AnimatronicBearLLC Those four lads from Liverpool had unfortunately broken up before I discovered them on AM radio, but in my pre-teen years their singularly unique sound weaved it's way into my life and has remained there for half a century. How I missed the release of this wild ride of a film I can only attest to an ill-timed move across the country combined with the 2008 global financial crisis. Although a decade late taking it in, I would like to express appreciation to the talented team of professionals who lovingly crafted this ode to musical genius - a genius which transcended all that went before & possibly all that has come to be since- IMHO. A bit inspired I think by Mamma Mia! with a dash of Forrest Gump, this film brought back memories sad and happy as the familiar songs punctuated the films narrative... sparking reflections of people and events long past. This magical mystery tour may not be for everyone as it is not your typical musical fare, but for someone who lived through the tumultuous 60s and 70s, it struck a chord. As a Beatles fan, I loved it.

mrgakn I watched it 2 years ago. My friend Scott told me it was great. I always trust his presentation. That why I seen it. It's by American director Julie Taymor. All the actors are great, but I liked Evan Rachel Wood and Jim Sturgess the best. Across the universe is a fictional love story set in the 1960s amid the turbulent years of anti-war protest. It's a romantic story and the film paired many songs by The Beatles that defined the time. I thought it was an interesting and exciting film, so try to watch it if you want.

Alex Aragona When this movie starts out, it presents a few promises.There is the promise of an interesting main plot. The promise of a few very interesting subplots. And of course, the overall promise that what you'll essentially see is a solid film with music mixed in at key points in the film for visual and plot effect.Those promises are well-kept until about a quarter of the way into the film. We get to know the main character and he develops. We follow a few supporting characters, and get to know them. And of course, the great music of the Beatles is used at very precise and fun times to carry the movie forward brilliantly.Then the whole thing collapses, as a movie, in my opinion. After a quarter of the movie passes, you are then presented with song after song after song after song after song after song, with barely any story or dialogue in between. That wouldn't be too bad of course if the songs truly pushed the plot forward along with what was on screen, but it doesn't. The visuals become more for entertainment and to serve artistic purposes than to carry forward anything that was previously established. At some point you realize that the plot and the overall story of this film takes a *complete* backseat to the Director's desire to make a series of visually stunning music videos for the Beatles songs. And the whole thing eventually feels tedious.But WHY does it feel tedious? The visuals and what's on screen are well executed. The music, of course, is great, and the 1960s vibe is fun.Well, it's tedious because you're essentially lied to. If the film started out completely honestly and established outright that this would be a front-to-back celebration of some great music with story as secondary, that would be fine. But that wasn't done. What happened is that you were drawn into a story to the point where you do indeed give the Director your time and feel commitment to the story being told. Your bring your half to the table because of the promises mentioned above, and quite frankly the film doesn't hold up its end of the bargain.Overall, this would have been much more enjoyable if the film was simply HONEST with it's own identity from the first scene. If it was, it would have been a hit out of the park.

mpescajeda Maybe the big screen experience was needed, but I doubt it as I saw this loathsome waste of film on late-night television recently and was aghast. What movie exec. green-lighted this terrible, relentless onslaught of bad musical renditions of Beatle music and the eyesore ramble of images that escorted them? I'd be surprised to learn he/she is still around as the movie has only made back roughly half of its shooting budget as of this writing (going by IMDb's stats). I wouldn't know where to start in criticizing this mess- it's all that bad! And U2's Bono took an ill-advised role that's still leaving me scratching my head. I thought he was a thinking man's artist. All in all, this film makes me pine away for another viewing of 1978's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and cry out for a remake.