This Is Elvis (1981)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

This Is Elvis (1981) *** 1/2 (out of 4)Malcolm Leo and Andrew Solt co-directed this very interesting and entertaining mix of a documentary and played out drama. What we basically have is a look at the life of Elvis Presley with the film starting and ending on his death. Throughout the documentary we get countless clips from television shows, movies and concerts while at the same time seeing various stages of his life where he's being played by actors.THIS IS ELVIS was released a few years after the death of Elvis and I'm sure at the time it was a refreshing reminder of the talent that was cut short. When viewing the film today one must really be impressed with the footage that the directors threw in here as well as how they ended up showing the life and death of this icon. The documentary works wonderfully well because you really do get to see the rise of Elvis through his clips, the controversy he faced and how he eventually became the King of Rock and Roll.For me the greatest thing about this was the collection of musical performances. We see his earliest performances on television as well as some clips from his comeback special and of course footage from one of the last concerts he did. All of this footage is evidence that no matter what era Elvis was in, his look might be different but that brilliant voice is still right there and as powerful as ever.The "acting" scenes are also quite good and especially one at the start of the picture when the Colonel is made aware that Elvis has died. I was actually pretty shocked at how well these scenes played out as they're both entertaining and work well as drama. THIS IS ELVIS is a film that fans often call one of the best documentaries on the man.

Almost forty years after his death in 1977, Elvis Presley fans still lament the passing of a remarkable music icon. This documentary captures many of the significant moments of the ill fated singer's life and does a respectable job even in the limited TV version shown on cable stations where I happened to catch it. Particularly interesting are the clips from the Fifties which record Presley's emergence on the entertainment scene. His first TV appearance in 1956 offers a respectable version of "Shake, Rattle and Roll", and it was a real trip down memory lane seeing Milton Berle get torn apart by frenzied teenage girls mistaking him for the King. Sure it was a hound dog moment, but Elvis wasn't at all uncomfortable about poking fun at himself. What was a real eye opener was seeing Presley's performance from the waist down a handful of times before he appeared for the first time on the Ed Sullivan Show. The documentary follows Elvis from his early days performing through his movie career, military service and eventual return to the concert stage, and features a sufficient sampling of Presley's well known hits. Winding things down, the picture offers a clip of Elvis singing 'Are You Lonesome Tonight' only six weeks before his death, by which point his excessive drug use had taken it's toll and it's readily apparent. His rendition of 'My Way' is particularly poignant as the performer sings "And now, the end is near..." as the film transitions tastefully to the funeral cortège mourned by the entire world at the time. Made in 1981, the documentary may have an outdated feel to modern day viewers, but if you're a fan of Elvis Presley, the picture goes a long way to capture the essence of the King of Rock and Roll.

This was one of the most interesting movies, I have ever seen. I like the way it has people portraying Elvis, and the way the narration is done, it is almost authentic. The stock files of Elvis are really interesting. Seeing the real Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, and the other shows he did during the early part of his career, are really cool. Listening to his obvious frustration of being drafted into the army, and the hurt he felt when his mother passed away and his total disgust for the movie treadmill he was on, it revealed quite a bit about the man. I loved watching his comeback and seeing him back on stage in the 1970's again. I had never realized how many health problems that he was having by the mid 1970's and the movie touches somewhat on that as well. For most of the movie, Elvis looked good, and healthy, the most shocking part was near the very end of the movie, when he walks out on stage for the last time in the movie, in one of the two concerts taped for the CBS Special "Elvis In Concert", just how terrible he looked. Seeing him so overweight, and obviously so unhealthy, was quite a shock. And watching him forget the words to "Are You Lonesome Tonight?", was sad. At that point, I think he was already dying. But still a great movie.

A reasonably accurate and sympathetic portrayal, sadly undermined by a few glaring clangers..At one point, the film attempts to use the Aloha From Hawaii concert to emphasise the widening gulf between the triumph of Elvis' professional life and his increasingly sad and lonely existence off stage. A camera in the limo supposedly shows Elvis and a members of the inner Memphis Mafia departing the Honolulu International Centre following the show, as the narrating actor (as Elvis) laments, "If only I could have seen what was happening to me..".. Unfortunately, a clumsily overdubbed comment ("Man can Hawaii get sticky") didn't hide the fact that Elvis had already commented that it was a "hot time in Florida", another occupant pointed out the Gator Bowl in the distance, bright sunshine was evident (Aloha was filmed after midnight) and Joe Esposito (long serving Road manager) said with a sense of relief "The last matinée of the tour". This footage had been taken from a Florida concert filmed for "Elvis On Tour" a year previously, which also explains the fact that Presley was actually wearing a different stage costume in the Limo to the famous "American Eagle" suit worn for the Aloha show, and that the boys were discussing Florida landmarks and previous tour experiences at the Gator Bowl as they left the stadium.Later, during a press conference in which ex bodyguards Sonny West and Dave Hebler attempt to justify writing the tell-all, "Elvis What Happened?" there is an enormous double take by a reporter, supposedly, over Presley's use of Demerol. "You actually saw him take (The name of the drug is edited) .?" "Yes".. Sonny goes on to explain that his cousin (and co author) Red West had threatened to "break up" the supplier but had relented when Elvis assured him, "I need it, man"..Demerol, a prescription painkiller, had already been alluded to as one of Presley's drugs of choice earlier in the interview. No one would have been surprised to hear that Sonny had witnessed Elvis taking Demerol, which was being prescribed (rightly or wrongly) by his doctor. The real question actually referred to cocaine, which explains the press reaction when Sonny said, "yes" as this allegation (true or false) was far more explosive.Despite some ill-used dramatic licence, "This Is Elvis" is an interesting introduction to the Presley phenomenon, but a long way from the definitive account.