Inside John Lennon (Unauthorized) | 
| Actors: John Lennon, The Beatles
Studio: PASSPORT VIDEO
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.99
Buy New: $6.88
You Save: $3.11 (31%)
New (9) Used (4) from $6.86
Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 79176
Format: Color, Dvd, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 80 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.1 x 0.6
UPC: 025493154597
EAN: 0025493154597
ASIN: B0000DJYPZ
Theatrical Release Date: November 25, 2003
Release Date: December 9, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
There's no shortage of redundant documentaries about the life and artistry of John Lennon, but the 80-minute, unauthorized Inside John Lennon manages to cover the same old ground in a refreshing, thoroughly captivating way. The secret: a streamlined production making crisp use of file footage, film clips, and stills that haven't been over-exploited, an unsentimental tone, and an army of interviewees who knew Lennon in ways we don't often hear about. Among the latter are Tony Sheridan, for whom the early Beatles acted as a backup band; various members of Lennon's pre-Beatles group, the Quarrymen; Apple general manager Alistair Taylor; and Julia Baird, Lennon's sister. Choice audio quotes from Paul McCartney and George Martin are pure gold. Though the film covers familiar, major events in Lennon's life, the anecdotes and insights will strike most fans as new, while unguarded opinions of old confidantes are sometimes startling. --Tom Keogh
Description
INSIDE JOHN LENNON is an intimate account of the life and career of the most controversial Beatle. From his difficult beginnings in wartime Liverpool to riding the wave of Beatlemania to becoming a peace activist with his outspoken soulmate,Yoko Ono, John packed a lot into his forty short years.Hear touching and revealing stories from his sister, Julia. Find out how it felt playing alongside John from the Quarry Men themselves. Hear anecdotes from the Beatles' first manager, Allan Williams. And, of course, there is frank, witty, and sometimes blunt commentary from Lennon himself.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Good balanced perspective March 16, 2004
Hillbilly (Toronto Canada)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
Nice dvd. Good, though, brief overview of Lennon's career. I liked the comments by his old mates in his first band,
the Quarry Men and his sister Julia. Nice to see Tony Sheridan along, too; he certainly gives an interesting view of John and the Beatles.
Nice footage, pretty good quality. No music or performances by John or the Beatles, unfortunately. Still, good stuff. Candid and insightful views. Two personal stories are added as a bonus. Very decent product at a good price. Only negative: the American narrator. That's okay, though, he doesn't talk much in the video. Much better to have had a Brit narrating. Peace.
fine Lennon retropsective even if a bit rushed... August 15, 2007
Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Inside John Lennon gives us a great look at John Lennon's life and times using archival black and white footage, black and white stills of John with The Quarry Men and The Beatles, and recent interviews with his contemporaries. This well made documentary rushes through John's later years in the 1970s; but still we gain great insight into the man who was John Lennon.
The documentary begins with Lennon's childhood and uses extensive interview footage with Julia Baird, John Lennon's sister. There are great commentaries by Alistair Taylor and Alf, the chauffeur for The Beatles. We even get commentary by Allan Williams, the first manager for the band. We learn how Brian Epstein molded The Beatles into something more marketable by changing their leather rock and roll trendy outfits to more classic, "good boy" guys with their jackets and ties.
In addition, we get special recent interview footage with several members of The Quarry Men; and we gain insight as to why Pete Best left the group and why The Quarry Men became The Beatles. Awesome!
There is a good amount of time spent covering how the band became The Beatles. We learn that George came into the band through Paul McCartney; and then we learn that Ringo came into the band through George Harrison when Pete Best no longer wished to play with the group.
The footage of Hamburg during their initial success there exceeds my expectations; and the black and white stills of the guys onstage reflect good judgment. We see The Beatles truly hit the big time with their two singles on a 45 rpm record; those famous songs were "Love Me Do" with "P. S. I Love You" on the B side of the 45 rpm record.
Of course, Beatlemania is studied; and we see how the members of the band were the greatest victims of Beatlemania: John and his band mates were essentially held hostage in hotel rooms because it wasn't feasible nor was it safe for them to just walk out of their hotel to go get a pack of cigarettes. John's marriage to Cynthia Lennon suffered remarkably because of the long periods of time John spent on the road. When John met Yoko; his personal lifestyle changed greatly. John divorced Cynthia and spent much more time with Yoko while ignoring his family back in Britain; and we see the footage of the "bed-ins" and the "bag-in" as well.
By the late 1960s John and the band were more than content to do their work only in the studio; and we get insight with commentary about the breakup of The Beatles. Some people are kinder toward Yoko than others in the commentary.
Unfortunately, this retrospective ends with some newsreel footage covering the death of John Lennon. We see Julia Baird, John's sister, tell her story of how she found out about her brother's passing.
The DVD comes with two great bonus features: Alistair Taylor tells the story of how he had to buy an island near Ireland for John Lennon at an auction armed with very little money; and Alf, the chauffeur for The Beatles, tells the story of how he and John painted "the red room." Cool!
My only complaint is that the retrospective spends relatively little time on John's life in the 1970s. I wish they had added more on that; but the rest of this DVD is so good I will give this product five stars anyway.
John Lennon may have been controversial and he had his human flaws; but he made immeasurable contributions to the arts. He also meant well with his politics especially during the 1970s. I doubt we'll ever see another quite like John Lennon; and we are fortunate that John's legacy lives on through his CDs and documentaries like this one.
Great GIft January 7, 2008
Kathy O (West Olive, Michigan USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm a Mom of a John Lennon Junkie. This was an excellent gift and enjoyed by all!
........ January 18, 2004
12 out of 18 found this review helpful
I enjoyed this DVD.
INSIDE JOHN LENNON features stories from his sister Julia, the
Quarry Men and, the Beatles' first manager, Allan Williams.
The DVD runs approx. 80 mins with bonus feature with two stories
from Alf Bicknell who was the Beatles' chauffeur and Apple
General Manager, Alistair Taylor.
You will hear stories about the Beatles and there is abit about
Yoko and how she used John for her ideas...or something like
that.
 Wish there was more.... May 4, 2006
Rock Quarry (Atlanta, GA United States)
6 out of 9 found this review helpful
The first two-thirds of the dvd is fantastic. Is has freinds and John's sister (who knew he had one?) talking about the early days and the Beatles era. John in the Seventies gets barely ten minutes, then it goes right to the assisination. Surely there must have been news footage and freinds available from John Lost Weekend period. That's probably worth a whole dvd itself.
And, yes, Yoko did break up the Beatles.
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