Elvis

Phenomenal Elvis Portrayal and Great Movie
WOW. Is all that I can say about this movie. I saw it on ABC in 1979, when I was blown away by how Kurt Russell nailed this part, 2 years after Elvis died. It was Dick Clark Productions who decided to chronicle Elvis’s life, shortly after his death, and enlisted John Carpenter to direct it. This television movie, which garnered 3 Emmy nominations, including best Lead Actor for Kurt, along with an all star supporting cast, has stuck indelibly in my mind since the night I saw it, and I was absolutely thrilled to see it finally released on DVD, from the original master recording. At the time of release, the movie was the highest rated television movie ever aired. Kurt was only 27 years old when he performed this role. And it was a role which he hoped would lift him above his typical Disney movie roles. As he hoped, it ended up proving that he was capable of much more mature portrayals, than the light-hearted and squeaky clean characters in all of the Disney films, for which he was known. Ironically, Kurt’s first appearance in film, as a child, happened in Elvis’s movie, “It Happened At The World’s Fair”, where he was instructed to kick Presley in the shin. And following his brilliant portrayal of Elvis, John Carpenter decided to cast him again 2 years later in Kurt’s second attempt to establish himself as a serious adult actor, in the action/sci-fi movie, “Escape From New York”, and then again 2 years later in the dark comedy “Used Cars”. So, Elvis was the spring board which thrust Kurt into the actor that we all know and love.The story line in this movie ends in 1969, before Elvis’s personal and professional decline, followed by his triumphant rebound and eventual death.Other actors in the film included Elvis’s actual confidant, Charlie Hodge, who appeared as himself in the film. And Kurt’s real dad, Bing Russell, played the part of Elvis’s supportive father, Vernon Presley. The role of Priscilla Presley was played by Season Hubley, whom Kurt actually married in 1979, a month after the airing of the movie in February of 79 (and having a son together, prior to their divorce several years later).The entire time I was watching, I could not believe my eyes or ears. Elvis was a alive and well, in Kurt’s body 🙂 Kurt has Elvis’s voice and inflections down pat. Close your eyes and you would swear Elvis himself is speaking and singing. This movie was extremely well acted, sung and produced. You will be mesmerized from start to finish and I found myself wishing it would go on and on (in awe of Kurt’s portrayal), even though I am not a rabid Elvis fan. I absolutely loved Elvis in his much more edgy rock and roll days. I never cared much for the Las Vegas orchestral turn in his career, with the exception of some of his songs from that era. And I loved it when Elvis showed his true “old” self in the NBC television production “Elvis: 68 Comeback”, during the segments in which he appeared in signature black leather, with his band members, in acoustic renditions of his earlier and greater hits. Elvis had not appeared on stage in front of a live audience since 1961, prior to this NBC Special, which is a “must have” DVD for any Elvis fans.The timing of this movie’s production and release, was bittersweet, in that we all felt disappointed in, and sorry for the visible decline we saw in this huge icon in music. He had grown to be overweight and a mere shadow of himself, as a victim of his own success and excess. So it was healing and refreshing at the time to see Kurt take the stage and embody the character that many of us grew up to know, and wished that Elvis could have retained into much later years of his life.A couple of other sidelines to this is that Kurt was the voice of Elvis in Forrest Gump. And in 2001, he played the role of an ex-con, Elvis impersonator, planning a Las Vegas heist, in the Kevin Costner vehicle “3,000 Miles to Graceland”.

Great Movie
The DVD wasn’t released until today 3/2/10. The commentary should still be great, Ronnie McDowell was on set for every live concert scene and probably will give a great in depth view of the making of the film. Ronnie Mcdowell is not a dime a dozen impersonator. I have been to his concerts and he only does Elvis songs by request. He doesn’t consider himself a impersonator or an imitator, he was just a great fan of Elvis. Ronnie McDowell is still touring and cutting albums, his career spans over thirty years and that is not because he is a dime a dozen impersonator. They also used him because at the time it was a copyright issue with RCA that is why if you notice in the 2005 Mini series it was promoted as the first time Elvis’s music was ever used. I was very happy to see that they didn’t cover any of Elvis’s pill popping strange behavior he was bashed enough as it was in real life. He was a very generous person who had great respect for his mother and was very kind to strangers. He once bought a Cadillac for a woman that was looking through the window at the dealership day dreaming about driving one of those cars, he saw her looking through glass and told the salesman by that lady a car. He once wrote a check for somebody elses groceries on a piece of paper bag. So I don’t think anybody needs to see the dark not so normal side of his life. He changed the face of music forever paving the way for many more entertainers. I do wish Kurt Russell joined in the commentary but atleast we get a commentary from people that were the creative artist behind the story telling so before you criticize wait for the release and you will change your mind I guarentee it. I am sure Shout put great effort into the restoration as they used the original print of the film. Kurt Russell is considered by many as the Gold standard when it comes to playing Elvis, John carpenter said Kurt was spookly Elvis like on the set”. If you want to see a movie that trashes his image pickup Elvis and Me that only tells about one side of the relationship. I like Dale Midkiff but as Elvis he blew chunks (not as bad as Don Johnson) and never gives the illussion like Kurt Russell does that you are watching Elvis. If you have ever scene Dragon The Bruce Lee story Jason Scott Lee looks nothing like the real Bruce but by mid way through the movie you thinks it’s him. The music may not be Elvis singing but it is very energetic and helps the realism of the story. Ronnie was also picked by Prescilla to sing you will find all these facts out when you wacth the DVd with commentary. I have the sound track from Japan and it comes with a lot of trivial information about the movie.

Kurt Russell as The King. What could go wrong?
Great flick that used to be quite hard to find. The transfer could have been a little better, but for DVD, it’s good enough.

Hands down, still The Best Biopic of Elvis Presley…
I remember watching this when first aired on TV in 1979. Dick Clark Production, Directed by John Carpenter shortly after his hit “Halloween”. Starring a Young Kurt Russell as Elvis. The movie was shown on TV in U.S., while released at theaters in rest of The World. After seeing some dozen or more portrayals in Elvis Movies, Russell’s Acting still stands out as The Most Honest, and not Overly Exagerated. DVD includes scenes not shown on TV which adds even more to the story. Cast includes some of Elvis’ Associates who contributed to The Script as well.

Aunque se publicite que el DVD es apto para la zona de Reino Unido (y por tanto Europa), resulta ilegible en el lector de DVD ya que sólo es reproducible en Estados Unidos y en Canadá (de hecho en el DVD enviado, al contrario de lo que se publicita, se especifica que es apto para la Zona 1, esto es, para USA y Canadá). Como leí esto en algún comentario, me puse en contacto con el vendedor a través de Amazon y me engañó asegurándome que efectivamente el DVD era apto para reproducirse en Reino Unido (y por tanto en España). Es más, el vendedor me contestó que era yo quien había elegido el producto incorrecto. Además, en caso de que quiera devolverse, el cliente debe pagar los costes del envío a Estados Unidos.

Got this for the wife who is a big Elvis fan.Even if your not a big fan,you’ll still find this interesting. Kurt Russell is exceptional in the role of Elvis.Well acted and a great cast.A great look at his personal life and his relationship with his mother.