Why is John Lennon's "Imagine" 1988 (Solt documentary) DVD out of print?

[monkboughtlunch]

Anybody know why the excellent Andrew Solt documentary of John Lennon "Imagine John Lennon: The Definitive Film Portrait" is out of print on DVD?

[Mike Dow]

I was wondering the same thing recently. I teach a class of students between the ages 18 and 21. Recently, I brought my VHS copy of the movie to class to play for students on their break (I give them a 15 minute break at the half way point) and some of them were floored by it. A few of them made an effort to track down used copies on eBay so they could see the entire film on their own. I have to remind myself at times that this material is completely new for some people. I hope that means we can look forward to a deluxe edition at some point in the near future (maybe this fall?)

[Jeff H.]

I wasn't aware that it was even available on DVD. A few years ago, Capitol released John Lennon's "Gimme Some Truth" which is the documentary about the making of the "Imagine" album and has quite a bit of the same footage that's in John Lennon:Imagine. Maybe that's why it's unavailable.

[Larry Geller]

Anybody know why the excellent Andrew Solt documentary of John Lennon "Imagine John Lennon: The Definitive Film Portrait" is out of print on DVD?It has NEVER been released on DVD (I have it on the remastered LD). It was in WB's very 1st DVD catalog as "coming soon". I guess their concept of "soon" is very different than mine!

[Sckott]

Both the documentary of Imagine, 1988 (WB) and the film concept made for Imagine by Apple (1971) have only appeared on LD. Neither have been seen on DVD. Maybe never will. I don't think Yoko likes it now.

The documentary of Imagine is still a very powerful film and includes appearences from Jullian, Sean and even Julia. Some pretty powerful footage of Ascot...Amazing they had someone to film those things way back when!

[Evan L]

Glad I held on to my VHS copy for all these years....Damn, I'm gonna have to go watch it now.

Fave moment: John teaching Phil Spector the harmonies to "Oh Yoko"!

Evan

[audiomixer]

Yup. Never on DVD. I still have the LD.

[Hawkman]

The documentary of Imagine is still a very powerful film and includes appearences from Jullian, Sean and even Julia.

I'm sure that you misspoke here when you said 'Julia'. I'm sure that you meant, 'Cynthia'. :)

[Sckott]

Yes, CYNTHIA. :)

[stypee]

The answer to the question is simple, in a word (since I detest this woman she doesn't deserve a name) YOKO!

[Mike Dow]

The answer to the question is simple, in a word (since I detest this woman she doesn't deserve a name) YOKO!

That's a little harsh, isn't it? :eek:

[stypee]

That's a little harsh, isn't it? :eek:

Sorry, I just have no respect for this woman. The things she did to the Lennon family as a whole makes me ill. A few years back an artist created a portrait for charity. He or She wasn't making a dime of the sale of this painting. She had it removed from the auction because "she owned the rights" and something like "likelihood" to the Lennon name. That's just sick.

[MikeP5877]

Please no Yoko bashing on this thread... pretty please? No mas?

[Todd Fredericks]

The answer to the question is simple, in a word (since I detest this woman she doesn't deserve a name) YOKO!

I don't think Yoko would put this on hold, etc. Remember, she was the one who pulled this project together very quickly to discredit the Goldman book.

[John Carsell]

Hope to see it on DVD someday, but for now my VHS copy will not leave my house.

[mne563]

The reason and answer for anything relating to John Lennon's solo career today and 1/4 of the Beatles today is YOKO ONO.

If you don't like it, blame her. If you like it, then praise her.

[Paul C.]

I've seen the "Imagine" documentary a couple of times on VHS, but not for years - it's terrific. It deserves a release on DVD. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's the one with footage of John at his estate talking to some poor down and out acidhead who has made the pilgrimage to see John...

[LtPepper]

The 'Imagine' documentary is a very powerful film for me. I'm not ashamed to admit that I still cry in the final scenes after John is killed. All the people shown outside the Dakota singing 'Give Peace a Chance' and other songs....really hits home for me as I remember when it happened.

Should definitely be released on DVD.

[stypee]

The 'Imagine' documentary is a very powerful film for me. I'm not ashamed to admit that I still cry in the final scenes after John is killed. All the people shown outside the Dakota singing 'Give Peace a Chance' and other songs....really hits home for me as I remember when it happened.

Should definitely be released on DVD.

There is NO reason to be ashamed, that film is really powerful. I too saw it in the theatres when it was released and was really touched by it, cried my eye's out. That ending really struck a chord and it couldn't have been as perfect as it was.

One thing that always got me and still confuses me to this day was the soundtrack. The song REAL LOVE (forgive me if that's the wrong title) first appeared on that film's score and many years later the Beatles released it on that (forgive me again) awful box set as a "lost song" (or whatever marketing ploy it was they were going for) how is this a "lost song" if it was already released?

Never the less, the film is a wonderful tribute to John and it would be wrong not to release it on DVD. Again (forgive me) it's a YOKO issue.

In the word's of Julien Lennon (not an exact quote) "she's raped and pillaged the Lennon family". I always had sympathy for him, how he was simply thrown away is something I'll never understand. It was funny, there was an interview many years back on some late night talk show where he spoke of meeting Paul after many years. He said the conversation mainly consisted of "talking about Yoko".

and could someone PLEASE stop Sean from making records?

[Beatlelennon65]

I would love to see both of those Imagine movies on dvd. I havent seen either in years. Maybe one day before too long. It would be nice if Julian ran things instead of Yoko. I mean, it couldnt be any worse. I do like some of the remasters/remixes, and the box set was nice, but that's another thread. We need these movies on dvd!

[Mike Dow]

One thing that always got me and still confuses me to this day was the soundtrack. The song REAL LOVE (forgive me if that's the wrong title) first appeared on that film's score and many years later the Beatles released it on that (forgive me again) awful box set as a "lost song" (or whatever marketing ploy it was they were going for) how is this a "lost song" if it was already released?



The acoustic guitar demo of "Real Love" which opens the film and appears on the soundtrack disc is a completely different recording from John's piano demo of "Real Love" which Yoko gave to Paul, George and Ringo. Yes, the song itself appeared eight years before "Anthology 2" but it was probably given the "lost song" hype since it's a song that John wrote and recorded (in demo form) but did not release during his lifetime.

[CardinalFang]

Again (forgive me) it's a YOKO issue.

There are some of us here who have a great deal of respect for Yoko. You're entitled to your opinion, but I just ask that you take it down a few notches. :)

[Greatest Hits]

The "Gimme Some Truth" DVD has a lot of the Ascot footage in it (with some more footage of the 'Imagine' album sessions thrown in.) My favorite part is the 'Oh Yoko!' harmony session (apparently, John couldn't afford top-notch engineers).

I think the problem with a DVD more or less lies in the copyrights of the music and recordings (the film contains both Beatles and solo Lennon numbers). This would cost a lot of money to re-issue nowadays.

[telliott]

I think the problem with a DVD more or less lies in the copyrights of the music and recordings (the film contains both Beatles and solo Lennon numbers). This would cost a lot of money to re-issue nowadays.

This is off topic but how the heck were they able to release "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" as a budget priced DVD when the entire soundtrack is original Beatles recordings?

Tim

[ceddy10165]

I have always loved IMAGINE, since the film came out (still have the original theatrical poster from when I worked at a cinema). Very powerful film, and the Real Love intro is beautiful--for me that is the definitive recording.

I doubt this will ever come out on DVD, and will be relegated to the land o the lost like "Compleat Beatles."

FWIW, for those of you with Comcast Digital, Imagine has recently aired several times on the TRUE STORIES channel, not sure if that's a Starz channel. But anyway, I was able to snag a new copy onto my DVDR ro retire the very worn out VHS!