Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Elvis Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 7, 2010

John Carpenter's "Elvis" (1979) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Freemantle Home Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include an audio commentary with Ronnie McDowell and author Edie Hand; "Elvis Day" (1964), a collection of rare clips from the famous show American Brandstand; "Bringing A Legend to Life" (1979), a short featurette with behind the scenes footage from the shooting of the film; and photo gallery. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

One final look

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that without Kurt Russell John Carpenter's Elvis would have been a very different film. There are scenes in it where Russell is Elvis Presley, talking, walking and certainly looking like the King of Rock 'n' Roll.

Written and produced by Anthony Lawrence, who wrote several films for Elvis during the 60s (Roustabout; Paradise Hawaiian Style; Easy Come, Easy Go), Carpenter's film offers a loose summation of Elvis' life and career, focusing on his early years and rise to success, and avoiding many of the demons he struggled with. In fact, the film ends right before Elvis’ life begins to spiral out of control.

Elvis' relationships with his mother Gladys (Shelley Winters) and father Vernon (Bing Russell), Sam Phillips (Charles Cyphers) at Sun Studios, Colonel Tom Parker (Pat Hingle), and of course Priscilla (Season Hubley), however, are all terrifically recreated. Each offers a glimpse at the unusual life Elvis chose to live, populated with often strange characters who ultimately transformed him into what he became - the symbol of an era.

The film has a well defined episodic structure, with key events from Elvis' life receiving the needed attention. Quite a few, however, are not lined up in chronological order, thus giving Elvis a more melodramatic feel than autobiographical one.

The film begins with Elvis's return to Las Vegas, hoping to revitalize his career, and ends with it. Elvis is alone in a huge hotel room, wearing thick black glasses. He does not look nervous but certainly does not look comfortable either. He is just lonely, and perhaps beginning to grasp that he is no longer the man he used to be.

Such quiet and unglamorous scenes revealing some of the emotions and fears Elvis struggled with are rare in Carpenter’s film. Most of the time the King of Rock 'n' Roll is a happy, enthusiastic, full of energy man who wants nothing more than to sing in front of his fans. Occasionally, Carpenter shows Elvis thinking about his dead twin brother - according to numerous sources, throughout his life Elvis was often haunted by his twin brother’s death - but even then Elvis looks untroubled and calm.

Even though Carpenter's film does not offer a balanced look at Elvis' life and career, it still gets a lot of things right. The initial uncertainty many felt about Elvis and his style and music, for instance, is terrifically captured. Because Elvis was so different from everything else that was around at the time, many people who saw and heard him singing in the beginning of his career were literally caught off guard, unsure how to react - and the transition from shock to awe they underwent is indeed terrifically recreated in the film.

Elvis was broadcast on ABC in 1979, effectively marking the beginning of a fascinating relationship. In the following years, Carpenter and Russell teamed up on such legendary films as Escape from New York, The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China and Escape from L.A.

Note: In 1979, Elvis was nominated for three Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Special (Kurt Russell) and Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or a Special (Donald M. Morgan).

Elvis Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, John Carpenter's Elvis arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Freemantle Home Entertainment.

This high-definition transfer has been struck from a dated source - fine object detail is mostly pleasing but inconsistent and contrast levels ARE occasionally problematic. There are sporadic fluctuations with the color scheme as well. For example, often times reds tend to be overwhelming while greens and blues are occasionally pale; blacks, however, are rich and mostly well saturated. Some random noise corrections have been applied, mostly during the indoor scenes. Still, the fine film grain has not been destroyed, though it is never as prominent as it could have been, and some noise is often times mixed with it. There are no serious stability issues to report in this review. I did, however, notice a good number of tiny flecks popping up throughout the entire film. To sum it all up, this is a moderately decent presentation of a very good film, which I have every reason to believe will be the best one in circulation for a long time. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Elvis Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: English LPCM 2.0. For the record, Freemantle Home Entertainment have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.

The English LPCM 2.0 track has a surprisingly strong dynamic amplitude. Most if not all of the songs performed throughout the film sound crisp and clear. The guitar solos, in particular, are shockingly good. The dialog is clean, stable and very easy to follow. I also did not detect any annoying pops, cracks, or background hiss. Last but not least, there are no problematic dropouts to report in this review.

Elvis Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: All of the supplemental features on this Blu-ray disc are encoded in either 480/60i or 1080p. Therefore, they are perfectly playable on Region-A PS3s and SAs and viewable on North American TVs.

Bringing A Legend to Life (1979) - a short featurette with behind the scenes footage from the shooting of Elvis and archival interviews with director John Carpenter and actor Kurt Russel. In English, not subtitled. (11 min, 480/60i).

"Elvis Day" (1964) - a few rare clips from the famous show American Brandstand. In English, not subtitled. (5 min, 480/60i).

Photo gallery - a collection of stills from the film. (1080p).

Commentary - an audio commentary with Ronnie McDowell, who was 'the voice' of Elvis Presley in the film, and author Edie Hand. This is a relaxed, moderately entertaining audio commentary with plenty of factual information and quite a few good jokes. The bulk of the information pertains to the production history of the film.

Elvis Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kurt Russell truly is Elvis in this very early John Carpenter film. There are three, perhaps four, scenes in it where his moves on the stage are quite remarkable. True, the film does not offer the complete look at Elvis' life and career one would rightfully expect, but it is nevertheless very well made and genuinely entertaining. Despite a few minor flaws, the Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of British distributors Freemantle Home Entertainment, looks and sounds good. It is also Region-Free. RECOMMENDED.