Elvis Blu-ray Movie

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 29, 2016

John Carpenter's "Elvis" (1979) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent distributors Shout Factory. The supplemental features on the disc include an audio commentary with Ronnie McDowell and author Edie Hand; collection of rare clips from the famous show American Brandstand; archival featurette; and photo gallery. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

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 Shout Factory.

The release appears to have been sourced from the same master that Fremantle Home Entertainment accessed when they prepared their release of Elvis in 2010. Unsurprisingly, the film has a somewhat dated appearance. Generally speaking, detail and clarity range from decent to good, but there are areas where it is quite easy to see that density and depth should be a lot more convincing (see screencaptures #12 and 14). Color saturation and balance are not optimal, but there are no serious anomalies to report. Grain is retained, but it is not as well exposed and resolved as it should be. In select areas some light noise also sneaks in. Finally, there are some tiny flecks and dirt spots here and there, but they never become distracting. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Elvis Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The music performances sound very good. The dialog is also very clear, clean, and easy to follow. I do believe, however, that if the audio is fully remastered fluidity will be improved. There are no audio dropouts, pops, cracks, or digital distortions to report.

Elvis Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Elvis-Bringing A Legend to Life - a short archival featurette with some raw with footage from the shooting of Elvis and on-locationl interviews with director John Carpenter and actor Kurt Russel. In English, not subtitled. (11 min, 1080p).

• Elvis-Bringing A Legend to Life - a few rare clips from the famous show American Brandstand hosted by Dick Clark. In English, not subtitled. (5 min, 1080p).

• Photo Gallery - a collection of original stills from the film. With music. (3 min, 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.

• Reversible Cover - see screenshots.

Elvis Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Shout Factory's recent release of John Carpenter's Elvis offers the same technical presentation and bonus features that Freemantle Home Entertainment's out of print release offered in 2010. The film definitely can look better in high-definition, but I think that the current presentation is decent enough to recommend a purchase if you can find the release on sale. RECOMMENDED.