The Beatles - Destination Hamburg DVD

I've always been intrigued by the portion of Beatles history covering their three "tours" of Hamburg, Germany in the early '60s. Accordingly, I was anxious to screen the DVD documentary, The Beatles - Destination Hamburg. To say that I was disappointed would be putting it kindly.

The title suggests something that the film doesn't deliver. Oh, there is a segment on the band's three trips to Hamburg alright, but it is buried amid what tries to be a history of the band, with emphasis on the birth and death of Beatlemania. There is some stock footage of Hamburg and the exteriors of a couple of the clubs the band played, but nothing that conveys what the band was doing musically.

The DVD's front cover prominently promises "never before seen" footage, which is an apparent reference to the two interviews with former Beatles associates that are excerpted.

At least there is no attempt at outright deception. Disclaimers on the back cover make it clear that "[t]his program contains no Beatles music" and that it has not been sanctioned by The Beatles or anybody associated with them.

Instead of Beatles music, then, we get "the musical recordings of Tony Sheridan, an early collaborator of The Beatles." The recordings, which are inexplicably prominent in some very odd places, are of non-Beatles songs that The Beatles covered in their early years.

At several points, the video accompanying the narration is completely unrelated to the words being spoken: scenes of the bombing of London during World War II while discussing John Lennon's first skiffle band; a postcard of what appears to be a British government building when referring first to The Casbah Club, and later to Liverpool.

There are points at which there is unexplained silence, or only low volume background noises recorded on the film being shown.

The Beatles' Hamburg period is certainly worthy of a documentary. This is, in fact, the time and place to which the beginnings of Beatlemania can be traced. It is also where Stu Sutcliffe, the band's orginal bassist, left the band, and where he died shortly thereafter. It is where Ringo Starr cut his teeth playing with Rory Storm and The Hurricanes, Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers, and ultimately as the replacement for Pete Best in The Beatles.

The best thing I can say about the film is that it isn't very long -- a little under 45 minutes. The so-called "bonus material" consists of an off speed audio recording (the participants appear to have inhaled large quantities of helium) of a 1968 radio interview, and five full performances by (you guessed it) Tony Sheridan and The Beat Boys.

The film is poorly defined and poorly produced, wobbly in both concept and execution. The promotional material calls it "the ultimate Beatles DVD" and a "must have ... for all Beatles fans." I suppose there are hardcore Beatles collectors who might want to have the DVD just to say they have it, but I'd be hard pressed to recommend it to anyone else.