Synopsis
The memories. The movies. The stars. The planes. The janes. The blitz.
Peter Gabriel is among the rockstars performing the music of Lennon and McCartney against a montage of World War II newsreel footage.
All This and World War II
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Alternative Titles
To imerologio tou fovou, Yesterday - andra världskriget
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Releases by Date
Theatrical
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USAPG
02 Jun 1977
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Netherlands
08 Jun 1977
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France
24 Apr 1978
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Sweden
Releases by Country
France
08 Jun 1977
- Theatrical
Netherlands
02 Jun 1977
- Theatrical
Sweden
24 Apr 1978
- Theatrical
USA
12 Nov 1976
- TheatricalPG
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Ever watched footage of the Pearl Harbor bombing and thought 'What this really needs is Leo Sayer singing a cover of 'I Am The Walrus' over the top if it?' or wished that footage of Hitler and the Nazis marching through the streets of Berlin would be more complete with the Magical Mystery Tour accompanying it? This is the concept for one of the oddest movies I have ever seen. ALL THIS AND WORLD WAR 2 (1976) Features back-to-back stock footage of WW2 with a host of Beatles cover songs by The Bee Gees, Tina Turner, Bryan Ferry and others to tie it together. How did this even happen? Either way, it sure makes for a hilarious watch. It is a bit like YouTube before YouTube even existed.
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One of the baffling, tasteless 'documentaries' I've ever seen, All This and World War II sees fit to put a montage of WW2 newsreel footage with covers of Beatles songs. The coke-fueled mania to just come up with the idea, let alone to realise and release it just boggles the mind. It's not surprising 20th Century Fox pulled it from distribution after two weeks and it has never seen a release on home video. Hangovers have to arrive eventually I guess.
I'd be fascinated with what veterans of the time thought, when I Am The Walrus is paired over Pearl Harbour footage or Magical Mystery Tour with Nuremberg rallies. The music itself isn't bad, the likes of Peter Gabriel, Rod Stewart and the Bee Gees contribute though the context in which it's played saps all quality.
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Yeesh...
All This and World War II is a shameless, pointless juxtaposition of WWII footage and half-baked Beatles cover songs that for some ungodly reason runs a feature film length of 88 minutes. The movie's theatrical run was cut short after an extremely negative reception and an official home video release has never seen the light of day.
Who decided this was a good idea? Why did someone think Beatles songs and WWII were a good match? The film tries to make connections: Hitler's Nazi parades and rallies are matched with "Magical Mystery Tour", the Japanese flying to Pearl Harbor is paired with "Sun King", but this really only works for fleeting moments before you realize that the entire essence…
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A 1976 WW2 documentary made out of news and film archive footage, soundtracked entirely by contemporary artists covering Beatles tracks.
The whole endeavour is in terribly bad taste, doesn’t quite work, and yet, one has to marvel at the befuddled majesty of it all and the fact that 20th Century Fox had the brass neck to release it in cinemas.
Has to be seen to be believed, Link:
All This and World War II -
Started out hilariously in bad taste, but became tedious after the first 30 minutes. Still gets a heart for how ridiculous the entire idea is.
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Tempted to give this the full five stars just for sheer bad taste audacity. It's a feature length compilation of WW2 newsreel footage and clips from wartime movies, soundtracked by covers of Beatles hits. Why? I have absolutely no fucking idea.
It's not like this was a cheap affair. The covers are from acts like Elton John, Tina Turner, Rod Stewart, The Bee Gees and loads of others. It's literally an all-star line-up. Which is why it's so utterly bewildering to hear soft rock titans Ambrosia banging out Magical Mystery Tour over footage of swastika flags.
Sometimes you can see the connection between the songs and the footage. Helen Reddy sings Fool on the Hill over clips of Hitler joking…
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I can only assume that a near-lethal cocktail of illicit substances are responsible for this truly bizarre "documentary." The thought of trying to tell the story of World War II through newsreel footage, old film clips, and cover versions of Beatles tunes is about as bonkers as they come, and yet this film ends ups being quite engaging and surprisingly coherent. The music, of course, ends up being the highlight of the piece. Artists like Elton John, Peter Gabriel, Tina Turner, The Bee Gees, and tons more, contribute new takes on Beatles classics that are original, slightly haunting, and often downright wacky. History buffs and fans of old war films will certainly find the footage captivating. It's not unexpected, though,…
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Stock newsreel footage of World War II and clips of Hollywood movies set in the war (including films as recent at this stage as Patton and Tora! Tora! Tora!... both, surely not coincidentally, Fox productions) edited to the rhythm of a collection of dreadful Beatles covers; it's essentially the title sequence of Jojo Rabbit stretched to feature length. Hell, the "Get Back" sequence -- maybe the film's worst thanks to its "comedic" editing of Nazi goose-stepping -- even frames Hitler as the song's "Jojo." This is maybe not inherently worthless as a piece of free-associative montage; in some context it might well have been a Joseph Cornell-like reframing of media years ahead of its time. Unfortunately it's also terribly misguided…
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One of the all time classic WTF Were They Smoking novelty films, all the more shocking for having emerged from a major studio. Here's a can't-lose proposition: World War II stock footage scored to syrupy string-intensive covers of Beatles songs. What could possibly go wrong? This is a great one to have on hand if you need to passive-aggressively break up a party for whatever reason.
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The only decent moment in this complete fiasco is them including Lindbergh with the other fascists during the "Come Together" sequence.
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Admirably misguided but ends up feeling like a single overlong morbid joke that loses its impact relatively quickly, it was enjoyable seeing Fool on the Hill made to be about Hitler though and Magical Mystery Tour underscoring the nazis marching does have some impact just by the extremity of the juxtaposition.