I want this review to combine both the efforts of the famous 1970 film and the new 2000/01 release with a new perspective.
After viewing the Special Edition of this classic Rockumentary for the first time, I must say that the original version doesn't do Elvis the justice that this one seems to do in all the right places. A classic quote from the first 'T.T.W.I.I.' is "You could just feel the love in the room..." states a female fan in one of those many interrupted scenes to accommodate those kind of quotes. Well, this particular saying was true at the end of the screening I attended as people/fans in the cinema started to applaude what they had just witnessed-just like the folk in Vegas at that time I suppose. But, another dimension of this was the kind of love that generated from Elvis and his Showroom Internationale audience that was so much in evidence in this new version of the film.
You certainly get a new outlook on Elvis' very own persona aswell as his undying love of working his music-making technique to produce a show that was not only to be his, then, new Vegas repertoire, but was to be taken out on the road for the first time in thirteen years. You no doubt thought Elvis was a likeable person in the original documentary, but you really can get behind his skin with this second attempt and realise that he was more than a likeable person. It's great to feel that chemistry between Elvis and the band in the recording studios that no doubt brought out the best in all of them which was wonderfully perceived on film. Some fine examples here include joking with Charlie Hodge during the fascinating representation of 'Twenty Days & Twenty Nights', James Burton and Glen Hardin already at work as Elvis enters the Hollywood Soundstage that morning, and Elvis' frustration at creating his version of 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' in the hotel suite.
In the first edition of 'T.T.W.I.I.' we see an Elvis that is not content with singing his own hits that made him what he was, but rather expanding on those golden oldies to make him a then-modern day stage performer who wasn't afraid to try out variations of other artiste's repertoires e.g. 'I Just Can't Help Believin'', 'Sweet Caroline', 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'' and the aforementioned 'Bridge'.
In the new edition of 'T.T.W.I.I.' I feel we are treated to more of the Elvis of yesteryear, most certainly on stage at the International, where the rock rythmns are belted out in abundance-'That's All Right Mama', 'I Got A Woman', 'Blue Suede Shoes' et al-and it's wonderful to see and hear that era being represented in this way. The ultimate performance of 'Suspicious Minds' appears to be a little different than in the original documentary, but it's still as mindblowing!(The original LIVE version is currently at No.15 in the UK Music Charts).
'Elvis-That's The Way It Is' Special Edition is certainly a breath of fresh air to view as it is somewhat of a departure from the classic Denis Sanders' film of that wonderful Elvis year of 1970-just check out those different camera angles!
Another bonus is the fact that we don't have to endure any of those 'Famous for Fifteen minutes' fan interviews that were very much a part of the first movie. But as one fan did state amongst all the footage in the original-"You could just feel the love in the room..."
After viewing the Special Edition of this classic Rockumentary for the first time, I must say that the original version doesn't do Elvis the justice that this one seems to do in all the right places. A classic quote from the first 'T.T.W.I.I.' is "You could just feel the love in the room..." states a female fan in one of those many interrupted scenes to accommodate those kind of quotes. Well, this particular saying was true at the end of the screening I attended as people/fans in the cinema started to applaude what they had just witnessed-just like the folk in Vegas at that time I suppose. But, another dimension of this was the kind of love that generated from Elvis and his Showroom Internationale audience that was so much in evidence in this new version of the film.
You certainly get a new outlook on Elvis' very own persona aswell as his undying love of working his music-making technique to produce a show that was not only to be his, then, new Vegas repertoire, but was to be taken out on the road for the first time in thirteen years. You no doubt thought Elvis was a likeable person in the original documentary, but you really can get behind his skin with this second attempt and realise that he was more than a likeable person. It's great to feel that chemistry between Elvis and the band in the recording studios that no doubt brought out the best in all of them which was wonderfully perceived on film. Some fine examples here include joking with Charlie Hodge during the fascinating representation of 'Twenty Days & Twenty Nights', James Burton and Glen Hardin already at work as Elvis enters the Hollywood Soundstage that morning, and Elvis' frustration at creating his version of 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' in the hotel suite.
In the first edition of 'T.T.W.I.I.' we see an Elvis that is not content with singing his own hits that made him what he was, but rather expanding on those golden oldies to make him a then-modern day stage performer who wasn't afraid to try out variations of other artiste's repertoires e.g. 'I Just Can't Help Believin'', 'Sweet Caroline', 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'' and the aforementioned 'Bridge'.
In the new edition of 'T.T.W.I.I.' I feel we are treated to more of the Elvis of yesteryear, most certainly on stage at the International, where the rock rythmns are belted out in abundance-'That's All Right Mama', 'I Got A Woman', 'Blue Suede Shoes' et al-and it's wonderful to see and hear that era being represented in this way. The ultimate performance of 'Suspicious Minds' appears to be a little different than in the original documentary, but it's still as mindblowing!(The original LIVE version is currently at No.15 in the UK Music Charts).
'Elvis-That's The Way It Is' Special Edition is certainly a breath of fresh air to view as it is somewhat of a departure from the classic Denis Sanders' film of that wonderful Elvis year of 1970-just check out those different camera angles!
Another bonus is the fact that we don't have to endure any of those 'Famous for Fifteen minutes' fan interviews that were very much a part of the first movie. But as one fan did state amongst all the footage in the original-"You could just feel the love in the room..."