I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The first must-see film of the year.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Enormously funny and biting mockumentary that owes most of its success to the accuracy of its barbs. The Beatles phenomenon is exhaustively and comprehensively mocked by people who did their homework, and then some. The result is both recognizable and deeply, comically untrue, as in a funhouse mirror. The movie is further enriched by a series of godawful songs which, surely, must rank amidst the best pastiches ever written, both with regard to music and with regard to lyrics. The four Bea.. sorry, the four Rutles themselves give a priceless performance, by playing their parts absolutely straight. Still, the movie is not without its part of injustice, just as it is not without its part of ingratitude. From a musical point of view, the movie pretty much accuses the Fab Four a) of writing bland crap and b) of surfing along on an undeserved wave of public adulation. One may like or dislike the Beatles, individually or collectively, but there is no doubt that these were fine musicians with a genuine love for their craft. Consider the genesis, for instance, of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" : here you've got four young people meticulously, nay obsessively trying for a better, a newer sound. People who spend hours, days, weeks listening to recondite Indian instruments or random fairground noises are not clueless amateurs : such people are devoted perfectionists. Nobody ever left a severed horse's head in the bed of Eric Idle. This fact alone testifies to the high moral character of the Beatles and of their nearest and dearest.

There's a very good reason this movie is so obscure: It's not great.Before you leap down my throat, let me assure you I'm a Monty Python fanatic and a Beatles fan. I love a good mock-biopic (I think "Dewey Cox" is about the best movie ever made).But those of us who turn to "The Rutles," expecting the kind of side-splitting laughter easily found in The Holy Grail, The Life of Brian, Spinal Tap, or Dewey Cox, are going to be pretty disappointed.Is the movie worth watching? Definitely. It's worth an hour of your time just to be amazed by the all-star cast ("Hey, was that John Belushi? Was that Bianca Jagger? Was that George Harrison?") It's really an astounding collection of 70s-era comedy and rock royalty.Additionally, it's worth watching because the music is so amazing. It's amazing how you can subtly combine, retool, and revamp the Beatles' songbook and come out with music that's very appealing in its own right.But in the end, the parody of the Beatles playing live and being all campy starts to wear a little thin, and you begin to see why this movie is so obscure. Go ahead and watch it, but keep your expectations in check.

Hilarious! This is the very word to describe this absolutely delightful Beatles-parody movie, with excellent roles played by all people involved, with Neil Innes, Ricky Fataar and Eric Idles being all-time great! Heavy British accents, funny hapless manners, excellent humor, clever wordplay, smashing gags, funny skits and deliciously delightful songs all form a heavy stew which is tasty, smells excellent, breaks mightily and provides a sheer 90-minute joy for watchers. This is a highly recommended movie for all Beatles fans who will immediately recognize all the familiar hints and innuendos. Allusions are very smart and the jokes are sometimes a bit too heavy but still zany and hefty. Even if you are not a Beatles fan, you can deeply enjoy Monty Python humor here, too. Fresh, breezy, fast, funny, often risky - this is a tremendously satisfying film for all people

When this was first shown on television I was amazed and impressed. The quality of the music and the visuals and the story appeared to be so good. So, that was on my small screen black and white and with the standard television sound of 1978. Find a low cost DVD, I was not expecting it to have aged well, though several user comments here made me start to feel optimistic. I found that some of the music worked well, particularly at the start. The visuals did not seem as true to Beatledom as in 1978, but I could accept them. I found the Foot song to be scary. Big chunks felt blatantly sick. For me, it has not aged well. * I gave it a second viewing, but only because I was writing this comment. More of the music became okay or more tolerable. The bits that I had considered to be sick, I now used them as a key for considering what the storyteller was saying about those times. I found the end of Beatledom, Apple and Double White and such, to need a more sympathetic interpretation than the storyline gives. Maybe not Double White. If there was disaster there was also good intentions. At the time it felt wrong to consider this as part of a road to Hell that a large chunk of UK society, at all levels, was chained to be moving on. I can say that I vastly prefer the treatment of The Rutles to the vomit of A Hard Day's Night, just as I prefer the music of A Hard Day's Night. Personal view, cuckoo talk. I also link this more globally, with the flow of history in the twentieth century, with women being allowed to show themselves capable of carrying out men's work in the two world wars only be sent back to the kitchen sink, sack dress, afterwards. Spock. 1960's long hair often did not show itself as being as capable as those working women, for me it really was a trapped fantasy time. You need feet. There must have been loads of amazing opportunities for a better history that ended up getting blocked by the ways that get things blocked. This is cuckoo talk, just a personal view.