Michael's Movie Grade: A+
A real treat for Elvis fans.
This movie begins with a clip of Elvis stating that his story had never been told from his point of view. This film however is completely from Elvis' point of view. It consists of interview clips, concert footage and behind the scenes clips. Every second is full of pure bliss for Elvis fans. The musical performances are simply wonderful. The song selection itself is fantastic ranging from many of Elvis' biggest hits to covers of the likes of The Beatles, Bob Dylan and Three Dog Night to gospel standards. Not only this but the performances show Elvis at his best. His voice sounds truly wonderful and his stage presence is incredible making him just as much a joy to watch as he is to listen to. Putting this film in IMAX helps give us the feeling of being at a rock concert. The interview footage mostly features Elvis talking about what goes through his mind as he puts on a show giving us a greater emotional connection to the performances and the work that goes into being such a master showman. I can picture someone who has previously not been an Elvis fan become a fan after watching this film, which is the ultimate achievement for a movie like this.
Yet it is not just the quality of the induvial parts but also the rarity of them that makes this special. Many of these clips are not familiar to even the most dedicated Elvis fans. This alone makes this an essential watch for any fan who feels they have seen all there is to see of Elvis. That the new footage is so good is just a bonus.
One can complain about how safe this movie plays it, not ever really delving into Elvis' flaws. However, when a movie is this much of a joy to watch that is hardly a problem.
I don't know if this will go down in film history along such great rock and roll movies as A Hard Day's Night (1964), The Last Waltz (1978) or Stop Making Sense (1984) but I wouldn't be surprised if it does.
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