John Lennon “Rare and Unseen”

DVD Template 30.10.03This 114 minute DVD declares “rare footage, original rare film and videos of the band, newsreels and photographs from private collections.” The unleashing of these interviews and commentaries are always welcome, more fun than hearing “Imagine” played on Classic Rock radio time and again, and Wienerworld/MVD Visual do a fine job of compiling it all in a very charming package sporting a young Lennon with shirt and tie in a black and white photo.

One would have to ask Beatles filmmaker Erik Taros (a.k.a. Doctor Beatle on Massachusetts area radio programs) or Breakfast With The Beatles host Cha Chi LoPrette the actual rarities of these film clips…fanatics and musicologists (sometimes the two are one and the same) already own a bevy of Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starr audio and video. The beauty of this is that more is better than less and for future documentaries on Lennon it is nice to have handy packages such as this “Rare And Unseen” series where the viewing is quite fun, no matter how many times you’ve read about or have heard the stories, even if you’ve yet to encounter these particular clips.

It’s an enjoyable trip and a nice companion piece to the Dick Cavett interviews and other treasures you may already have on the shelf.

Featuring:

• Man of the Decade – Aired once in 1969 and unseen since

• Aquarius – Unseen since the 70s

• Weekend World – Thought wiped and unseen out of the UK

• Frost – never released on DVD

• Plus opinions from Phil Collins, Len Goodman and Tony Barrow