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

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Never understood his music, hated his movies and never even liked the mocking of him by the media. I went my whole life thinking this TILL one night (2003) this came on cable and I happened to watch it...Thank god I did, now I can't get enough!! I finally got it, he was perhaps the greatest entertainer of all time. (Non- band) They say before him only Jolson evoked that kind of energy during a live show. This film captures him at his best, the other live shows, (black leather, Hawaii, 50 shows 50 days) do not and can make a person cry when seeing what he did to himself and how tragic it all was. The way he always had time to shake hands and acknowledge other people is poignant, the film captures this and his kid-like affection to his buddies, and band-mates and back-up singers. I can watch it over and over and only love it more and more.

I'm commenting from the two DVD set one containing the original 1970 release version, and other the 2001 remastered version. The two movies are actually different enough to be considered two separate movies with mostly different songs, so if you play both back to back, it's like being entertained by a 3 hour long Elvis live in Las Vegas movie. By the time I was growing up, there was a whole generation who've never seen Elvis doing his music, and only known him from movies made in the '60s. So we had no clue why he was so famous. But when I saw the original release of this movie in theaters, for the first time I understood why he was so famous. I think I saw then for the first time what the word "entertainer" meant. He was the very embodiment of that word. This movie captures Elvis at his prime. Possibly the greatest entertainer in history is captured live, doing "his" thing. You would not be disappointed seeing this movie, with some of the best musicians in business playing along his side. Elvis was probably the first to pioneer having white male gospel singers (The Imperials), and black female blues singers (The Sweet Inspirations) to be his backing vocals. The combination of their harmony is spot on for his music. You'll also see the famous TCB band in action with James Burton on lead guitar putting out rainbow of tonal colors from his guitar. To me the 1970 version told a more complete story of Elvis and the culture surrounding him, and had better selection of songs, but that's just my opinion. Having both versions you can choose, and pick your favorite version. The remastered version have better color and sound. Take a tour back to 1970 with this movie, and see the KING in all his splendor. Guaranteed to be one of the best entertainment you've had in your life.

Since this captures Elvis at the beginning of his white jump-suited Vegas years, it's valuable. The song performances range from great to rushed, depending on what kind of effort Elvis wants to put into a particular song. As a total performance, it is good - but, it doesn't tell the whole musical story that is Elvis Presley. As a documentary, it's no great shakes.Since we knew Elvis was an extraordinary vocalist, what else doe the film show? I was surprised by the backstage "banter" sessions - it looked, to me, like some of Elvis' friends and personnel were confused about their own relationships with "The King". They seemed, at times, more like idol-worshiping fans than real friends - laughing at bad jokes and demonstrating random subservience. Elvis' fame must have been difficult all those concerned. ***** Elvis - That's the Way It Is (11/11/70) Denis Sanders ~ Elvis Presley, James Burton, Red West

Pre-release information on the content of this two disc set was difficult to obtain, but there was a boast of over forty minutes of never-seen footage. This is also stated on the cover of the set. In actual fact it is just over thirty five minutes worth of material and most of it has been seen before.Disc 1 is the revised 2001 version of the film, exactly as previously released, with the 'Patch It Up' restoration feature. Disc 2 is a DVD release of the 1970 theatrical original plus the extras. The original movie has been shown on TV many times in various edits. This is the most complete version I have seen, but that just means it has all of the non-Elvis sequences. It is in the original mono and very poor mono at that. The sound has been much better on broadcast versions, and you may find you have to crank the volume up much higher than your normal setting to watch this disc.I was very disappointed with the extras which were the main reason for purchase. When the 2001 version premiered on TCM in the US they also ran a bonus sequence showing the four main songs that had featured in the original but had been dropped from the restored version – I've Lost You, Sweet Caroline, I Just Can't Help Believing, and Bridge Over Troubled Water. (They didn't show the concert opener That's All Right which was replaced with 'I Got A Woman in the restoration.) On this set we get the first three but not Bridge Over Troubled Water. However it seems a bit dumb to have these on Disc 2 as they are the same versions as shown in the main movie on the disc only in much lower quality, which looks like a VHS to DVD transfer.The complete list of extras is – rehearsals of You Don't Have To Say You Love Me, Eating Sequence (lunch break), Cattle Call/Baby Lets Play House/Don't, Farther Along, Oh Happy Day, and full stage show versions of I Just Can't Help Believing, Walk A Mile In My Shoes, I've Lost You, Sweet Caroline, Little Sister (Elvis seated with his Gretsch guitar), Stranger In The Crowd (suit with red leather trim and collar), and the After Show Party. The last named is what plays as the credits roll on the restored version of the movie, as I said three of the songs were shown on TCM and came straight from the movie, and a couple of the other items 'Little Sister and Oh Happy Day, have been doing the rounds for some time on bootlegs and web pages, so there it falls far short of the forty minutes of 'new material.Nice to have, but a chance missed to gather all of the available material in one place, why couldn't the songs that been on tape releases e.g. Make The World Go Away, have been included?