John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 23, 2019

Imagine & Gimme Some Truth offered what might be considered a reassessment of the relationship between John Lennon and Yoko Ono, couched in the context of nascent “music videos” and what might be thought of as an extended “making of” supplement. That reassessment seems to be continuing unabated with John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky, a more unabashed documentary approach toward detailing both the personal and artistic collaboration between these two legendary figures. Perhaps less strictly objective than some outsiders might hope, the piece is still notable (no pun intended) for some of its rare (and in some cases previously unseen) archival video as well as some interesting interviews.

There is in fact quite a bit of footage from both Imagine and Gimme Some Truth (which itself recycled quite a bit of stuff from Imagine ), which gives this piece something of an organic tether to the two other features, but what probably gives this piece its most distinctive flavor is its emphasis on interviews with people who were around in those days, including but not limited to Julian Lennon and Yoko Ono herself. There’s quite a bit of fun information disclosed about the somewhat crazy recording habits of John in those days, along with assessments of people like Phil Spector, but there’s also a, yes, reassessment of what Yoko’s involvement in it all “meant”, as well as an expected debunking of the widely perceived (at least at one moment in time) thesis that she “killed” the Beatles.

John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eagle Vision, an imprint of Eagle Rock Entertainment, and Universal Music Group with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in a variety of aspect ratios, though with all of the contemporary interview footage being framed in 1.78:1. As should be expected of a documentary cobbling together video sourced from different elements, there's a somewhat heterogeneous look to the proceedings here, with some of the older video looking a bit faded and ragged at times. The contemporary interview segments all look nicely sharp and sleek, though kind of cool and clinical given their largely white backgrounds. There are some nice split screen sequences here that give multiple viewpoints of some of the recording sessions. Occasional blemishes dot some of the archival material.

John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky features LPCM 2.0 and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks, and for all intents and purposes many listeners may not notice that much of a difference between the two, since the musical elements tend to be presented as interstitials between the interview sequences. The music is definitely opened up, at least somewhat, in the surround offering, but a lot of this piece is talking head material, and as such either the stereo or surround versions suffice perfectly well. Fidelity is excellent throughout the feature, and there's really not a whale of a lot of difference between the archival audio and the more recently recorded material.

John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

For whatever reason, the disc has been authored so that the first two supplements are under one timecode, with both coming in at a total of 10:33. There is a Play All option on this submenu.

• How Do You Sleep? (Takes 5 & 6, Raw Studio Mix) (1080i)


• Oh, My Love (Raw Studio Mix) (1080i; 10:33)


• Oh, Yoko! (Bahamas, 1969) (1080i; 4:25)


• Conversation with Curt Claudio (1080i; 7:56)

John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's a lot of rather sweet archival video here of John and Yoko, along with some fun reminiscences by a variety of people who were around the pair during that era. While those without much tolerance of Yoko's artistic efforts may find this a bit questionable at times, those wanting an up close and personal look at one of the more iconic couples of the 20th century are almost sure to find John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky a worthwhile viewing experience. Recommended.