Attention All Beatle Fans: BUY THIS!

If you're a Beatle fan, and for some reason you've never heard of this film, immediatley purchase this DVD!
IT is the ultimate parody of Beatlemania. The Rutles was initially released as a made for NBC TV film in 1978. Created by the Saturday Night Live team and Eric Idle (Monty Python), it has a distinct British flavor and Pythonesque sense of humor. It is basically a "mockumentary". Here's an example: after "Nasty" (John Lennon) proclaims the Rutles are bigger than God, the public is outraged, and start burning Rutle records. Record sales soared, people were buying them just to burn them! It turns out that the journalist who interviewed Nasty was hard of hearing. Nasty said the Rutles were bigger than "Rod" (Stewart)!!
The mockumentary covers the entire Beatle phenomenon up to their break-up.
The film gained more fans on video, and is now a bonafide cult classic. The music by Neil Innes (who wrote songs for Python) is superb, and he is perfect as John Lennon. Eric Idle plays McCartney and directs. The songs parodies are also on cd. They are amazingly Beatle-like.
The film is never critical, but made as a tribute with large doses of humor. The harsh aspects of Beatlemania are lightened. For example, Brian Epstein does not die in Rutleland, he accepts a teaching post in Australia.
Even if you are not a Beatle fan, this film is still a lot of fun, although you may not get all of the references.

terrific sendup of Beatlemania stands up well after 25 years

In 1978 it was easy to remember Beatlemania, and this sendup of the mass hysteria was spot-on and hilarious. Starting as a skit for Saturday Night Live, and popular enough to get built into a feature-length film, this Eric Idle project is layered with jokes, spoofs, terrific songs, and great cameos by George Harrison, Mick Jagger, Paul Simon and Idle's wife, and it is still very funny 25 years later.

DVD extras are quite good. Eric Idle's commentary is excellent -- informative and entertaining. There are also 4 deleted scenes that last about 18 minutes; a photo gallery with 29 pictures; a "Play Songs Only" option, where you ee only the film's songs (Goose Step Mama, Number One, Between Us, With a Girl Like You, Hold My Hand, I Must Be in Love, Living in Hope, and Ouch!).

The look and sensibility of the film are exactly right, the writing is VERY funny, and the songs are surprisingly Beatle-like and quite listenable. If you are a Beatles or Monty Python fan, or if you just love good comedy, you will probably get a real kick out of this.

Side Splitting Hilarious

The movie was made more than 20 years ago, but retains its relevance as the Beatles continue to be a cultural icon. While the Rutles was not originally intended to be a full length movie, the product is great.

The project was completed long before John Lennon's murder, so all four members could approve the project. The Beatles are spoofed by the characters in the unique personality traits possessed by each member of the fab four and their scandals. The one-liners and song parodies prove Eric Idle's value to Monty Python and strength as comedic writer. The parody on Yoko Ono being "... a Nazi who's father invented World War II" is hilarious. Look for a scene midway through the song "Ouch!" in which Idle can not even control his own laughter at the monsterous woman in a bikini. I bet it a was too hard to get through a take with a straight face. This is a must for Beatles fans and Monty Python fans.