Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Five years before his untimely death in 1977, Elvis was followed by a film crew during a 15-city tour of the United States. The footage was pieced together into a documentary by Robert Abel and Pierra Adidge and includes over 25 musical numbers with montage sequences from Presley's early career.

When I think of Elvis, two pictures appear in my mind. The first is the young good looking Elvis and the other is the bloated drug-obsessed mid-1970s Elvis and this documentary show him well along the way in his transformation. The filmmakers try to capture the magic from the 1970 documentary Elvis: The Way It Is but fail on almost every level. The live performances are boring and what's up with the Liberace inspired wardrobe?

Fortunately the three disc set includes two of Elvis' better pictures, Jailhouse Rock and Viva Las Vegas that have been previously released on Blu-ray. While no one will mistake The King's films as being Oscar-worthy, they are entertaining and include some good tunes.

Video Highlights

• VC-1/1080p encode on a BD-25 disc
• Rough cinematography
• Poor detail
• Ample grain
• Muted color palette

Audio Highlights

• DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack
• Decent dynamics considering the age
• Wide front soundstage

While the two accompanying films look pretty good, the documentary is very dated and appears low budget. Audio wise, the concert sequences sound OK for the vintage but certainly aren't demo-worthy.

Bonus Materials

• "Making-of" featurettes on Jailhouse Rock and Viva Las Vegas

If you're a dyed in the wool Elvis fan then maybe you'll enjoy the documentary more than I did. I found it quite boring and uninspired, much like the video encode. There's no doubt Elvis touched a lot of people with his music, but his earlier work was definitely his best.

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Release Date: August 3, 2010
Studio: Warner

Movie: 5/10
Picture: 5/10
Sound: 7/10

Review System

Source
Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray player

Display
JVC DLA-RS1 projector
Stewart FireHawk screen (76.5" wide, 16:9)

Electronics
Onkyo Pro PR-SC885 pre/pro
Anthem PVA-7 power amplifier
Panamax M5400PM power conditioner

Speakers
M&K S-150s (L, C, R)
M&K SS-150s (LS, RS, SBL, SBR)
SVS PC-Ultra subwoofer

Cables
Monoprice HDMI cables (source to pre/pro)
Best Deal analog-audio cables
PureLink HDC Fiber Optic HDMI Cable System (15 meters) from pre/pro to projector

Acoustical treatments from GIK Acoustics