Judging from the range of comments it produced, this one could very well become the gold standard for a 'cinema-Rorschach' test. Yes, the 70's eventually degenerated into over-the-top, disco-drenched silliness so of course it's understandable why some frame the film that way. All syrupy, wrong-headed excess. And part of me agrees with them - even Stigwood's other 70's 'successes' such as Jesus Christ Superstar and Tommy strike me as not good enough to be called absurd. And remember that this IS a musical - which means you have to check your normal perspective at the door anyway. And THAT usually means you are either a musical lover or hater.

So, what are we actually reacting to here? 'I liked the 70's AND I like musicals - so I like this movie'? Or, 'I hated the 70's AND I hate musicals - so I hate this movie'? Or, 'I LOVE the Beatles - NO ONE can ever do their music the way they did it - so I hate this movie'.

OK, so it doesn't work for you or maybe it does. I thought the premise was inane (I generally don't like musicals anyway) and the acting was , well, inane also. And I didn't like the 70's when I lived through them and like them even less in retrospect - so I have some fairly deep garbage to wade through to give something like this a decent shake.

But, there are some qualities to recommend this film. I found the Bee Gees to be a surprisingly good fit for a lot of the Beatles tunes. Their rich harmonies complimented and in some cases provided unexpected new dimensions to the Beatle's themes. Not every song worked but most did. Unfortunately that was not the case with Frampton. His soft demeanor just didn't deliver on many of the tunes (Sgt Peppers theme, for example). Forget the acting - I ignored most of it.

Rather than pick the whole thing apart, I decided to reside in the camp that says 'sit back, shut off the brain and just listen to the music'. And that allowed me to appreciate George Martin's unerring hand on the throttle. His timing, attention to detail and sophisticated musical guidance were ever-present. The production quality should seem familiar to true Beatles fans.

So in the end, I thought the whole attempt to be so much lesser than any individual Lennon/McCartney song (many of them are entire stories in their own right anyway). And squeezing something as sublime as 'Because' out of Alice Cooper was just sad. But even so, I'd say overall the music as steered by Martin makes this one at least worthy of a listen, if not a viewing.

Full disclosure: I don't like the Beatles, and in fact will go out of my way to avoid them. Nothing personal to their millions of fans, but I see nothing there that's the least bit appealing. To give you an idea exactly how much I know about popular music, though: for years I thought that was Mick Jagger singing lead for the FVB… silly me; it's Steven Tyler. Oops.

I don't like fantasy. Nor do I like the Bee Gees… well, maybe more specifically, I don't like disco and I still resent having it shoved down my throat every day of my life when I was in high school. The Brothers Gibb actually sound okay when they sing, as long as it's something other than disco… nice harmonies.

You might as well add George Burns to the things I don't like, as long as we're at it, and seeing as he's here.

During my most recent viewing, it finally occurred to me that perhaps Beatles fans actually see this kind of thing in their minds when they listen to the original music… perhaps they understand the odd lyrics and find meaning in them independently. Perhaps that meaning is even different for each listener. My own imagination can't find that kind of meaning in nonsensical things like walruses and strawberry fields and yellow submarines, but when it's all laid out for me as a story I can follow, even in an awkwardly cobbled-together effort like this one, I do like it. It's weird, exploitive, poorly acted by many (I'm looking at you, Mr. Frampton), over-long, grotesque in places (now I'm looking at Mr. Howerd and Mr. Martin) and very much a crass pop-culture money-making effort with questionable staying power… yet I'm entertained by it. I've probably seen it a half-dozen times. Sometimes I don't know why I'm watching it… but I still watch it, all the way to the end. I don't really 'get it', necessarily, but I enjoy it on some level.

Beatles fans probably universally dislike this production, and I don't blame them. I'd dislike it if I was a fan of the source material, but since I'm not, I approach this film on a whole different level and it works for me.

When this movie was released I was 22 years old, probably the target audience. However despite being a Beatles fan I didn't bother to watch the film until recently, when I had more time to waste.

This movie is a series of nonsensical skits put to Beatles music performed not particularly well, although on a fairly big budget considering the top notch costumes, set design and cinematography. Perhaps it was designed to take a stoned viewer on a weird trip? The best thing about the whole thing is Barry Gibb's spectacular hair and the bizarre 70's vibe. Probably worth a watch just to see how much money and talent can be wasted by a truly terrible concept and awful direction.