Elvis: The Mini-Series
by James Steven Sadwith
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DVD details
Actor: Camryn Manheim, Danny Nelson, Jack Noseworthy, Randy Quaid, Rose McGowanDirector: James Steven Sadwith
Brand: STARZ HOME ENTERTAINMENT
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 173 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-08-14
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: ANCHOR BAY
DVD Reviews of Elvis: The Mini-Series
DVD Review: Should have been done in the vein of Walk The Line...
Summary: 1 Stars
I am a hard-core Elvis fan. I have every single studio master recording released by the King. I have the Aloha Special & Comeback Special Deluxe Editions, That's The Way It Is, and Elvis By The Presleys. Nevertheless, because i am about to say something bad about an Elvis product (even though it had nothing to do with the ACTUAL Elvis), i'm sure i'll get a ton of "not helpful" votes. Oh well. Here goes.
PROS:
1). Jonathan Rhys Meyers looks quite a bit like Elvis. In some scenes, almost scarily so.
2). Robert Patrick, arguably the most compelling actor in the movie, is great as Elvis' father.
CONS:
1). While Meyers looks a lot of Elvis, he doesn't create a compelling character. As Elvis, he talks about his feelings and how deep he is, but he doesn't really ACT with much passion & depth. He makes Elvis really come across as one-dimensional. Compare to Joaquin Phoenix's fantastic performance as Johnny Cash.
2). There were not enough scenes of Elvis performing, recording & working on movies. Look at how much music were in the movies Walk The Line & Ray.
3). I know some will find this sacreligious, but please think about it before you click "not helpful." Ok, here goes... They should NOT have used Presley's original recordings in this movie. While NO imitator would ever be as good as Elvis, using his original recordings in this film creates many problems.
Many of Elvis's earliest recordings were not of terribly good sonic quality compared to the audio in a movie produced in 2005. The sonic difference is noticeable, and takes the viewer out of the movie. Instead of feeling like he's watching Elvis record or perform live, the viewer feels like he's just listening to an Elvis record while a guy dances.
What SHOULD have been done was have an actor who can sing Elvis's songs himself, or have a professional impersonator do all the overdub recordings that could properly mimic live events, in studio singing, etc. Walk The Line is a PERFECT example of how to do it properly. Did Joaquin Phoenix sound like Johnny Cash when he sang? A little. Did he LOOK like Cash? Not really. But did we buy him as Cash? YES. It has been a widely acclaimed film. Why? Because aside from being a great actor, he also did all the performances himself. When you have a scene like Cash's first awkward studio recording at Sun Records, the drama of the scene was heightened by the fact that you had a real actor, actually performing in the studio at the pace necessary, and with the dramatic inflections necessary to make it work.
Conversely, the movie Ray worked as well. Why? Because while Jamie Foxx did lip sync to the real Ray Charles, they did not use old Ray Charles recordings. They took advantage of the fact that Charles was still alive, and he recorded a bunch of tracks of his music made to fit into specific scenes in the movie.
Unfortunately, in Elvis: The Mini-Series, the use of stock recordings that clearly don't fit properly in the scene, takes away the drama necessary, takes the viewer out of the movie, makes it more difficult for suspension of disbelief, and reminds the viewer that you're NOT watching Elvis on screen. And this actor actually LOOKED like Elvis! Phoenix looked NOTHING like Cash, and only sounded sorta like Cash, yet we BELIEVED he was Cash. Jamie Fox didn't sing in Ray, yet we totally believed it, due to he acting, his looking like Charles, and the fact that the music was actually recorded to fit the scenes, not just dropped in.
All this movie made me want to do was to watch the real Elvis in...well, almost anything. Even Charro. Ok, maybe not Charro.
Description of Elvis: The Mini-Series
Jonathan Rhys Meyers of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III and BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM delivers a definitive performance in the acclaimed mini series event that depicts Elvis from 50s teen outcast to worldwide sensation, through his grim decline to spectacular 68 comeback. Experience the triumphs and tragedies, excesses and affairs, madness and music of The King Of Rock & Roll, featuring a stellar cast that includes Emmy® and Golden Globe® winner Camryn Manheim as his beloved mother Gladys, Oscar® nominee Randy Quaid as the notorious Colonel Parker, Robert Patrick as Vernon Presley, and Rose McGowan as Ann-Margret.Bestsellers in DVD
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