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50 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Just the basics of the 1968 Special, December 26, 2006
This review is from: Elvis: '68 Comeback (DVD)
This DVD has just the basics of Elvis' excellent 1968 special. If you want an in-depth presentation, you should get the 2 DVD Deluxe edition. This DVD includes nearly all of the footage of the original show. Elvis' performances are outstanding, especially the "informal" jam session, where Elvis actually plays his guitar instead of just using it as a prop! Elvis' informal jam session was an early precursor of the MTV Unplugged series that would follow more than 20 years later. The bonus material includes some outtakes and photos, but really does not add much to the set. This DVD should be enough for the average fan and it is available at a reasonable price. Hardcore fans will want the deluxe edition.
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41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Revisiting Elvis, August 28, 2007
This review is from: Elvis: '68 Comeback (DVD)
The original Elvis mania was a little before my time - I rarely can say that about anything anymore, but I can say it about this. I was too busy being a kid during his first wave in the 50s to be very aware of popular music. I didn't really start listening until the British invasion of the 60s, which Elvis, following advice, wisely sat out. He kept busy in Hollywood instead. Until I was 15, I knew him mostly from his string of B movies. A few early ones (including Jailhouse Rock and King Creole), rose to the level of camp classics. The ones from the 60s struck me then as watchable but forgettable.
The time came when Elvis Presley wanted to return to live musical performances. In 1968, I watched the TV special "Elvis" and was blown away. I didn't see this show again until earlier this week, nearly 40 years later. My response was the same. This is classic Elvis at the top of his form before he became a caricature of himself. Others have commented with some justice that, in the 70s, the first Elvis impersonator was Elvis, but no such gibe applies here.
The show featured a mix of performances. Elaborately choreographed stage numbers presaged his later Las Vegas shows; they also presaged, to some degree, the acts of many present day pop stars, which seem to be as much about staging as about music, and which feature "electronic enhancement" (often little different from lip synching) of the voices. The bulk of the show, however, and by far the most effective part of it, is Elvis' straight-up un-enhanced music, played and sung almost casually and with humor in the midst of a fairly small audience.
I became a fan in 1968. What is on this DVD is the reason.
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34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magnificent, April 25, 2007
This review is from: Elvis: '68 Comeback (DVD)
After years and years of making movies and largely neglecting his musical career, Elvis did this TV comeback special in 1968. The success of this show rejuvinated Elvis, and within a year he had recorded "The Memphis Album" (also recommended) which included "In The Ghetto" and "Suspicious Minds".
The TV special reunited him with his original 50's band for the intimate small stage set. He is seated and singing some of those classic Sun records "Thats Alright Mama" being perhaps the best known. Then, dressed in black leather he is backed (out of sight) by a bigger band and here Elvis is in rocking form, tearing up the stage with fabulous performances of Jailhouse Rock, Heartbreak Hotel and many others. During the remainder of the show a full band and Orchestra back him, together with additional dancers and large sets. The show ends with a breathtaking version of "If I Can Dream", which remains my favourite Elvis performance of all time.
This 'special edition' has a few humourous outtakes and some stills, but really its the main film your buying it for. If you want a proper special edition buy the 3 disc edition. If you've never really understood what made Elvis so great, buy this DVD and you will.
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