Elvis: The Mini-Series
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Movie Reviews of Elvis: The Mini-Series
Movie Review: Where's Priscilla and Ann?
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a fine mini series about the King. The cast members were very good except for Priscilla and Ann-Margret. I didn't think they resembled the true characters in ANY way! Neither were pretty nor could they act. Don't let that stop you - it's an engrossing movie.Movie Review: Elvis: The Miniseries
Summary: 4 Stars
I like this DVD a lot. Johnathan Rhys Meyers plays Elvis wonderfully. He may not look exactly like him but he did a great job. I would recommend this to anyone who has an interest in Elvis.Movie Review: elvis mini series
Summary: 4 Stars
very accurate account of the life of elvis.takes a while to get used to jonathan as elvis but once you get into the movie its great.his acting was great he took over the series.Movie Review: Very good Elvis biography
Summary: 4 Stars
Probably the best show/movie/mini-series I've seen on Elvis. I love Jonathan Rhys Myers portrayal of Elvis, very real.Movie Review: Fifties Elvis Done Well, Sixties Elvis Oversimplified
Summary: 3 Stars
I wanted so much to love this miniseries about Elvis, since most other films of his life have been disappointing. And I expected to love this version, since I had heard good things about it, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers won the Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of The King. Indeed, the first half goes very well. Meyers does an excellent job of portraying 1950s Elvis, both in terms of capturing his personality as well as in re-creating his stage performances. There is a palpable sense of excitement in Elvis's rise to fame on the cutting edge of rock-and-roll, and a good balance of narrative and music.
But for me the second half of the film breaks down. Instead of trying to accurately describe Elvis's life as it really was in the 1960s, the producers adopted the theme that his life was falling apart in the face of doing increasingly bad movies, then they twisted everything to fit into that theme. For instance, Elvis's decision to record the romantic ballad "It's Now or Never" when he returned from the Army is suggested to be part of the decline, but in my opinion Elvis was a better singer for being able to sing many styles so well, and the terrific Elvis Is Back! album that is shown on screen during the discussion of "It's Now Or Never" is in fact an eclectic mix of styles. Also, Elvis's heavy drug use that is shown is actually much more a description of Elvis's life in the 1970s. And the Sixties Elvis is depicted as being constantly irritable, which I have never read was really the case. I may be mistaken, but I believe that several of the scenes and conversations in this film did not actually happen, but were fabricated to make some point. And Meyers does not do nearly as good a job in portraying the Sixties Elvis. As, the re-created scenes from the 1968 TV "Comeback" special are disappointing compared to the Fifties re-creations. There also is much less music in the second half, and no scenes from the movies are shown. In reality, Elvis's "comeback" actually began with his excellent album of religious songs, How Great Thou Art, and other good studio recordings he did in 1966-68 (check the CD Tomorrow Is a Long Time), but this fact is ignored. I can appreciate that the producers were trying to make a point in a very limited amount of time, but that's no excuse to totally oversimplify reality to fit into one theme. However, I do think the second half of this film is very accurate in describing the decline of Elvis's movie career in the Sixties as being mostly the fault of Elvis's manager, Tom Parker, who cared much more about money than about quality.
However, even considering these failings, ELVIS: THE MINISERIES overall is fairly good. As I said, the first half is terrific. I applaude the decision to use Elvis's actual song recordings, rather than the usual practice of hiring an imitator. And overall the performances are good, especially Randy Quaid as the oily and self-serving Tom Parker. This film is OK for Elvis fans to see, but I would not recommend it to those who want to learn about Elvis. Instead, read the excellent biographies Me and a Guy Named Elvis: My Lifelong Friendship with Elvis Presley by Jerry Schilling or the two volume bio Last Train to Memphis Careless Love by Peter Guralnick. Of course, those books take a lot longer to read than the 3 hours it takes to watch this miniseries!