Reviews

This is an incredible film. It went straight to the top of my favourite films of all time as soon as I first saw it - and it's easily broken my record for most times I've seen a film at the cinema with 10 viewings. I'd give it every film award there is, even the ones it's not eligible for.

Almost from the opening I knew it was going to be special. From the moment you first see Austin Butler as Elvis singing American Trilogy in Las Vegas (and it takes a few seconds to realise it is Austin Butler and not Elvis, that's how good he is) you realise he's going to be amazing and he is. From the big set pieces of the '68 special and the Vegas shows to little details like how he turfs his friends out of Graceland for dragging mud in the house and how he twists and turns to avoid the pill bottles Priscilla (Olivia DeJonge) hurls at him he totally convinces you that he is Elvis Presley. It's a career-making performance and deserves to win every acting award going next year. He's also supported by a fabulous cast - I must single out Tom Hanks who gives a wonderfully quirky performance as Elvis's manager Tom Parker and Helen Thomson who is dynamic as Elvis's mother Gladys.

Baz Luhrman is the perfect director as well - he pulls the whole story together seamlessly, gets fabulous performances from his cast and makes the whole thing a truly spectacular and theatrical film. It's one of those rare films when you completely forget that you're in a cinema watching a film - it's just like being there and watching everything play out for real right in front of your eyes and ears.

And, it's made me fall in love with Elvis all over again, and I can't be too grateful for that.

Needless to say, I can't recommend it too highly. If it's not too late, I'd really urge you to see it at the cinema. Otherwise see it on the biggest screen you can with the volume turned up to max.

This is a fabulous film documenting Elvis's second residency at the Las Vegas International in 1970. You can tell he's having a wonderful time and thoroughly enjoying himself. His personality comes across really well, especially his sense of fun and playfulness, which, for me, has always been his best characteristic and sets him above every one else - after all, his career really started as a result of him messing around singing and playing That's Alright at the end of his first failed attempt at a professional recording for Sun Records: it really is the essence of him as a person and a performer. And he's at his best, looking gorgeous, in great shape and giving all he's got on stage with that miraculous voice. A real treasure of a film for all Elvis fans.

David Cronenberg had made some extremely good films (e.g. 'The Fly' and 'Eastern Promises') and at least one masterpiece ('Spider') but, with this sorry outing, he's descended into self parody. His attempts in this film to fuse his usual body horror with eroticism are both laughable and dull. Add to that a one-theme storyline, monochrome direction and barely more than adequate acting and I was left wondering why anyone involved in this movie bothered making it: it talks quite a lot but says very little, and if a film does that then it at least needs to be entertaining and this just isn't, unless you're entertained by cruelty and violence. I left the cinema wishing I'd spent my time doing something productive. Best avoided.

Goodness me! I've seen a few Star Trek fan series but nothing like this. It's totally amazing. The accuracy of the re-creation of the look and feel of the original series is just astonishing - the sets, props, costumes, makeup, hair, even the lighting are just about perfect - even new elements, like new aliens, are true to the design and build of the original Star Trek. I've been a Star Trek fan for about 45 years now and I'd be hard put to spot differences between that and this series without very close observation. The professionalism, love and dedication of the team behind Star Trek Continues are obvious and second to none. The stories are really good too - true to the original series and its history, every single episode is worthy of the original and even better than some of the original episodes. The acting and directing are universally good. It's difficult to fault it. Whenever I watch the original Star Trek series in future I'll always finish by watching this.

I was really looking forward to this but what a disappointment. I saw the first 3 episodes as that was all that was available at the time on Paramount+ in the UK. They were humdrum, run-of-the-mill space adventure stuff that could have been anything - replace the characters with anyone else and put it in a different setting and it wouldn't have mattered. I won't be bothered if I never see another episode.

PS (28 July 2022) To everyone who is complaining that this and other recent series are "woke": Star Trek was always alert and aware to racial discrimination, that's one of its fundamental values - the presence of Uhura and Sulu and the episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" from the original series are perfect examples.

After the critics had their say on this I was reluctant to see it but my brother wanted to go for his birthday so we went. It's a brilliant film - fun, uplifting, exciting and emotional, just like Queen. There isn't a weak link right the way through and Rami Malek is sensational. Definitely my film of the year.

I've been a Star Trek fan for almost all of my life now (that's since the late seventies - so long ago I can't even remember the year) so I approached this new incarnation of Star Trek with excitement mingled with a lot of trepidation. I needn't have worried - it's really good. I'm going to stick my neck out and put myself in the firing line and say that, of all the Star Trek series from The Next Generation onwards this is the one that comes closest to the feel of the original series. It's got just the right balance of action-adventure, thoughtfulness, characterization and drama. And it's well acted and written. Well done to everyone involved. If it continues like this then I'll be a fan.