Hearing the firsthand accounts of the security problems which plagued tours of Japan (where the security was particularly heavy-handed after the band received death threats) and the Phillippines (where the Marcos family may have ordered the Beatles to be harassed by goons on the government payroll) is an absolute eye-opener.

Equally fascinating, is hearing just how amateurishly the tours themselves were being run, especially given the fact that this was the single biggest band on earth.

At a concert in St. Louis for example, the promoter refuses to pay $400 for a tarp to cover the stage during a rain-soaked outdoor concert. Paul McCartney bravely played the show anyway, despite receiving several shocks from a live microphone.

Even more frightening is the description of a flight out of Minneapolis where the pilots were drinking Jack Daniels, while an engine is seen "in a flash of light" from the window of the plane as clearly being on fire.

By the time of the Beatles final 1966 concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, at the end of a tour where Lennon's Jesus remark had resulted in everything from radio boycotts to record burnings to death threats, the Beatles clearly had seen enough. Already frustrated by the amateurish tour conditions, as well as their own inability to successfully recreate the music onstage in the chaotic environment of live Beatlemania, the band simply walked away, and retreated forever into the recording studio.

What happened next of course altered culture and ultimately made history.

Most of this is already common knowledge to most Beatles fans. Still, I found myself quite compelled by the first hand accounts of the unfolding chaos as told in this film. The never before seen footage — mostly pictures of the Beatles doing things like goofing off near a hotel swimming pool — is also, while nothing particularly special, another reminder of just why these four lads from Liverpool so charmed the world.

While The Unseen Beatles is hardly what I would call an essential documentary, it does provide insights that will be of interest to the hardcore fan. For those looking for those additional goodies, the DVD extras offered here are minimal. What you see is pretty much what you get.

Personally, I'm looking far more forward to the DVD release of Help! in just a few weeks.