The film claims to include never before seen footage, and I would say that is true. Some of it consists of generic street scenes of Hamburg and Liverpool and there are some stills of the Beatles included as well. There is no discussion with anyone with ties to the group after their rise to fame, and the music that is played is from Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers. Sheridan was a guitarist who often employed backup bands while in Hamburg — one of those being the Beatles, with whom he recorded a single called "My Bonnie"

In the overall scheme of things The Beatles - Destination Hamburg: The Early Years is not of great quality, and while it offers a couple of interesting morsels to those interested in the early history of The Beatles who have never studied it, it really doesn't have the depth of many of the unauthorized histories that I have reviewed in the past.

The bonus material contains audio files of songs done by Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers as well as an interview with John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr done on June 6, 1968 by Kenny Everett. This is an audio recording and is recorded at a speed that makes everyone sound like chipmunks. I think that this might have made the overall appeal of this DVD better, if it weren't for the bizarre sound quality.

All in all, I found The Beatles - Destination Hamburg: The Early Years marginally interesting. It might be informative for the new fan who wants to find out about the early years. It does have some clips of the clubs that they played at and you can get a feel for how these places looked at the time. Those who know this time period and the band's history will not learn much from this DVD.