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Wingspan

Wingspan (2001)

May. 11,2001
|
7.9
| Documentary Music

When the most famous and influential pop band in the world, the Beatles, broke up in 1970, hardly anyone expected that resident heartthrob Paul McCartney could follow up with another highly successful rock band. With the formation of Wings, however, Paul and his wife Linda did just that. WINGSPAN is a riveting documentary look at McCartney's labor of love which combines a musical history with the McCartney family history. Through rare behind-the-scenes footage, home movies, and intimate family photos, the story of the band who dared to write "Jet" unfolds.

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Reviews

Hellen
2001/05/11

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

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Mjeteconer
2001/05/12

Just perfect...

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Allison Davies
2001/05/13

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

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Juana
2001/05/14

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

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Neil Welch
2001/05/15

You're never going to get the full story on something like this while the protagonists are still alive. Or, rather, you might get the full story if you withhold editorial control but, if you do that, you won't get the music, concert footage, home movies etc.Wingspan is Paul McCartney's story of the period leading up to Wings and the Wings years. As such it skips over anything which might be less than flattering to McCartney with the sole exception of the Japanese drug bust which, given that it was the incident which led to the premature demise of Wings, could hardly be ignored.There are no contributions from any other members of Wings, alive or dead, other than posthumous recordings of Linda. In particular, Denny Laine is conspicuous by his absence: again, hardly surprising given the reported unhappy parting of the ways over money / publishing issues, although one gathers that McCartney has been seen on congenial terms with Laine in recent years, and acknowledged Henry McCullough in the audience at a 2009 concert.So it's interesting and has excerpts of lots of good music, but don't make the mistake of thinking it tells the full story.

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Shaolin_Apu
2001/05/16

To some viewers 'Wingspan' documentary may be a little disappointment. There is and was still a lot of topics the documentary could have contained too but as you can in general make only a limited lenght programme the creators chose to concentrate mostly on Linda McCartney. The main author of the programme is Paul's oldest daughter Mary who carries out the interview with Macca. There will also be a lot of archive material with some short excerpts from Wings' performances. If you want to hear Wings music in lenght you should buy some Wings records, even some others than the Wingspan CD collection.Despite the fact that Paul is the only ex-Wings member that is interviewed for this programme, it still is an valuable insight into a band that will forever be over-shadowed by the Beatles (and even Plastic Ono Band). Linda is not here anymore to give interviews and only Paul and his family members can present us with some new details about Linda and her career in the Wings.Hopefully this documentary will not be the last effort to make Wings a little more appreciated post-Beatle band. The value of the information what the other band members like Laine, Seiwell etc could give would make another and possibly a more interesting documentary film. Even without other the Wings' members 'Wingspan' still manages to present some honest new information from Paul, so it's still a very valuable item.

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TheRowdyMan
2001/05/17

A visually entertaining look at one of the 70's most underrated bands. This documentary contents unreleased footage and music from Paul McCartney band Wings during their 9 year run. Being a fan of Wings who wasn't old enough to see them live I found Wingspan great retrospective on this chapter in Paul life which is rarely told in a in-depth manner. It is also a treat for fans to finally see unseen footage from Wings' unreleased films like 'One Hand Clapping' and 'Backyard'. Although the session for 'Rockestra Theme' and 'Glad To See You Here' (which were shot with Panavision cameras!!!) are sadly absent.But the film is not without it's short comings. The film's main premise is how McCartney and his wife Linda, managed to beat the odds by following his former band The Beatles with another successful act. However, the film doesn't seem to include many of those odds. The years of critics saying that his music had gone soft, the supposed attempted murder of Paul & Linda by Jimmy McCullough and his fatal drug overdose just after leaving the band. Or even his falling out of Denny Laine (by the way; why wasn't he in the film? He was only your song writing partner for 9 years!?!). And I refuse to believe that interviewer Mary McCartney (who researched the project for years with her husband before making the film), didn't know the story about John bringing a double bed into the studio for Yoko to sleep in. Even the most casual Beatles fans knew that one. And younger fans will find it hard not to cringe when Macca reveals his point of view on the 1970's punk movement ("God Save da Quuueeerrrn").That said the film is still a very fascinating one the watch and must for both fans of The Beatles and Paul McCartney alike.UPDATE: The 'Rockestra' footage is included on the DVD as a bonus.

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bmn-2
2001/05/18

I would have enjoyed Wingspan a lot more had I not been misled on the premise. The idea, to me, was to talk about Wings from beginning to end. Instead, it is an interview with Paul about he and Linda over the period of time that Wings existed. Perfectly fine for what it was but totally skewed from the supposed idea (not that I was surprised however). Much like the accompanying CD is misleading: 1/3 of which features songs that are either immediately before or shortly after, but not during, his time in Wings.Had it been presented the way I would have liked it to be, you would have heard about (and from) the rest of the band more, specifically Denny Laine. He was in the band from beginning to end (and complemented McCartney brilliantly, I might add) and he's just a blip on the radar screen in this supposed documentary. We don't hear enough about the erraticism of Jimmy McCullough that caused him to get sacked as guitarist (McCartney offers a brief anecdote about how he didn't want to play the encore in Seattle).Wingspan is fun to watch as a McCartney fan (which I am) but you do have to remember that it is PAUL MCCARTNEY'S Wingspan through and through. It is told entirely through his eyes and viewpoint. If you're willing to accept that, than it is a fun trip back in time.

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