Customer Reviews

This Is Elvis

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As with my other Elvis movies, stays sealed for nostaligic purposes and is only opened if someone wants to watch it.

As an Elvis worshipper and musician, I rate this video five stars. Among all of the documentaries on Elvis, this video is unique for its emphasis on actual performance footage and outstanding performances rather than hackneyed, misinformed, or irrelevant commentary/opinions on Elvis by Elvis experts/friends/family. I urge fans--especially newer fans--to check out this video for its singularly coherent and complete overview of the art of Elvis.
As an Elvis worshipper with an interest in history, on the other hand, I rate the video four stars. The art of Elvis does not tell the whole Elvis story. While the video does reference a bit of the biographical and cultural context of Elvis's early years, the video disregards almost completely the tragic decline and demise of Elvis. Ironically, by perpetuating the historical tradition of not dealing with Elvis's end, the video serves as an unexpected historical document in its own right.
In conclusion, this video is an artistically satisfying but historically incomplete account of Elvis Presley. If you don't yet own the new comprehensive DVD boxed set--or a DVD player, for that matter--this video will probably inspire you to buy both.

This video has Elvis singing 2 songs from his last tour when he was fat from the CBS TV special done 2 weeks or so before he died. This is rare footage. He actually does an inspired performance of "My Way". He was truly "facing the final curtain" as the words to that song say. This is probably one of the best documentaries available. It's interesting though. I saw this movie when it came out in the theatre in 1981. This movie has been edited to cut out dirty words Elvis used during the filming of some of the concert tour footage from 1972. Most notably in the back of a limo, Elvis in unaware that a microphone is on during filming. He tells Joe Esposito he didn't see the launch of the Apollo space craft because he was busy doing something with some lady at the hotel that night. What he really said was scrubbed and new words were dubbed over his voice making him appear to say something completely different or really toned down at least. Also, arriving at another coliseum he jokes with his body guards about what he was doing with a lady the night before at the hotel. Once again in this video, his original real words are scrubbed out and a voice double is used to put other words in Elvis's mouth which I guess are supposed to be less offensive. What he originally said might not even rate a PG rating but it's interesting to note that someone thought it better to edit out the truth and replace it with a lie apparently to make Elvis appear less... I don't know what. The new words kind of say the same thing but in much toned way which only comes out kind of weird though. The story of his life. Like Elvis says in one interview, "The image is one thing and the human being is another." Yea, even in death. If you want a good summary of the Life Of Elvis with some decent concert footage thrown in, this can work for you.

I am a new Elvis fan, having only discovered the King about four months ago, and only much more recently did I become curious about his life. I purchased _This is Elvis_ four days ago and have watched it no fewer than eight times since then.

Much has been said here already about this film, so I will focus on two much-maligned aspects of the film--the dramatic reenactments and the voiceovers.

The first moments of the film are dramatic reenactments. We open with a reenactment of Elvis's loved ones finding his body at Graceland, and then we have reenactments of scenes from Elvis's childhood growing up in Tupelo and then, Memphis. While the phrase "dramatic reenactment" can immediately bring to mind fears of copious cheese, this need not be the case here. These portions of the film are tastefully done and decently acted and directed. Most importantly, they are crucial to the structure of the film. It would have been odd, indeed, for a film claiming to be a definitive portrait of Elvis to pick up when he's nineteen or so and cutting records. We need a vision of his earlier life. Since there is no video record of that time, the dramatic reenactments are necessary to fill the void. At any rate, these only take up about the first ten or so minutes of the film.

Some have also criticized the use of narration, in general, and the first-person narration of the Elvis impressionist, in particular. First of all, without narration, this film would be nothing more than a collection of video clips strung together. Narration is called for to give this collection the shape of a narrative (as the term "narration," of course, suggests). That said, one might still ask, why first-person narration? Personally, I find the use of first-person narration here to be inspired. It draws the viewer in and gives the story an immediacy and an intimacy that third-person narration would lack. The first-person narration works equally as well for the secondary subjects of this documentary (Priscilla, Gladys, etc.) The film is all the more compelling for the use of this dramatic device.

And now for some brief notes on other aspects of the film. I thought the way it handled the issue of Elvis's infidelity to Priscilla was smart and tasteful without skirting the issue. His cheating is never explicitly mentioned, but we do get two instances of Elvis discussing his dalliances with women, during the time that he was married to Priscilla. It is surprising then, that Vernon's brush with the law is baldly misrepresented. The voice of Elvis says that Vernon was sent to jail for writing a bad check--the more full truth is that Vernon forged a check.

At the same time, the film references Elvis's displeasure with many of his movies and with his film contracts--even though Col. Parker was a technical advisor on the film. So, in some ways, the film is surprisingly honest, and in other areas, the viewer is advised to take its assertions with a grain of salt.

That said, I rate this video five stars. There is a great wealth of footage here, and we are treated to *full* performances--not just little clips and tidbits. We get to experience a bit of Elvis's personality--I had no idea how hysterically funny he could be, or how self-effacing. It is also great to see the reaction of the popular media to his music, particularly in the 1950s. We get clips of a number of officials denouncing Elvis for bringing n****r music to white America. This really helped me to put Elvis into the cultural context of his time, and to understand just how truly groundbreaking and controversial his contribution was.

Inspired by Gary's review below, I purchased this video through an Amazon seller expecting that anything so cheap would have to be utter rubbish. I'm pleased to report that this video is most decidedly not utter rubbish. At over 140 minutes of run time it is chockablock full of enough Elvis material to make any Elvis fan happy.
The premise of this video is to document the life of the 'King' from childhood to overnight sensationalia through military, marriage and moviestardom and finally to decline and ultimate demise. The director's conceit is to use actors to portray phases of his life as a set up for the plot and then to use actual film footage of subsequent events to flesh out the story. In addition, we are guided by narrations from 'Elvis,' 'Priscilla,' his 'Mom' and others all with suitably hill billy accents, where appropriate. In my opinion this departure from straight documentary hurts the film and I found my mind wandering from bits because they seemed bothersome and artificial. In addition, I believe that the story was poorly told in any event because the video comprised more than two hours of material (some of which was not on the big screen release), and still did an inadequate job of covering many of the many issues the story raised. For instance, we are shown a gathering of Elvis impersonators and Teddy Boys in Liverpool England which, apart from the spectacle, had absolutely nothing to do with the film. It was almost as if someone wanted to do a section on the spawn of Elvis kitsch, clubs, and impersonators but then begged off, and forgot to cut this clip. Also, a section is given over to a revelatory book written by his former body guards and mention is made of law suits, but with no other information. Now, these visual and audio clues might be enough to inform an Elvis fan, but it leaves one such as I who knows little about Elvis clueless. It is possible that since this film depended upon cooperation from the Elvis estate the director was unable to do more, I wonder?
On the plus side is the large amount of film footage of early Elvis performances, his hollywood numbers and interviews he gave and shows he put on. Especially nice are the interviews because they seem to allow one to observe Elvis form honest responses to unexpected questions; answers which often make him seem to be a really thoughtful and intelligent human being. The early performances are, of course, riveting and alone would make the video worth owning.
One walks away from this video thinking that it would have been much improved by extracting the faked bits and adding more actual film footage of Elvis. If this had been done, I'd have given this four or five stars without a thought.

This video is a must-have for all Elvis fans. It has clips that I have never seen before. It has some great concert footage clips and songs throughout the video. This video is better than any movie ever made about Elvis, because this contains footage ofthe one true Elvis. I highly recommend it to anyone who considers themselve an Elvis fan.

This is a moving documentary of the life of the greatest entertainer of all time. I was completely satisfied when I watched it, though I can hardly make it through the ending without shedding alot of tears. It depicts the high and low points of his life, from being on the Ed Sullivan Show to marrying Priscilla, then going off to Vegas for his most famous concert tour EVER! Seeing the real footage of his funeral at the end was extremely sad, and the different clips from home movies and hollywood movies was great, but I gotta tell ya, the clip from his concert just 6 weeks before his untimely death is heart-wrenching. He struggled with his weight, but as Joe Esposito said his voice never failed him even to the end. I recommend this video to any Elvis fan.

If you are a true Elvis fan. This documentary is a must have.
This was in the making while Elvis was alive. And finished after His death. So the Ronnie Mc Dowell narration is totally accepted.
I remember seeing this at the show. When it came out. It covers His life and career so well. It shows the man with faults. And the Entertainer. If you ever saw Him in person. As you left the concert hall. You left with the feeling. He would have sung all night. And in ways He did just that. He was the ultimate entertainer!

I first saw "This is Elvis" in the theatre when it first came out in the late summer of 1981.I decided to go see it after reading a several page layout about it in Rolling Stone and after watching "Siskel&Ebert" give the movie a good review on their show(back when they were on PBS).Gene Siskel said that even people who weren't fans of Elvis Presley may enjoy the movie. I've been a fan of Elvis for well over 20 years.Have more than 40 of his albums(on vinyl, not the CDs)some have even become collector items since then.I must say that I enjoyed this biography very much.Even went back to see again a couple of months later with some other family members.This was the first bio that was given the blessing of the Elvis Presley estate and certain members of the so called "Memphis Mafia" and Colonel Tom Parker were technical consultants on the picture.This was the first time anyone was permitted to film inside Graceland.This was a few years before it became open to the public.The film was produced by David L.Wolper(who produced the mini series "Roots") and directed by Andrew Solt and Malcolm Leo(who made documentaries on Marilyn Monroe,The Beach Boys, the very good theatrical bio "Imagine-John Lennon" from 1988,and "The Best of Ed Sullivan" specials for network television).The producers were allowed to use actual home movies and never before seen footage.

The highlights:Elvis' first TV appearances in 1956,scenes from his most popular movies,"Love Me Tender","Loving You" and "Jailhouse Rock", his first TV appearance after being discharged from the U.S.Army in 1960 on a Frank Sinatra special and newsreel footage from news conferences in 1960 and 1972.And,the home video version includes 45 min. of footage not seen in the theatre version.

The lowlights: the awkward dramatic recreations of Elvis'early life by various actors,and the narration(like it was from beyond the grave)by singer and Elvis' sound alike Ral Donner. And,narration by other actors portraying Elvis' mother,and Priscilla,etc.And,the sound quality isn't great because the video isn't in Dolby Stereo like it was in the theatre.And,the video version deleted two memorable scences from the original theatre version.One scene in the'70's where Elvis was riding with some of his buddies in a limo with a hidden camera on him.This scene was the reason the movie was rated PG instead of G.Another scene was a live performance in 1977 only two months before his death.

I've had this video since the late '80's on Beta(which I regret now because Beta is practically extinct,even though the picture quality is very good.It's become Super-Beta now and I hear TV news crews still prefer Super-Beta over Super-VHS).Warner Home Video released a "Special Edition" in August 2000.I only hope this edition is digitally mastered,letterboxed,and in Dolby Surround.Don't know if it will be released on DVD.Maybe they will restore the deleted scenes.Some of my family and me took a 500 mile road trip to Memphis in 1996 to see Graceland.Spent 5 hours taking the entire tour.We enjoyed it very much.Got a copy of the Graceland catalog.They offered all of Elvis' movies and specials except for "This is Elvis".Go figure.By the way the Graceland catalog overcharges for its Elvis' videos.You can get a better deal from Amazon.com.

And for Elvis fans a few things that have come to light since this bio.The singer Ral Donner(the narrator) wasn't and actual Elvis impersonator.Mr. Donner was a popular singer in the '50's and '60's. He met an untimely death back in the early '80's. Also,sadly the actor David Scott who portrayed Elvis as a teenager died from a suicide back in the early '90's. When Elvis died there were less than a hundred Elvis impersonators around. Today there is approx.7,000! Also,Elvis said in an interview that his favorite impersonator was the comedian Andy Kaufman.Elvis thought Kaufman did the best impression of him.And this from a bio in Reader's Digest,Elvis' hair was a sandy blonde and it turned prematurely gray(like his father's)so he had it dyed jet black and he kept it that way.Elvis's hairdresser said when Elvis was in his forties his hair was actually completely white.And,this from an interview with Elvis' lifelong friend and member of the "Memphis Mafia" Joe Espisito,he revealed that Elvis' had plastic surgery on his nose.Something Elvis kept secret.And, sometime after Elvis' daughter Lisa Marie married Michael Jackson in 1994 there was an earthquake in Memphis,about 5 on the Richter scale.They found out later it was just Elvis spinning in his grave.That was from Jay Leno on The Tonight Show. Thang ya.Thang ya verruh mush.(That isn't a typo, that's how you enunciate it).

Brought up on classical, as a teenager I never had any interest in Elvis Presley - his music, films, tours, etc. Then, in 1982, out of curiousity - I rented this video. I thought it was the most compelling, haunting and, yes, enter-taining documentary I have ever seen about a popular entertainer and I have been hooked on Elvis infor ever since. If you have read "Last Train to Memphis" and "Careless Love", check out this video - it will put a face on many of the people, antecdotes, performances and the ultimate tragedy of this extremely sensitive, talented, and mixed-up man, Elvis Presley.