The Best Beatles and McCartney Documentaries and Blu-rays to Own
Get Back on Blu-ray, A Hard Day's Night on Criterion 4K, Eight Days a Week, Rockshow, Yellow Submarine and Magical Mystery Tour, plus which films are streaming-only in 2026.
The Beatles films you can own on disc in 2026 start with Peter Jackson's The Beatles: Get Back, released as a 3-disc Blu-ray with Dolby Atmos on July 12, 2022, and the Criterion 4K UHD of A Hard Day's Night from July 7, 2025. Several of the biggest recent titles are streaming-only: the restored Let It Be film (Disney+, May 8, 2024), The Beatles Anthology 2025 with its new ninth episode (Disney+, November 26, 2025) and Morgan Neville's Man on the Run (Prime Video, February 27, 2026).
That split matters for collectors. Streaming rights come and go, while a disc on the shelf stays put. This guide covers the physical releases worth owning, with approximate US prices, and then lists the films you can only stream today, so you know what to watch where.
For the full story of every film made about Paul, from Wings concert films to recent documentaries, see our guide to every film and documentary about Paul McCartney.
Top 6 for 2026
Yellow Submarine (Blu-ray)
The 1968 animated film was restored for its 2012 Blu-ray release, with the picture cleaned up by hand, frame by frame, rather than by automated software, and a new 5.1 soundtrack. The colours of Heinz Edelmann's designs are the reason to buy it on disc rather than watch a compressed stream. The Beatles themselves appear only briefly at the end, and their speaking voices elsewhere belong to actors. The restored cut includes the Hey Bulldog sequence that was trimmed from the original US release. At about $15, it is the easiest Beatles film to put on for a family.
Magical Mystery Tour (Blu-ray)
First broadcast by BBC1 on Boxing Day 1967, in black and white on most British sets, Magical Mystery Tour was savaged by critics and has been reassessed ever since. The 2012 restoration on Blu-ray presents it in colour with remixed sound and adds bonus material on the making of the film. It runs under an hour, it was Paul's idea, conceived in spring 1967 and filmed weeks after Brian Epstein's death, and the musical sequences, especially I Am the Walrus and The Fool on the Hill, are essential viewing. About $20.
Eight Days a Week: The Touring Years (2-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray)
Ron Howard's 2016 documentary tells the story of the Beatles as a live band, from the Cavern and Hamburg to the stadium tours that ended at Candlestick Park in August 1966. The 2-disc edition, issued on November 21, 2016, adds about 100 minutes of extras, including restored full performances of Twist and Shout and She Loves You at the ABC Theatre, Manchester, in 1963 and Can't Buy Me Love at the NME Awards in 1964, plus featurettes on the Lennon-McCartney partnership. It is the film that shows what Beatlemania was like on the ground. About $20.
Rockshow: Paul McCartney and Wings (Blu-ray)
Filmed on Wings' 1976 tour of America, with the Seattle Kingdome show in front of 67,000 people at its heart, Rockshow was restored from the original film and audio masters for its June 2013 Blu-ray. It runs to 30 songs, from Venus and Mars / Rock Show / Jet through Maybe I'm Amazed, Band on the Run and Hi Hi Hi. Paul, Linda, Denny Laine, Jimmy McCulloch and Joe English are at their peak as a live unit, and it is the natural companion to the Wings Over America album. Copies turn up for about $20 to $30 new.
The Beatles: Get Back (3-Disc Blu-ray)
Peter Jackson's nearly eight-hour account of January 1969, from Twickenham to the rooftop concert, arrived on Blu-ray and DVD on July 12, 2022. An earlier February 2022 release was recalled by Disney days before street date over an audio problem; the recalled discs lacked the 7.1 PCM track. The three Blu-rays mirror the three Disney+ episodes and carry Dolby Atmos, 7.1 PCM and 2.0 PCM stereo, while the DVD has Dolby Digital 5.1. There are no bonus features. Watching Paul find the Get Back riff in episode one is the high point. About $30 to $40.
A Hard Day's Night (Criterion Collection 4K UHD)
Released on July 7, 2025, Criterion's edition of Richard Lester's 1964 film pairs a 4K UHD disc in Dolby Vision with a Blu-ray. The new 4K restoration was approved by Lester, and the audio options are the original mono plus stereo and 5.1 mixes supervised by Giles Martin at Abbey Road. The extras, on the Blu-ray, include a 2014 interview with Mark Lewisohn on the band's career up to the film, the 1994 documentary You Can't Do That, and Lester's short The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film. About $40.
The Big Titles You Can Only Stream (For Now)
The Beatles Anthology 2025 is the restored, expanded version of the 1995 series, with a new ninth episode of behind-the-scenes footage of Paul, George and Ringo working together in 1994 and 1995. It premiered on Disney+ on November 26, 2025, and there is no official Blu-ray or DVD. The accompanying music box set is covered in our Anthology 2025 review.
Michael Lindsay-Hogg's 1970 Let It Be film was restored by Peter Jackson's team and began streaming on Disney+ on May 8, 2024. It has not had an official physical release. Beatles '64, directed by David Tedeschi and produced by Martin Scorsese, focuses on the first US visit in February 1964 and has streamed on Disney+ since November 29, 2024.
For Paul specifically, Morgan Neville's Man on the Run, covering his life in the 1970s, streams on Prime Video from February 27, 2026, and the 2021 series McCartney 3,2,1, with producer Rick Rubin, streamed on Hulu in the US. The Man on the Run soundtrack, by contrast, is officially available on CD and vinyl. Our Man on the Run soundtrack review covers it.
How We Chose These Films
Every disc here is an official release from the rights holders or a licensed label such as Criterion. Release dates and specifications come from the labels, cross-checked against independent disc reviews. Prices are approximate and move a lot with sales.
The list covers the whole arc: the 1964 film that defined the band on screen, the touring years, the psychedelic period through Magical Mystery Tour and Yellow Submarine, the end of the band in Get Back, and Wings at their live peak in Rockshow.
Older out-of-print sets that only trade secondhand, such as the 2003 five-DVD Anthology box, are left out. That box remains the only official disc of the Anthology series, so it is still worth buying used if you want the 1995 version on the shelf.
4K, Blu-ray or DVD: Which Format to Buy
If you have a 4K television and player, the Criterion A Hard Day's Night is the one title here where 4K clearly pays off. The film was shot in black and white, and Dolby Vision gives the grain and grey scale more depth than Criterion's own 2014 Blu-ray.
For everything else, Blu-ray is the sweet spot. Get Back on Blu-ray has Dolby Atmos and 7.1 PCM, while the DVD stops at Dolby Digital 5.1, and the difference is obvious on a surround setup. DVD only makes sense for an older player.
Check regions before importing. Most North American Blu-rays are Region A, and some UK and European discs are Region B. Many music titles are region-free, but not all, so read the listing carefully.
A Suggested Viewing Order
Start with Eight Days a Week for the touring story, then A Hard Day's Night to see what 1964 looked like from the inside. Follow with Beatles '64 on Disney+ for the first American trip in more depth.
Then move to the studio years with Magical Mystery Tour and Yellow Submarine, and end the Beatles story with Get Back and the restored Let It Be. Watching them in that order makes the tensions in January 1969 easier to understand, and makes the rooftop concert even more joyful.
For the second act, watch Man on the Run for Paul's 1970s, then Rockshow to see what Wings could do on stage by 1976. The Anthology 2025 series sits over all of it as the band's own version of events, recorded when three of them were in their fifties.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Fab Four Fans Team
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Written by the admins and longtime members of a 100,000-member Paul McCartney fan community. Collectors, concert-goers and people who will happily argue about the best Wings album.