I'm an Elvis fan. No, honestly -- I really am. Not a fanatical completist or collector, perhaps, but I am a fan. I even enjoy quite a few of Presley's maligned movies from the '60s. I recently sat down with the "new" restored DVD version of this documentary and was seriously underwhelmed. If you're only casually acquainted with The King and wish to sample some of his best performances, do yourself a favor and check out the superior 1968 "Comeback" TV Special or "Aloha From Hawaii" of 1973 instead of this one.
I've always enjoyed peeps backstage into the studios, watching my favorite artists rehearsing and so forth; but aside from some intimate clowning from Elvis, his backstage musical footage that's incorporated herein is quite dull. It's mostly aimless jamming, and your mileage may vary as to how excited you'll get over sitting through it.
After a surprisingly lackluster 30 minutes or so, the 1970 concert mercifully begins. Elvis does appear trim and healthy, but it's a shame he seems more intent on having a laugh than executing some intense singing. He laughs in the middle of his old classics, fumbles the words all over the place, takes the time to kiss all the girls in the audience while the musicians play silently alone behind him without a vocal upfront.
He fares better doing some newer songs, like "Suspicious Minds" and "Patch It Up", but he comes across not as that professional crooner from the previous '68 TV Special nor the ultimate performer soon to mesmerize at the "Hawaii Concert" as he does the court jester. Granted, some of it is actually funny -- like when he confuses a male audience member by shaking his hand and then pretending he's about to give him a great big kiss -- but it mostly gets in the way of the music.
Even liking Elvis' music and personality as much as I do, I was still bored by most of this documentary; I wouldn't recommend it to novices who might be looking for the best place to start for evaluating Elvis at his finest. This one is more for the diehards. I'm sorry, but That's The Way It Is.
I've always enjoyed peeps backstage into the studios, watching my favorite artists rehearsing and so forth; but aside from some intimate clowning from Elvis, his backstage musical footage that's incorporated herein is quite dull. It's mostly aimless jamming, and your mileage may vary as to how excited you'll get over sitting through it.
After a surprisingly lackluster 30 minutes or so, the 1970 concert mercifully begins. Elvis does appear trim and healthy, but it's a shame he seems more intent on having a laugh than executing some intense singing. He laughs in the middle of his old classics, fumbles the words all over the place, takes the time to kiss all the girls in the audience while the musicians play silently alone behind him without a vocal upfront.
He fares better doing some newer songs, like "Suspicious Minds" and "Patch It Up", but he comes across not as that professional crooner from the previous '68 TV Special nor the ultimate performer soon to mesmerize at the "Hawaii Concert" as he does the court jester. Granted, some of it is actually funny -- like when he confuses a male audience member by shaking his hand and then pretending he's about to give him a great big kiss -- but it mostly gets in the way of the music.
Even liking Elvis' music and personality as much as I do, I was still bored by most of this documentary; I wouldn't recommend it to novices who might be looking for the best place to start for evaluating Elvis at his finest. This one is more for the diehards. I'm sorry, but That's The Way It Is.