This Is Elvis [Special Edition] [2 Discs] [DVD] [1981]

This 2 disc dvd is a re-creation of Elvis' life and it also has documentary footage from many sources including Presley's own professionally made home movies. A must have for a true Elvis fan!

Good footage of Elvis, but overall lacks good insight of the man. Music is great, good soundtrack, picked good songs for film.

"THIS IS ELVIS": ONE OF TWO MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES FOR EVERY ONE TO ENJOY. THE OTHER SIMARLARLY RATED DOCUMENTARY IS ""THE GREAT PERFORMANCES", WHICH I WILL CONCISELY SAY IS THOROUGHLY SUPERB, FAST MOVING & ENTERTAINING, BEST SELECTIONS OF SEGMENTS SHOWING ELVIS' LIFE AND CAREER, WITH OUTSTANDING VIDEO/AUDIO QUALTY, AND THE PRINCIPAL NARRATOR IS RICHLY VOICED DJ "GEORGE KLEIN", WHO HAD BEEN ELVIS' GOOD FRIEND SINCE HIGH SCHOOL. INDEED, AS FOR "THIS IS ELVIS" DOCUMENTARY, ALL TRUE ELVIS ADMIRERS AND FANS WILL ADORE IT. . FURTHER, THERE ARE THOSE WHO ASK ME IF THERE IS AN ELVIS DOCUMENTARY WHICH SIMPLY TELLS THE BASIC STORY WITHOUT HAVING TO WATCH AND LISTEN TO ENDLESS PORTIONS OF THE BEGINNING, MIDDLE, AND END DETAILS...THOSE PERSONS WHO MAY NOT BE REAL FANS, MAYBE SIMPLY INTERESTED IN VITAL ENTERTAINMENT HISTORY, AND THEY CERTAINLY ARE NOT INTERESTED IN OWNING A HUGE COLLECTION OF MOVIES, SPECIALS, ETC. "THIS IS ELVIS" AND "THE GREAT PERFORMANCES" ARE STRONGLY RECOMMENDED FOR THEM, AS WELL AS ADMIRERS AND HARD-CORE FANS. I RECALL THE TIME, BACK IN THE EARLY SUMMER OF 1981, WHEN "THIS IS ELVIS" FIRST HAD BEEN ADVERTISED AS COMING TO A THEATER NEAR YOU, BUT IT'S LOCAL THEATER APPEARANCES WERE ABRUPTLY CUT SHORT. THIS ADVERTISED MOVIE HAD BEEN ONE OF THOSE EVENTS I LOOKED FOWARD TO, YET IT BECAME A NON-EVENT, SINCE IT NEVER ACTUALLY OCCURRED AS EVEN A DEBUT AT ANY THEATER WHICH I COULD FIND. SEVERAL YEARS LATER, THANKFULLY, "THIS IS ELVIS" WAS RELEASED ON VHS TAPE. THERE HAD BEEN BOTH A AMERICAN RELEASE AND AN EXTENDED EUROPEAN VERSION. FROM THE FIRST I HAD EVER VIEWED "THIS IS ELVIS", I WAS EXTREMELY IMPRESSED WITH THE SELECTED CONTENT, WITH REASONABLY FAST MOVING & ENTERTAINING FOOTAGE, SHOWING JUST A LTTLE BIT OF SOME OF THE VERY BEST OF ELVIS' LIFE AND CAREER. EVEN ON INFERIOR VHS TAPE, THE OVERALL QUALITY WAS OBVIOUSLY BETTER THAN MOST OTHER ELVIS VIDEO ON THE MARKET, AT THE TIME. ONLY VERY BRIEF PORTIONS SHOW IMITATORS AT AN EARLY STAGE OF ELVIS' LIFE UNTIL THE END OF HIS LIFE AND CAREER, BUT THIS ISN'T OVERDONE, ONLY HERE AND THERE WHERE SHORT FILL-INS ARE NECESSARY FOR THE PURPOSE OF BETTER CONVEYING THE WHOLE STORY. PRIMARILY, OTHER THAN THE MAIN NARRATOR "RAL DONNER", WHO HAD BEEN KNOWN FOR ELVIS SOUND-ALIKE SONG HITS DURING THE EARLY 1960'S, SUCH AS "SUSPICION" & "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'VE GOT UNTIL YOU LOSE IT", THE VIEWER IS GETTING THEIR FILL OF BUNCHES OF PURE ELVIS FOOTAGE. PLUS, IN THIS VERY REASONABLY PRICED TWO-CD SET, WE GET BOTH THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE THE U.S. THEATER AND EXTENDED VERSION FORMATS. THE ONLY PART THAT REGRETTABLY MUST BE, AS IT IS REALISTIC TO THE STORY, I FIND INTENSELY DISGUSTING; IE- NEAR THE CONCLUSION ARE EXERPTS OF A POSTHUMOUS PRESS-CONFERENCE WHERE A FEW OF ELVIS' FORMER BODYGUARDS DESCRIBE THEIR HORRIBLE BOOK. THE SADDEST PART, THOUGH, IS WHEN EXERPTS OF "ELVIS IN CONCERT", NOT LITERALLY HIS LAST 6/26/77 CONCERT AS WAS REPORTED, THOUGH ONE OF HIS FINAL FEW SHOWS, AND LAST CBS-TV SPECIAL, DISPLAYING A SHOCKINGLY ILL ELVIS, MERELY SIX WEEKS PRIOR TO HIS UNTIMELY DEATH. HE STILL MANAGED TO PERFORM HIS BEST AS IS EVIDENT AS HE BELTS OUT A POWERFUL, POIGNANT VERSION OF "MY WAY". THE TOTAL CONCLUSION OF THE FILM SHOWS AN IMPRESSIVE 1972 LIVE PERFORMANCE OF "AN AMERICAN TRILOGY", WITH ELVIS SPREADING HIS CAPE. THIS IS A TESTAMENT TO A REAL AMERICAN DREAM, WHICH WAS THE TALENT, LOOKS, AND CHARM OF A UNIQUE ARTIST. IN SHORT, AFTER YOU'VE VIEWED THIS DOCUMENTARY, YOU'LL THINK "THIS IS ELVIS" IS THIS WAS ELVIS....MAY HIS MEMORY FOREVER SHINE BRIGHTLY!!!!!