60s or early '70s) on the back cover. There are also two stand-alone photos, one from Hamburg, and the other from the mid-'60s, with an easel included, as well as a soft-cover 96-page book, which is an abridged version of the hardback book  George Harrison: Living In The Material World . Casual fans who already own the book and don't care about the DVD/Blu-ray extras may want to purchase the standard Blu-ray or DVD editions, and buy the EARLY TAKES CD separately. But for fans who want it all in one fell swoop, this Deluxe Edition is essential.Happy 75th birthday, George, wherever you are (February 25, 2018). Olivia celebrated this milestone by reissuing THE CONCERT FOR GEORGE on vinyl and Blu-ray for the first time, as well as CD and DVD. The double CD and 4-LP vinyl box set are sold separately, but the two-disc DVD and Blu-ray reissues are available only as a combo pack with the double CD. There was also a limited-edition box set containing the LP, CD, DVD, and Blu-ray, along with a limited-edition super deluxe book, but it sold out very quickly.

My granddaughter is a Beatle fan. Most children do not know much about this group except some songs their grandmother or mother sings every once in a while. It is important when you have a young fan to show them the human side of these icons. This DVD provides a heartwarming view of a generous soul.

I purchased this complete set of George Harrison Living In The Material World because I wanted to have everything that was released for this film. I did buy the original hard back book Living In The Material World which is fabulous, but I wish that version of the book had been released in this set rather than the shortened version.Almost two thirds of the film is about George when he was in the Beatles and the rest of the film is about him after the Beatles. Its too bad they didn't cover his life and solo career in as much detail as they did when he was a Beatle. It is almost like he did the All Things Must Pass LP and The Concert For Bengla Desh (concert/film/LP) then didn't do much after that. He toured the United States in 1974 and toured Japan in 1991 which they didn't cover very much. They didn't cover most of the records he released through out his life, but they did cover when he was in the Traveling Wilburys. One of the coolest things in the film was seeing when George and Paul signed paperwork ending the Beatles.Yes, there was so much of his life from 1961 through 1970, but it would have been nice to see, hear and know what he did for the rest of his 30 years of life. It would have been nice to have the complete hard back book in this set as well as more music on the CD, but they had to delay the release here in the US because HBO had the rights to show the movie before it was released so to put the hard back book in it would have been like buying the same thing again. This set was released immediately in England and through out parts of the world when it was on HBO in the US, but we had to wait for 6 months to get this release.I have heard there are plans to release more unreleased music in the future which will be nice since the re-issued CD's didn't have much extra on them. I guess artists and record companies feel we, the consumer, don't want extra tracks (demos or unreleased) are getting a good deal by giving us an extra song (single) or 2 (b-side) when a CD is re-released, but it will be nice to finally get some great demos and alternate mixes.I must say the one thing I never thought about seeing in this movie. A picture was shown of at a press conference George held in Beverly Hills and low and behold I am right there in the middle of the picture. I must say that makes the entire movie for me.Anyway, this movie is a must have for any Beatle or George Harrison fan, but maybe just by the hard back book, the movie and the CD is all you need to purchase so you don't have to spend so much money to have everything.

I'm not to much bothered about music documentaries as I find they go over a lot of the same stuff you already know from years of clips and articles but Scorsese's take on the life of George Harrison is a whole different ball game.It's basically in two parts covering his time in The Beatles then shifting over to his days as a solo artist and the second half is where I think Scorsese really digs deep in the life of my favorite Beatle. Music aside it was the spiritual side of George which Scorsese delves into to find out what he was searching for and how it affected him in his later days dealing with life after The Beatles. Its a fantastic piece of work which is a must see for all Beatles fan's, i'd like to see similar treatment for the other three members as it would be a beautiful set.As far as the Blu-Ray goes theirs very little extras with some additional interview footage but really when you think about it the whole documentary is the extra, its what you would expect to see if someone had made a biopic on the life of George and someone had made a feature like this to go on a 2nd disc. The transfer is also very pristine and tidy making this a must buy for any fan of the great band in the world.

My entire teenage years were spent in the sixties, the best decade anyone could have wished to grow up in, and those years were totally dominated by The Beatles. As a result I've been an avid devourer of anything Beatle-related since then which means that there was no way I was not buying this double DVD covering the life of the 'quiet one'.Martin Scorsese has done a brilliant job and everything is there from George's childhood to his untimely death. And it turns out that the 'quiet one' wasn't so quiet after all!There are contribution, as you expect, from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, his family, past and present and other associates.The picture quality is on the whole excellent, bearing in my mind the vintage of some of the footage, as is the sound.One little episode that I did find fascinating was Paul McCartney relating the famous incident during the recording of one of the last albums when George walked out after claiming that McCartney was instructing him on how to play. McCartney gives his version of the incident but you will have to buy the DVD for yourself to see just what he says!For the Beatleologist - indispensable.

Martin Scorsese at his best. The film finishes on a dramatic and thought-provoking note.Harrison was a larger than life GIANT OF A MAN who it is impossible to classify but this film does so diligently and lovingly over the two DVDs.If you are interested in the Beatles, then this film is for you.If you are interested in Harrison , this film is definitely a MUST BUY.May your soul rest in peace, George <3

George Harrison - Living in the Material World [DVD ]is one of the few times a DVD about a member of the fab four does not concentrate on L & M. with scenes of Beatle performances zooming in on George rather than the fab 2. George flourished when the band split up and this film does his life justice with many intimate moments.Plenty of music and fly on the wall snippets makes this account of George's life very watchable.Seeing and hearing George recording with his pals in the Travelling Wilburys was a real treat as was a scene with him, his son Dhani and George and Giles Martin at a mixing deck analysing 'Here comes the Sun'. A must for any Beatles fan. George Harrison - Living in the Material World [DVD

George Harrison's amazing life and work is well represented in this superb film by Martin Scorsese.The footage is outstanding and so are the tributes from fellow musicians and friends alike, no more so than Ringo Starr's tearful nod to his old friend.Anyone who is in anyway interested in music biographies should really watch this as George fitted so much into his career (even though he had a couple of periods of relative inactivity) although I felt they could have looked at the post 1974 era in a bit more depth but as a movie the whole thing works brilliantly.Oh, and of course the music is outstanding....