Elvis – The Mini-Series + This Is Elvis – Two-Disc
Special Edition (DVD Set)
Picture: C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C+/C- Episodes/Film Versions: B-
Continuing
the blitz of Elvis material arriving on DVD, Elvis – The Mini-Series (2005) from Starz This Is Elvis – Two-Disc Special Edition (1981, 1983) from Warner
Bros. use original Elvis music recordings to tell the story of the rise and
early loss of the man who remains one of the most successful music recording
artists of all time, a position he will hold for centuries to come.
Both
offer reenactments of the early days of Elvis, but the mini-series uses known
starts (Johnathan Rhys Meyers as Elvis, Camryn Manheim as his mother Gladys;
both interesting choices) while the David L. Wolper/Andrew Solt (Imagine, John Lennon, reviewed
elsewhere on this site) mixed great archive footage of the real Elvis with
newly shot footage with purposely unknown actors recreating The King’s
past. Both are serious, ambitious
attempts to tell a story that many thought would be alive and well decades
later, but changing tastes and revisionist music history (lies like white
singers never could sing soul or were relevant to such music) gives both a new
relevance and value the producers (even a few years ago) could not have imagined.
Unfortunately,
I never totally bought any of the casting in the mini-series and the
recreations in This Is Elvis seem
trite and limited. Though these are
ambitious, sincere attempts to tell the same story, both do not succeed backing
my belief that the true epic telling of his story has yet to happen. These will suffice for now and they are not
bad, but no tale of Elvis will work until that tale understands the phenomenon
and can honestly confront the period from the 1950s to the 1970s that he so
uniquely occupied, even when distracted by Col. Parker’s movie contracts and
delayed his career with Army service.
Both are worth a look.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78/1.85 image on the main programs on both releases
are a bit limited, with the mini-series looking a bit weak and noisy (film
purposely shot that way?) while the documentary drama looks better widescreen
than in the longer 1.33 X 1 TV print, but not by much. The transfers on both are good, but the
material is limited and This Is Elvis
mixes newly shot film footage meant to look old with various 16mm and 35mm
vintage footage. The result is the
intended documentary effect, though some might consider it cheating.
The
mini-series offers a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix upgrade, but it has very limited
surrounds and the fidelity shows this was never conceived as more than a simple
stereo project. The theatrical This Is Elvis is here in Dolby Digital
2.0 Stereo supposedly with Pro Logic surrounds, but they are vaguely there and
this was an old Dolby A-type analog release to boot. The TV version is Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, so
nothing from either disc is sonically great (much like that poor DVD-Audio of Elvis – The #1s audiophiles dread)
though at least these productions were able to used original Elvis hits.
Extras
include a thin color booklet, faux black velvet slipcase and deleted scenes
while This Is Elvis offers the
longer TV version of its theatrical release on a second DVD, a thicker 24-page
booklet on high-quality paper with pictures, two Elvis trailers (one for this
film’s theatrical release) and the brief Behind
The Gates Of Graceland featurette.
For more
on Elvis, try these links:
Classic Albums – Elvis Presley (RCA Records debut)
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/24/Classic+Albums+-+Elvis+Presley+(RCA
Lights! Camera! Elvis Collection (Paramount)
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5725/Lights!+Camera!+Elvis!+Collection
- Nicholas Sheffo
