Customer Reviews

Almost Elvis - Elvis Impersonators and Their Quest for the Crown [VHS]

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is one fantastic DVD ,loaded to the max with high energy fun and very enjoy able to watch.My wife and I really had a nice evening watching this sweet gem of a movie.
The main reason I gave this movie a 4 star rating is only because the really Elvis deserves 5 stars.SEveral of the Elvis impersonators where very good.And a few of the others were not....would I dare say as good.....but it was very interesting and fun to see how far someone would go to become Elvis.
And for my money the man who won was the best.
I would like to say though that there is a Gospel singer and guitar player named Greg Williams in Fresno Calif ,at The Open Door Ministries ,who has never competed....but has far more talent than these gentlemen.So I guess you'll never really hear the best.....but the film was fun

Like TRIBUTARY and SIMULATION, John Paget's ALMOST ELVIS suffers from wanting to include a cavalcade of Elvises rather than focusing on why these folks pay tribute to The King or how it feels to make a living off the memory of Elvis. More important, Paget ignores the folks who pay to see Elvis impersonators and barely touches on the cultural phenomenon of Elvis and the legions of people who choose to emulate him.

ALMOST ELVIS starts off strong, following the path to the 1999 Images of Elvis competition in Memphis, Tennessee. The main character of the documentary is Irv Cass of Niles, Michigan. Cass does one hell of a tribute to The King; his sideburns real, his voice strong, and his jumpsuit snug. While the cynosure of the film is the night of a hundred Elvises (which ends up looking rather shabby), ALMOST ELVIS indulges in a few vignettes, which feature other Elvis impersonators or trappings of the trade.

Too late in the game, the audience meets Robert Washington, a battleship painter who seems destined to never take the grand prize at the impending contest due to the color of his skin. The introduction of Washington and his racial "dilemma" opens a can of worms that no one in ALMOST ELVIS, including the filmmaker, seems comfortable in exploring. Even in this potentially objective arena, Washington gets short shrift.

If Washington is a serious Elvis impersonator being treated as something like a joke, another documentary takes a "joke" and shows the serious side of it, EL VEZ: EL REI DE ROCK `N' ROLL. This work examines El Vez, a "Latino novelty act." Director Marjorie Chodorov manages to go behind the perfectly coiffed façade of El Vez to present Robert Lopez, the brown bombshell's alter ego.

It was alright. but had i've seen it first i wouldn't have bought it. it's just not the kind of video you.d put on your favorites list to watch again. If your an Elvis impersonator you might like to see your competition, or just learn some new moves from other impersonators. if not "Save your money!"

This is an interesting documentary. We follow three (we see and hear from many more) impersonators trying to get their chance to go to Memphis and become the 1999 Images of Elvis winner. It's strange to see the lengths some of these guys will go to trying to look and sing like E. We get to see impersonators from all over the world, Japan, Belgium; there are black Elvis', women Elvis', and young and old kings. In the deleted scene section we even meet the political correct Elvis. I was very disappointed in the presentation of the disc. It should have been presented in a wide screen format. Some of the information about the people like their names, places, or just general information about an event you can either barely read or you can't even make it out. It was like we were zoomed in to far on the picture. Anyway if you love Elvis Aron Presley or you just want a good chuckle check it out. Then rent Elvis: That's the way it is and check out the real thing.

i used to follow the elvis men around and still do as well and i was at a party watching this so called elvis movie and i just happen to notace the person running this these are false elvises the one is so stuck up on his self its pathedic i allso know they block out people that want to join there elvis group dont know what kind of elvises this is but hey if a crappy film and boring and the funny part about it they dont sound or look nothin like our beloved king