Customer Reviews

Elvis - His Best Friend Remembers [VHS]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I really enjoyed this DVD and thought it was a wonderful look into the King's private life. Joe allows us to see hundreds of of rare and never before seen photos, which I thought were well worth the price of the DVD. There are also newsreels of Elvis and Joe does a wonderful job of telling us his recollections of his time with the King.

I have seen most of Elvis's movies and biographical movies such as "This is Elvis," "Elvis, That's The Way it Is" and "Elvis On Tour," which I love and highly recommend. This, however, for the first time, allowed me to find out intimate, private details that I never would have known about otherwise.

Joe tells so many interesting tidbits and answers some questions I've always wondered about all these years. I also appreciate the fact that Joe was Elvis's friend from the time they met in the Army until Elvis's death. He was loyal and never turned his back on Elvis. You can tell Joe really loved Elvis and Elvis's family and we should feel honored that he allowed us to get a glimpse into their most private lives. This is a very sentimental and at times funny glimpse into Elvis's private life, while always staying tasteful as Joe never says anything negative about Elvis's family and friends. I have a lot of respect for him after watching this film. Elvis was lucky to have such a trustworthy and loyal friend!

There is also a touching tribute song to Elvis towards the end that I thought was beautiful and Joe's touching recollection of Elvis's death really broke my heart. You won't be disappointed by this DVD if you love Elvis they way I do!!!!

This is a very positive, upbeat tribute to Elvis by his top man and best friend, Joe Esposito. He avoids the negative topics that has already been covered endlessly by the media, and focuses on more folksy and humorous stories about the King. At times I wish he could have talked more in depth about some of the topics, instead of including chapters about the impersonators, the biggest fan, the nuttiest fan. I could have done without that information. I'm sure Joe has a lot more interesting Elvis anecdotes to share, and to see such rubbish included brings this DVD down a couple of stars in my book.
Still, it is refreshing to view a kinder portrait of Elvis by someone close to him instead of the vitriol dished out by West, & Co in their book written by Steve Dunleavy. Elvis deserves better, and so do his fans, so if you're looking for the more sensationlistic Elvis information, you won't find it in this DVD.

It is interesting to note that a few years back, Joe Esposito was embroiled in a battle with EP Enterprises (read: Priscilla), who tried to force him to surrender his private collection of movies and photos of Elvis he'd taken over the years. Perhaps this DVD is the result of a compromise that was reached.

This was the first video where I've seen alot of Elvis and Priscilla together. I think they really must have a had a very special relationship. I really enjoyed it. The video seems to really show what a kind, generous and real person Elvis was. I think it also showed what an outgoing person Elvis was and showed some of the difficulties he faced in his everyday life. Elvis was really a people person, seems like he was always surrounded by alot of people. I think Joe Esposito has always tried to show the positive side of Elvis, I think he was a true friend. But, also all the other guys in Elvis' life really cared for him too, I just think that everyone had a different experience with Elvis. I, for one, miss Elvis.

First of all, when you buy a DVD that is not "official" - and that includes most of the documentaries made these days - you won't get to listen to any Elvis-music at all. And in this case, you hardly even see Elvis perform.

What you get is 1 hour of picture after picture, while Joe Esposito tells you his stories. The stories are a little shallow, they give you the overview and nothing more.

There's also a few glimpse of the press-conference at Graceland in 1960 with sound (about a minute), you see Frank Sinatra and Elvis TALK on the Welcome Home-show from Miami (20 seconds), that's about all you hear from Elvis. You also see a few glimpse from a 1950's newsreel, the press-conference after the wedding etc. No sound. Oh yeah, and there's about a minute from the famous b/w-footage done at Hayride in '57 where you see Elvis rockin' and rolling. Great footage, but it has been shown on many documentaries.

The bonus-material is mainly (junk). 6 chapters, and one is about the world's craziest Elvis-fan. Another chapter is about Elvis-impersonators, but you don't see them perform! There's also one that shows two news-reports from August 1977. Here they added about 30 seconds with J.D. Sumner from an interview done right after Elvis died, and all he says is "except for Jesus Christ, there was no bigger man"..

Basically this DVD is for the die-hard collector. It's nice to hear a story or two about Elvis, but an hour of stories mainly accompanied by pictures just gets boring.

This is a 2 hour 10 minute documentary that seems to be a cross between any ET television segment and a typical timeshare travelog video. The home videos, including extented interview segments not usually seen in the usual Elvis rehash documentaries, are worthwhile just to hear Elvis' thoughts in his own words. I had hoped this documentary would be enlightening to show a more balanced (and honest) view of Elvis' duality, since Elvis is usually portrayed as somewhere between an "angel with a broken wing" to a lost sinner, but this documentary tends to portray Elvis as a downright neutered cream-puff hearts-and-flowers cherub without a shred of the raw masculine romantic seducer who captured the hearts of millions during his lifetime and after. I had hoped that Diamond Joe would set the record straight, considering he really was Elvis' right-hand man for 20 years, but this movie makes it clear his strings were connected to Elvis Presley Enterprises. The Machine is still running, and Elvis is still lost behind the smoke-screen of media illusion. Elvis never stopped being a man, but his friends seem to have turned him into a shrine, just a picture on the wall, angelic voices in the background, a halo of remembrance -- and the essence of Elvis as dead as vinyl. If you're looking for any true character insight about Elvis, stay away from this documentary. Hero worship and exploitation are a bad combination, and this movie shows the real heartbreak of knowing a man such as Elvis for 20 years, yet apparently having no clue who that man really was. If you want to know the true Elvis, listen to his music, watch the movies and concerts you like, and remember that Elvis never lied about himself. Elvis laid down, but at least he didn't sell out. Loyalty was one of the few qualities Elvis really expected from people close to him. The test of that loyalty might be measured by who kept their silence. After seeing this documentary, I'm thankful to all the people close to Elvis who have kept their mouths shut. Let the music speak for itself -- that was how Elvis spoke to the world. There's no Elvis music in this video, which is probably just as well. The music would have been sanitized, too.

Thank you Mr. Esposito for making this DVD. I would recommend this DVD to any Elvis fan. Mr. Esposito shows the very human side to a very large KING. From Elvis's early days to the unexpected end of his short life. This DVD had many pictures which I had never seen. It is very interesting to see that Elvis really was just like everyone else.
Mr. Esposito really cared about Elvis and was a real friend to him.
This was well done, I believe Elvis would have liked it, so will you.

Forget all the other documentaries about Elvis - Joe Esposito was there for it all! He tells the truth, shows great photos and video - and is honest about life (19 years) with Elvis. This is a gem!

If Joe was really Elvis' best friend, he would have done a much better job with this DVD.

At the beginning of each chapter, Esposito sits on a couch in front of a fireplace to give his two cents about the following set of photos. His stories are shallow and uninsightful into the life of the King. How many times does he have to say how patriotic and good looking Elvis was? Duh! It would have been much better if he did a scripted voiceover instead and you didn't see him at all.

Cheesy muzak plays in the background. I know this video is unofficial, but come on, how about at least some exciting generic rock'n'roll tunes instead? He and the sappy muzak became more annoying after each chapter.

There was also no rhyme or reason to the organization of the chapters. At one moment he's talking about his service days with Elvis, then it jumps to Vegas, then to his 68 Comeback special and then to his movies.

This DVD is worthwhile to the die-hard collector for some of the photos and video clips, but I would have rather seen them in any other Elvis documentary than having to wade through this one.

Even though some of the DVD was a bit unorginazed. I thought that this was a great DVD anyway. He talks about being in Germany up to the time of Elvis' death. This really shows us what it was like to know the king. The chapters that focus on his death are the most haunting of all...
Seeing all the footage of the funeral was humbling... people really love this guy... As to the guy who called the extra chapters, junk... I think that you need to go back and look at it again. I think that it was nice to see people signing the Wall at Graceland... The music was very fitting...
Brovo Joe! I know how hard that must have been to talk about his death... It is good to see him keeping the memory alive and talking about the human side of The King.... We love you Elvis....

If Joe E thinks he was Elvis' best friend, then Elvis had no decent friends at all. Very likely, Elvis was his best friend, and see what that got him!

Gee, everyone wants his best friend to tell such warped private details of said best friend's life after he dies.... Doesn't he?!?!?!?

Elvis was gifted, brilliant, a warm and loving human being. But you won't know that from Joe's book or many of the other Memphis Mafia books.

But it does serve to make Joe look good - which seems to be a trait of those called the Memphis Mafia - true leeches, now moving into their 70's, but still vying for top dog position - and nearly all of them are STILL sucking on the memory of Elvis for every last dime they can pull from his good deeds turned ugly by them.

And, in every book Joe has written, his story changes. What is truth? Where's the mention you sued Elvis after coercing him in to the racquetball deal? How about that you were double dipping and being paid as a spy for the Colonel to control and eventually ruin Elvis, but never told him or made it right?

Truth? Joe never knew it. Friendship? Joe knows even less about this subject than he knows about truth....Sorry, Joe, with friends like you.... who needs enemies?