Elvis: That's the Way It Is (2014)

That low rating is not so much a comment on the quality of the documentary, but how depressed the whole movie makes me feel after watching it. Just two years after his triumphant leather-clad Comeback, here is Elvis at the beginning of his fossilisation into the white-suited self-parody he became during the 1970s. The superior 2001 re-edit makes the horror even keener, when at first Elvis and the band are seen at length rehearsing in an charmingly informal atmosphere (musically the movie peaks with the excellent "Little Sister"/"Get Back" medley). Next come the seven (!) backing singers, the middle-aged, middle class audience and the tacky Vegas ambiance, and by the end Elvis is slamming through a set which dispatches his 1950s hits with obscene haste in order to concentrate on the schmaltzy ballads and overblown bombast. He was dead just seven years later. If only he'd done the '68 Special and then fired Colonel Tom, booted the freeloading Memphis Mafia to the kerb and hired a hotshot young manager with some good ideas. There was a big rock'n'roll revival just around the corner and Europe (especially the UK) would have been Elvis' for the taking. Imagine if he'd survived to receive the same sort of multi-generational accord Johnny Cash did during the 1990s. Ah, if only. The 30-something Elvis of 1970's "That's The Way It Is" was a little wider in the face but still lean and vital and capable of so much more. Watching this movie is like seeing Elvis shrug, smile and wave goodbye as he turns to walk down a long, dark tunnel...

I've seen this concert in two DVD "forms:" the theatrical release and the 2001 two-disc special edition which also includes about an hour of Elvis in rehearsal with his band. You can see he liked to clown around a lot but he also was serious about a doing a song the exact way he wanted and was definitely in command of that. Hey, all great artists are perfectionists, from dancer Fred Astaire to football quarterback Peyton Manning.Anyway, it's all good stuff and for those who are interested, here is the song list:"That's All Right, Little Sister/Get Back, My baby Left Me, Crying Time, Love Me, Twenty Days and Twenty Nights, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Cattle Call, Chime Bells, Santa Claus Is Back In Town, Mary in the Morning;Mystery Train/Tiger Man, That's All Right, I Got a Woman, Hound Dog, Heartbreak Hotel, Love Me Tender, I can't Stop Loving You, Just Pretend, The Yonder of You, In the Ghetto, Patch It Up;You've Lost That Loving Feeling, Polk Salad Annie, One Night, Don't Be Cruel,Blue Suede Shoes, All Shook Up, You Don't Have to Say You Love, Suspicious Minds, Can't Help Falling in Love

This is the movie to see if you want to know what the deal is about Elvis. Forget the movies, which were mostly rubbish. This is the king at his on stage best. The only reason I never rated this movie as a 10 is that it came hot on the heels of the 68 Comeback Special and that cannot be beaten. This film shows Elvis backstage in Las Vegas before one of the Elvis summer festivals organised by Col. Parker. There is also footage of Elvis in rehearsals for his shows. You get a glimpse of the man behind the image at certain points. For us ladies there is also the bonus of seeing Elvis at his sexy best! The only thing to remember is this was made in the 70's so there are flares everywhere.

Elvis rehearses/jokes with his pickup band and then hits the low rise super club stage in Las Vegas. This review refers to the re-cut version (a big improvement), although I have seen both.Since America revoked its monarchist past and went republican they have had only one "King." Rightly put there by popular demand rather than by being born in the right bed. Maybe the only democratically elected king of all time! It would be foolish to try and summate the man, but chew on this - he made more people dip in to their pocket and pay for his recordings/products/museum and home than any other artist in the history the world. No critic, however skilled, can take that away from him.(That is not to agree with some of them that his films were bad and at times so camp that only a dyed-in-the-wool fan could sit through them.)In reply to other reviews - Elvis's weight yo-yoed throughout his life. Between movies/tours he blow up and he went on crash diets aided by more of those strange pills. Here - in 1970 - he looks slim enough and young enough to be of sexual interest to any woman of any age (although the surgeons knife had already helped), although good natured and warm he never looks "straight" for a second.The early rehearsals are worthwhile in that he knows what he wants, although his guitar doesn't seen to switched on (although it is plugged in). He is backed by talented musicians, but they are still - when all is said and done - only session men. Capable of playing anything, but probably couldn't come up with a song of their own. The musical 9 to 5'er. Not that anybody could take the limelight away from the king.(The backing singers are too many in number and could almost take the gig over if Elvis passed out on stage.) The audience is older too - some middle-aged - with lots of collars and ties. In the main, the usual Vegas mug punter minus their cup of dimes. The place didn't really have the resident population it has now. The theatre is large and the seats well padded - but would you really want to eat a full meal before Elvis? I couldn't or wouldn't. He even play two shows a night - two shows! Amazing really.The tunes are well known and all inclusive - from his early hits (cut short) to the hit pop songs of the day. Even Bridge Over Troubled Water. They play - on film - better than you might think because Elvis made every tune his own: although he was a strange singer, ad-libbing and often stopping to kiss the girls and take gifts. A moment to remember all your life for those on the receiving end - tedious to us watching. Never mind the diseases you can pick up from sticking your tongue (and he is clearly is!) down the throat of a complete stranger. Even in 1970!You can't live your life like Elvis did and live long. Food, drugs and hangers-on were soon to get the better of the guy and he lay in his grave at the age of 42. A stupid age to leave, but the product of stupid living. "No one said 'no" to Elvis", said wife Priscilla once. I couldn't say "no" to walking down a time tunnel and seeing all this in the flesh myself - even if it did cost an arm and a leg.