Elvis: That's The Way It Is SE

[mn-designs]

Region: 1, 2
Time: 95 minutes
Colour: colour
Screenformat: Letterbox
Sound: Dolby Surround 5.1
Subtitles: English and French


Chapters:
1. Mystery train/Tiger man (credits) 2. In the studio 3. Rehearsals (thats all right) 4. Little sister/Get back 5. Horseplay (words, my baby left me, crying time, love me) 6. Twenty days and twenty nights 7. Las Vegas: Bridge over troubled water 8. Cattle call, Chime bells, Santa claus is back in town 9. Words, you can say that 10. Mary in the morning 11. Countdown to showtime 12. That's all right 13. I got a woman 14. Hound dog 15. Heartbreak hotel 16. Love me tender 17. I can't stop loving you 18. Just pretend 19. The wonder of you 20. In the ghetto 21. Patch it up 22. You've lost that lovin' feeling 23. Polk salad annie 24. One night 25. Don't be cruel 26. Blue suede shoes 27. All shook up 28. You don't have to say you love me 29. Suspicious minds 30. Can't help falling in love 31. End credits.

Additional info:
Bonus Material: the behind-the-scenes documentary "Patch It Up" / Theatrical Trailer / Elvis Presley Career Highlights / Director/Restorer Filmographies


Review:

The movie itself is indeed much, much better than the original. Focused completely on the artist Elvis Presley, instead of the icon, one gets a very good impression on the artistic capabilities of the greatest entertainer ever.

Design

Let?s start with the most negative. It took way too long before we got it. The DVD was scheduled for January 2001, but was postponed because of copyright problems. ?Are You Lonesome?, which was used during the closing credits, had to be removed. The new date was set for early March, and some did receive their version by then. Unfortunately there was a major mistake in the cover-art discovered and Turner decided to withdraw it to replace the cover. Finally, April 2001 the DVD was ready, after they repaired the track list (by removing the additional features that were supposed to be in first), but left another irritating mistake. A couple of the small pictures used on the package aren?t from ?That?s The Way It Is? but for instance from "On Tour". Obviously they didn?t pay much attention to that design.

Content

It is hardly possible to point out highlights on this product, or it must be technical ones like the mix of ?Twenty Days and Twenty Nights?. With a gun in the back we would say that ?I Can?t Stop Loving You?, ?One Night? and the new edit of ?Suspicious Minds? are highlights, but merely that is because they are ?new?. Also the showing of the human side of Elvis, scratching his ***, picking his nose or blowing a mike is fun to see, especially in this marvelous quality. Speaking of quality, both the image and sound quality are fantastic.

It?s a pity that the extra footage wasn?t included, like the removed songs from the original (?I?ve Lost You?, ?Bridge Over Troubled Water? and ?I Just Can?t Help Believin?? are really missed) and the "Patch It Up" look behind the scenes doesn't make up for the tracks we miss. But we are already looking forward to ?That?s The Way It Is SE ? The Sequel?. Hopefully it will turn out to be more than daydreaming.

What's Missing From The TTWII DVD

Some early copies of the DVD where sent out with the bonus material still listed before Warner realized the mistake and halted the release while they reprinted the packaging. When you open the flap and you read the contents on the left (Top) it says "scene index" and then it goes from 1 through 31, which is the newly released program and that's all perfect. But then right under that, (bottom) it says: "Plus the following bonus selections, many available for the firsttTime:

Don't / Baby Let's Play House / Cattle Call / Eating Burgers / Farther Along / Hey Jude / I Just Can't Help Believin' / I've Lost You / Little Sister/Get Back (Alternate) / Mystery Train/Tiger Man (Alternate) / Oh, Happy Day / Party Sequence / Poem/Walk a Mile in My Shoes
Something / Stranger in the Crowd / Sweet Caroline /
Yesterday / You Don't Have To Say You Love Me (Alternate)

Conclusion

We can only hope that this DVD gives enough profit to make ?On Tour SE? possible (next year? 25th Anniversary of Elvis? death and 30th of ?On Tour?!) first. Looking at this release we now know what's possible. It's up to the owners of the various movies.

review taken from ElvisNews.com

Article on That's the Way It Is

[Jumpsuit Junkie]

Firstly, I think TTWII DVD is a vast improvement from the original the quality and sound is awesome, the DVD states the the shows were filmed over six days, THATS SIX WHOLE CONCERTS so where is the rest of the footage? I know they are going to pick the best performances for the DVD but why can't the rest be released. some were released on "The Lost Perfromances" (Which by the way could do with being on DVD) this has got to be the case with "Elvis On Tour" how much footage have they got locked up in the vaults? The red Burning Love jumpsuit hardly gets shown on the "ON Tour" and surely there is a whole concert filmed

[jbgude]

As has been explained elsewhere these shows, sadly, were NOT filmed entirely - just clips of a few minutes each from the different cameras.

As for the movie as released, editing out the inane fan/celebrity interviews were a plus point - but they managed to insert an "hamburger eating" in an absurdly speeded up clip,it was great to see Elvis was still one of the simple boys needing no big luches and dinners, but speeding it up just made no sense. To top it they omited some of the truly great song sequences from the Original movie - most unforgivably " I just can help belivin" and " Sweet Caroline" - the revamped " Suspicious Minds " was good but who in their right senses would omit that last "shoulder shaking routine" from the original ?

Obviously there was a lot egos working at cross purposes here and cold hard calculations on " how much do we give them " ? sadly for all concerned they got it wrong.There was a cheap idea to include a trailer only on the VHS version and finally the unfathomable business decision to show it on TCM before the DVD was released.

The bright spot being the sound and picture quality was truly outstanding.

Let us hope that people atTurner & wherever will finally get their act together and give us a truly "complete concert".

jb

[8mmlowa]

I like this one even more then aloha or the comeback special!

[elvisdownunder]

i personally wish some of the material taken out was put back in. i have both editions of this doco, and was disappointed with what i missed out. there were quite a few moments that made me laugh (eg the microphone trouble on stage)

for those who don't know the microphone dialogue, it shoulda been kept in. Elvis has trouble with his mike, he grabs another one and that does'nt work, so he points both the mikes to his ears and makes a funny face. then he gets all the mikes he can (5 or 6) and tries to talk. by now the audience(and i) are cracking up laughing. the sweet inspirations are laughing hard and E says "i'm gonna bring in the supremes tomorrow night.. with mahalia jackson singing lead" this SHOULD HAVE been kept in

also other songs such as bridge and i just can't help believin should've stayed

[Andy_M]

I'm with you Scott!
Too bad they have cut out Material from the Original 1st Release.
Its essential to have both.
I am glad I have also the Original TTWII DVD. Its a must have and its not good that you can not buy it anymore.
Hopefully they bring in the future the Ultimate DVD Box Sets from the TTWII + EOT Movies.
With a lot of Shows, Rehearsals + unreleased stuff. That would be great.
The great success of Aloha + the 68 Comeback Special must give them to think it over.

[ComeBackChick]

Hopefully they bring in the future the Ultimate DVD Box Sets from the TTWII + EOT Movies.
With a lot of Shows, Rehearsals + unreleased stuff. That would be great.
The great success of Aloha + the 68 Comeback Special must give them to think it over.

You are sooo right Andy M!! Lets hope that this happens!

TTWII is defenitely my favourite too, its just PUUUUUUURFECTION!!!!

[waymore44]

I like both versions of the film but am actually partial to the original, AS A FILM. The new DVD is pure Elvis which I love. The old version is a documentary that not only lets you experience Elvis but also the strange world of the freaky fans and the work that the hotel staff was putting into the engagement. The other thing I like about the old one is the vintage fonts that are used in the intro. It's pure 1970!

[LeMond]

I too love both versions of the movie but quite frankly, I think they have done a lousy job with the SE dvd. I think it could have been much better considering the amount of material they had available.
My favorite scene of the original movie is the rehearsal of Stranger in the crowd and that's not even in the new version!

[Albert]

I too love both versions of the movie but quite frankly, I think they have done a lousy job with the SE dvd. I think it could have been much better considering the amount of material they had available.
My favorite scene of the original movie is the rehearsal of Stranger in the crowd and that's not even in the new version!

I have the same feeling: I like both. But it's a shame to see great moments or songs missing in the SE version. Let's hope MGM hooks up with EPE/BMG to re-release the TTWII special the way the NBC-Special has been released last year.

[michu]

You are right!(i mean Jumpsuit junkie)I dont understand why they dont release new ON TOUR(there is over 20 hours of unreleased material)and all they have from TTWII
I hope we will get it all someday!!!

[amzietamzie]

absolutely LOVE this dvd but wish that some of the songs seen on the trailer and that you mentioned from the original were on. id love to see sweet caroline, bridge over troubled water- actually all of the ones not on the new special edition dvd but dunno where i can get them from... all in all, though, this dvd is spectacular- my absolute fave. it shows elvis in the best light. he's having fun on stage and in rehearsals, has a blooming wonderful voice and looks divine... just wish i could see more...

[franny]

Here's a clip from TTWII of Elvis singing Mystery Train and Tiger Man...
he was magical on stage!

franny


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxfX4WjTwyg

[elvislady]

i could not agree with you more franny nice clip.
elvislady

[Menwithbrokenhearts]

I have the outtakes from these shows, and although there are a few glitches and pauses the whole shows are there. Not it great quality, but pretty good and great to watch. What I don't get is that in these concerts they filmed him in a sitdown part of the show where he straps on an electric guitar and does some songs. For the life of me, I can't understand why that wasn't included in the original or the SE edition. It is an awesome part of the show!

I also have the original and the se versions and I tend to like the original better but there is some stuff on the SE version i like also so I just made my own out of all the material that is out there. It is long but cool to watch.

[Holly]

Hello!
I wish if somebody could share the original version of TTWII with me. Please, please, please ... I really like the SE of TTWII, so I really want to see the original version too, but I don't have VHS-player and the original version doesn't exist on a DVD, so I beg you, if enybody dobbed it from VHS edition to AVI Video format or if enybody transfered it from VHS directly over to DVD, please share it with me! Please...


Holly

[rickster]

Hi Holly,
A version of the first release of t.t.w.i.i. does exist on dvd but it was only released in the u.s.a. and it is now deleted, it was originally released as a double sided disc, that meant that on one side you had a 'widescreen version' and on the other side you had a 'full screen version' so you could select any one that you preferred, however, before you get really upset there are a few copies of it that still surface on the ebay auction site (check either u.s.a. or u.k. websites) hopefully you will find a copy there, hope this helps you out a bit, cheers, rickster.

[GirlHappy19]

Hi Holly,
A version of the first release of t.t.w.i.i. does exist on dvd but it was only released in the u.s.a. and it is now deleted, it was originally released as a double sided disc, that meant that on one side you had a 'widescreen version' and on the other side you had a 'full screen version' so you could select any one that you preferred, however, before you get really upset there are a few copies of it that still surface on the ebay auction site (check either u.s.a. or u.k. websites) hopefully you will find a copy there, hope this helps you out a bit, cheers, rickster.

Hi

I need help here with this DVD.Last night,finally Elvis was on TV.First they play Harum Scarum and after that That's the way it is.Now..How many versions are to this DVD?Is was completely diferent from the one I got.I have it on VHS and DVD.The DVD is formated but this one was full screen.It doesn't look nothing like the ones I own.The rehersals,everything was diferent.
Elvis is soooo funny on this one.He looks happier.A fan presented him with a painting and he autographed and ask the girl if he could have a copy.I am angry because I was not abled to recorded.And I don't know where or how I can buy this one.Has anyone seing this version?

[Unchained Melody]

This is the movie that got me into Elvis

From the first time I watched it I loved it...thought it was great, and still do to this day !