Elvis Presley – The
Last 24 Hours (DVD/CD Documentary
set)
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: B- Documentary: B- CD: B-
With the recent sale of the majority of the Elvis Presley
Estate by Lisa Marie Presley to new business interests in which she will still
get a nice percentage, yet another wave of Presley-mania is seems to be on the
way. With the #1s hits set, a
hit remix single, and sequel album of songs that were #2, plus most of his
films now available on DVD, the next worlds to conquer are digital High
Definition video (one film has already been broadcast that way on NBC) and
Super Audio CD. In the meantime, more
DVD-video product arrives all the time and Elvis Presley – The Last 24 Hours
is the latest not sanctioned by his estate.
This is a sister volume to the also-British produced Jimi
Hendrix – The Last 24 Hours, but is not as wild in its theories about
Presley’s death. If anything, it
confirms that any Elvis sightings are less reliable than outer space
aliens. As had been done in the past,
friends, co-workers and even a relative of The King are interviewed for a
program that is about an hour-long and the best part of it is actually in how
it deals with Colonel Tom Parker. It
turns out he was adding new meaning to “viva Las Vegas” by having one of the
most outrageous gambling habits this critic has ever heard of. It is not filler, nor does it take away from
Elvis’ story. As a matter of fact,
besides bad medical care, parker being distracted by gambling seems to have
hurt Elvis as much as anything. That
angle makes the main documentary worth a look.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1/16 X 9 image has the
varied image quality of most documentaries, with some of the footage outright
muddy. The newer interviews were likely
shot on PAL professional analog equipment or possibly digital High
Definition. The stereo sound is here in
Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 differ in that the 5.1 sounds a tad above Pro Logic
and the 2.0 is weaker than usual. That
makes it a slightly better combination than the Hendrix volume. Extras include a text filmography, album
discography (both with print that is a bit smaller than it ought to be), a 1
hour, 11 minutes, 46 seconds long Spotlight On Elvis (that music sounds
bogus too) that offers a basic history and the rather morbid inclusion of his
last will & testament + his autopsy/death certificate. A handwriting analysis included and autopsy
report repeated in the skinny booklet inside the DVD case, along with a very
mixed and even off-kilter CD album of music (some originals, some covers) of
The Jordanaires with Johnny Earle. As
much as I want to recommend some of this, some of this is just over the line
and is not authorized by the Presley Estate, no matter who owns it. Though not as outrageous as the Hendrix DVD,
Elvis Presley – The Last 24 Hours should have kept it simple, as it has
some interesting things to offer. The
CD and death items are just too exploitive, playing into the wasteland of
cash-ins that have been going on since his death. If you have to have a DVD on Elvis, we recommend instead the Classic
Albums – Elvis Presley (RCA) documentary reviewed elsewhere on this site
at:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review.php?id=24&filter=4
- Nicholas Sheffo
