This Is Elvis (Two-Disc Special Edition)
by Andrew Solt, Malcolm Leo
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DVD details
Actor: David Scott, Elvis Presley, Johnny Harra, Lawrence Koller, Paul Boensch IIIDirector: Andrew Solt, Malcolm Leo
Brand: Warner Brothers
Producer: Andrew Solt
Writer: Andrew Solt
Producer: Malcolm Leo
Writer: Malcolm Leo
Producer: Bonnie Peterson
Producer: David L. Wolper
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Original recording remastered, Restored, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 110 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-08-07
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Reviews of This Is Elvis (Two-Disc Special Edition)
DVD Review: This is the ultimate video biography so far
Summary: 4 Stars
The performance of 'Are You Lonseome Tonight?' from 'This Is Elvis' (that June 1977 version) is my first encounter with Elvis Presley on the video, 20 years ago. I was deeply disappointed when I got hold of the VHS 'This Is Elvis', for the lively 'Are You Lonesome Tonight' was replaced with the almost funeral 'Love Me'. Copyright issue? Who knows. Finally, this 2-disc edition shoots 2 birds with one stone, giving us the VHS version and the original theatrical edit. To put it simple: if you want to have a video biography of Elvis Presly, this is the one.
PROS:
1. This is so far the only authorized video biography of Elvis Presley and most elaborated. From Tupelo to 'What Happened Elvis?'. Tons of archive footage were excavated and when there was no footage, for natural reasons (depicting the adolescence, death, etc.), there was an actor's play. The result is a seamless video sequence with a narration by... not Elvis himself, but by an impersonator who says "what" the real Elvis "would have" narrated (in fact, for many years I thought it was really Elvis narrating his own story, maybe for CBS Special in 1977 just before he died). 2. The film places Elvis in the context of his time with a lot of curious newsreel footage (anti-rock'n'roll statements by the ultra-conservatives, sneaking into Baptist Memorial Hospital where Elvis was hospitalized in 1973, Elvis' karate practices, 'What happened, Elvis?' 1977 interview, etc.), which more than anything hints at the proffesional level and investment that was put into the movie that distiguishes it from amateur, semi-professional, quick-buck rip-offs that come and go every other month and for which a casual fan lost a count.
CONTRAS:
1. The main consultants for the movie were Col. Parker and Joe Esposito. It's plainly lame for them to have "Elvis" beyond the grave narrate how they were real helpers to him. C'mon, guys, you should have had more dignity and should have left it out for your own personal accounts. 2. Some serious gaps in biography of the man. For example, aside from the recording of 'That's All Right Mama', the years 1954-55 weren't covered at all. The Hollywood period (1960-68) was rushed through within 10 mins (no mentioning of 'Viva Las Vegas' or 'Change of Habit'). On the other hand, the army period is overexposed. 3. The DVD still has a typical Col Parker trick: a sticker advertizing a "free" (sic) 24-page booklet which turns out to be a mostly black & white wastepaper. So Tom Parker.
It's a shame that since 1981 there hasn't been a fresher, deeper official biography on Presley, especially when so much new video footage and information can be found here and there (like we all can see amazing videos on YouTube). We only have 'The Greatest Performances' (1991) & 'Presley by The Presleys' (2005) but these, although exposing new footage and stories, serve their own purposes and don't give us a full multi-dimentional and rich biography to replace 'This Is Elvis'. With all its faults, 'This is Elvis' is still the best biography.
DVD Review: You Can Never Have Too Many Elvis DVD's
Summary: 5 Stars
I have watched many Elvis dvds, and even though I've seen some of the things on this dvd before, I still enjoyed it. It was presented beautifully and kept me glued to my seat the entire time. DVD Review: THIS IS ELVIS TWO DISC SPECIAL EDTION
Summary: 5 Stars
I give this 5 STARS,5THUMPS UP this version is a better version better then the VHS version.I reactamend this dvd for ELVIS fans, this dvd will make anybody a ELVIS fan after seeing this.DVD Review: One of the best Elvis biographies available on DVD
Summary: 4 Stars
The only thing which kept me from a perfect rating is that the reenactments and actor-narration are sometimes a little unrealistic and/or cheesy. But other than that, it's a great summary of Elvis's life and career; a good mix of his personal and professional story. Very informative and entertaining; there's a lot here you may not have seen before. Especially the newer, "unrated expanded video version" includes a lot of extra footage which wasn't in the original theatrical version. However, ironically, this "unrated" one edits out some of the language which was shown in the theater version. A must-see for every Elvis fan, and is sure to inspire both smiles and tears. DVD Review: this is a good one
Summary: 5 Stars
if you love to listen to Elvis music , you have to see this movie, is a good product , so consider it and buy it.
Description of This Is Elvis (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 08/07/2007 Run time: 246 minutes Rating: PgOriginally released in 1981, Andrew Solt and Malcolm Leo's This Is Elvis was one of the first in-depth examinations of the life and work of Elvis Presley. Issued here in a two-disc set that pairs the theatrical version with a 1983 re-edit that adds some 40 minutes to the original, it combines newsreel footage, home movies, television and movie clips, and extensive re-enactments in an absorbing bio-documentary that's well worth watching--if only because interest in the singer apparently never diminishes (the 2007 DVD release date coincides with the 30th anniversary of Presley's death). The success (or failure, depending on one's point of view) of This Is Elvis rides in part on a single decision made by Solt and Leo, who co-produced, directed, and wrote the film: namely, to have the tale told by Presley himself. Not the real Presley, of course; Ral Donner, himself a rock singer of minor repute in the '50s and '60s, provides a reasonably authentic impersonation of Presley's voice (four on-screen actors portray him at various ages in the course of the film). Thus we have an "Elvis" who returns from beyond the grave to hold forth on such matters as the death of his beloved mother, his stint in the Army, his marriage to Priscilla and the birth of Lisa Marie, the skein of awful movies that preoccupied him during the '60s (thus sidelining him from the pop music scene while the Beatles and Bob Dylan were changing the world), and his descent into the maudlin, hyper-medicated fashion disaster that was Elvis in the '70s (his assessment: basically, "Geez, I wish I'd seen that coming"). It's nice to think that the actual Elvis could be so candid about both his successes and his missteps, but by and large this material is unconvincing, at best. Still, the real footage mostly makes up for it. Clips from his earliest TV appearances, even embarrassments like the Steve Allen show (on which the smug host had Presley wear formal attire and sing "Hound Dog" to an actual pooch), leave little doubt as to why he was the King; Presley's electrifying presence, not to mention his voice, great backup band, and seminal rock songs, were like nothing before or since. Had Solt and Leo dispensed with all the fakery and concentrated on the genuine article, their film would have been better for it. Sure, the final scenes of the fat, drugged-out Elvis onstage in his final months are brutal (a performance of "Loving You" featured in the longer edit is truly cringe-inducing), but they're part and parcel of the most fascinating and enduring story in American music history. --Sam Graham
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