Cryo,
Let's not forget that Tom Parker threw away millions gambling in Vegas.
I see a fan cut coming...Oh well, it certainly isn't time well spent to try to convince anyone of this now...unless they'd like to put this show out on DVD with an alternate ending.
While Elvis threw millions away with his erratic and uncontrollable spending. He also had no investments to speak ofCryo,
Let's not forget that Tom Parker threw away millions gambling in Vegas.
Really... they were each other's OWN worst enemies.
For me, the basic rating for this CBS event would be.... "well, I've seen worse". I can't even imagine how difficult it would be to portray Elvis. The things that stuck out to me were....
1 - The lip-synching was terrible.... and something about seeing Elvis' voice come out of somebody else's mouth was just "wrong". Despite it being great to actually hear EP's recorded voice, that bothered me immensely.
2 - A lot of events in the film were "in the wrong time period". I suppose it would be terribly difficult to put somebody's career for the most part into four hours of TV, but there were some pretty big liberties taken on timing just to get some points/events in the film.
3 - THE HAIR.... Like everybody has said... what was up with that? For the most part, you couldn't have dented that 'do with a brick at close range. It definitely had that mid-60s thing going for the most part. The interesting thing was that in the promo screen logo, the hairstyle was correct. The falling locks in the front were very prominent.
4 - The fellow playing Elvis was too "effeminate". I have seen this a lot before. Elvis had a delicate, yet manly quality about his appearance that was not at all evident in this film, especially as he aged throughout. This "Elvis" was definitely more delicate than manly. Naturally, you can't expect anyone to correctly portray the facets of Elvis unique appearance.... but the mix was not there this time.
But maybe I'm nitpicking.... it was a decent overall look at Elvis and his rise to stardom, despite some glaring omissions. Like I said, I've seen worse portrayals be accepted as "the gospel".....
Yeah, I'm a prejudiced fan. I do wish there had been someone to manage all that money. Rednecks with all that money. Imagine!
FrankieRider, you definitely nailed another fallacy there: Rhys Meyers looked too furtive in the role when he was performing. While no one could ever have expected an exact match, one thing that is absolutely vital when portraying Elvis is to communicate that same sense of vigour and joy; from the bits and pieces I've seen and heard about, Rhys Meyers was utterly unable to do this.
I made a DVD of the miniseries. I think that I'm going to go back and edit the real Elvis singing "If I Can Dream" at the end of the film. I NEVER want to see the real ending again.
On a side note:
Did anyone notice how the army fatigues and dress uniform were too big for him and didn't fit well?
"I always liked that hillbilly."
-Waymore
FIRST AND FOREMOST:Originally Posted by Cryogenic
THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH for your kind words Cryogenic...I am truly speechless and humbled by your most generous and kind words!
As for being a "newbie" in the Elvis world...most importantly, we are just happy that you ARE a part of the Elvis world, regardless of whether you are a "newbie" or a seasoned fan! And don't worry in the least about being a "newbie" to the legend that is Elvis Presley....with all of the vast knowledge that is shared here on a daily basis, you should be up-to-speed in NO TIME!!!
Being new to the board, the most important rule that I can share with you is NEVER, EVER, EVER be afraid to post a question here on the board....everyone here LOVES to share their knowledge and love of Elvis, and will be happy to answer any questions that you may have!!!
AS FOR THE SUGGESTION ABOUT INSERTING THE ACTUAL ELVIS PERFORMANCE OF "IF I CAN DREAM" INTO THE MINI-SERIES.....LEAVE IT UP TO BOBBY (LONNIE) TO SHOW OFF AND COME UP WITH SOME KIND OF AN OUTSTANDING IDEA!!!
I agree with you wholeheartedly that a balance of The Colonel's role in Elvis' life and career (good and bad) is ESSENTIAL when telling the Elvis Presley story! And, I guess in my mind, the good side of The Colonel's role in Elvis' life was shown fairly well in the mini-series....even if it didn't stand out as obviously as the bad side did. In terms of the good side of The Colonel's role on Elvis' career, it was The Colonel who was able to convince RCA to sign Elvis. It was The Colonel who booked Elvis on all of the biggest television shows of the 1950's to give Elvis the exposure he needed to take his career to the next level. It was The Colonel who was able to get Elvis into the movies, even if it didn't all work out the way Elvis had hoped it would. It was The Colonel who was able to keep Elvis' name, face and music in the public eye while he was away serving in the Army! Most Elvis fans (including those here on the board) generally share the same opinion of The Colonel....that during the early years of Elvis' career, he did LOTS of good things for Elvis! Yes, there were the occassional creative differences between the two of them (like Elvis wanting to star in "The Rainmaker" and "West Side Story"), but for the most part, Col. Parker made Elvis Presley a household name in the 1950's!
But....it's the LATER years of Elvis' career where The Colonel's decision making became more self-centered for The Colonel's best interests than working in the interest of Elvis' career, and it's those decisions that were so grossly negligent...they stand out far and above the good decisions that were made on behalf of Elvis' career during the 50's! Perhaps the most negligent decision made in the later years (and one that was not mentioned in the mini-series, surprisingly) was the contract Elvis signed with The Colonel for a 50/50 split of ALL profits!!! Now certainly some blame for this could easily fall on Elvis for not negotiating a different contract with The Colonel....BUT if The Colonel was truly working in Elvis' best interests and being a good manager, this contract would have never been suggested, let alone allowed to be agreed upon!!! In my opinion, NO MANAGER is worth 50% of EVERYTHING!!!! And despite the good business moves that The Colonel made for Elvis during the early years of his career, they still weren't worth 50% of EVERYTHING...again, in my opinion.
I do agree that some decisions that were made by The Colonel on Elvis' behalf were probably made to save Elvis' ***....could you imagine the scandal that would have erupted if Elvis had not followed through and married Priscilla after living with her for years? It could have effectively ended Elvis' career, no doubt! And I certainly can understand that considering Elvis' lavish spending habits, by the time The Colonel struck the deal with RCA to sell Elvis' back catalog, Elvis probably did need the money (of course, if The Colonel wasn't taking 50% of everything, Elvis probably would have had more money....but I digress....)! But still....a good manager would have come up with some other idea to help Elvis raise the money he may have needed (even if it was in the form of a suggestion to obtain a bank loan, no matter how crazy that may have sounded) then to sell ALL of Elvis' back catalog, thereby robbing Elvis of all future royalties on those songs! And what about the whole world tour theory?? Is there any doubt that Elvis would have easily made MILLIONS of dollars by going on a world tour? But because of The Colonel's shady past, Elvis' dream of going on a world tour never came to be....again, all because of The Colonel.
So, while I do agree with you Cryogenic that a fair and balanced look at The Colonel's management of Elvis is necessary (both good and bad) to help tell the Elvis Presley story in a complete way, I really do believe personally that the good AND bad were told in the mini-series....but as I mentioned above, the bad business moves were so grossly negligent that they far-and-away stand out above the good decisions made on Elvis' behalf!
And yes, Cryogenic, you are justified in ripping Johnathan's performance apart, especially on the performances from the '68 Special....they were simply HORRIBLE!!!!
Once again, Cryogenic....THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH for your kind words! I am glad you enjoy reading my opinions and my reviews of the various FTD releases....that means a lot to me!
Again....MANY, MANY THANKS!!!
TCB!
Mike
R.I.P. Tommy
We will miss you dearest friend
THANKS PAL!!!!
Glad you enjoyed my review....and once again, we have renewed the "separated at birth" theory with our similiar reviews of the mini-series!!
TCB!
Mike
R.I.P. Tommy
We will miss you dearest friend
COULDN'T AGREE WITH YOU MORE ON YOUR TWO POINTS I HIGHLIGHTED ABOVE FRANKIERIDER2!!!
I have seen MUCH worse in terms of Elvis biographical movies (again I refer back to the Don Johnson fiasco known as "Elvis And The Beauty Queen"), and this one certainly doesn't rate as the WORST biography -- I would probably rate this one as middle of the road to slightly above average, if only for the fact that I was impressed by the surprisingly revealing look at the whole Elvis/Col. Parker relationship!
And you are RIGHT ON TARGET about watching someone lip-synch to Elvis' songs....I couldn't agree more that hearing Elvis' voice come out of some actors lips is REALLY WRONG!!!
TCB!
Mike
R.I.P. Tommy
We will miss you dearest friend
The best way for the producers to vastly improve the quality of this mini series would have been to edit in Elvis' actual musical performances where warranted.... which could have been done easily enough. It is not prudent to expect anyone to be able to come anywhere close to realisticly recreating any of Elvis' on-stage performances under any circumstances.
I had very little problem with the non-musical portrayal of Elvis; I felt that for the most part Rhys-Myers captured the essence of Elvis enough for his portrayal to be decent. Some of the problem areas could have been addressed better (the hair, the mannerisms, etc.) while some of the other ones (lip curling on the wrong side of his face, etc.) could not have been prevented simply because of the basic difference in human beings. But he was not all bad.
But the musical perspective is what really brought it down in my view.... and that, being the real essence of Elvis, is a shame because it could have been prevented.
On-stage = Elvis, off-stage = Rhys Meyers would have been the best way to have gone, IMO.
Good thought FrankieRider2! Editing Elvis' actual performances into the special might have been just what the mini-series needed to save it from being the laughing stock that it has become!
I agree with you completely that, for the most part, JR-M did a decent job as Elvis during the non-musical portions of the movie. And the little things that seemed to bother most fans (the hair, the mannerisms) could be overlooked for the most part. But considering the meat of the whole Elvis legacy is the music, the musical portions of the movie ranged anywhere from tolerable to horrible, and they seemed to get worse and worse as the years went on! I didn't think JR-M did too bad of a job on the 50's musical segments....the dancing was adequate, although the lip-synching was slightly off. But the '68 special segments were just plain AWFUL!!!!
But I do like your suggestion of Elvis on stage and JR-M off stage....interesting!!!
TCB!
Mike
R.I.P. Tommy
We will miss you dearest friend
Any positive comments I may have had about this movie , I now recant, in light of recent comments made by JRM. If I had an inkling to watch it again, every time I saw him I would think about that. Not a good enough movie for that!
Got my family, my kids, my books and my music, I'm good, yeah, I'm good.....
I have the same opinion about everything!
Decent jobI can't describe them!
Anyway...it's sure that J.R.M. is not one of my favourite actors...but I can't be totally negative about his performance....he tried to do his best...
From the hype they were putting out about this movie I was expecting more than what it was. I saw the actor portraying Elvis interviewed promoting the movie before it was aired and I thought, man, he does resemble Elvis but, I lost that thought when I watched the movie.
I may be too pickey but, the guy was not tall enough to play Elvis. Someone hit on the fact that the person playing Joe Esposito was taller than Elvis. This was so true. That was probably the first thing that took the illusion of Elvis away for me. Also, watching this guy do "If I Can Dream" really turned me off. I know Elvis was so unique that it would be hard to get someone to play him but, I was disappointed with this performance. Elvis' infamous "curled lip" was exagerated by this actor I thought. I started losing interest before it was half over. When you're taking on a project like this and choosing an actor to play the "King of Rock 'n Roll" you need to get it right. Like how Jamie Foxx nailed the part of "Ray".
Someone mentioned about maybe having Elvis' actual performances put in the movie for the musical parts. This would have made it better, I think. I've seen this with other movies and it worked pretty well.
Why is it that no major motion picture company has made a production of "Elvis" like has been made of "Ray" and "Ali"? Not a movie for television like all the rest about him have been. Do you think EPE has had something to do with this? I can't believe no one has come up with this idea.
..........................Gayle...........................
"When songs made us start to wiggle our hips.
It came from a combination of R & B and Soul.
It was the beginning of a new music.
They called it "Rock 'n Roll." ..................by me
For me one of the worst imitations of Elvis. They even didn?t bother to pick a guy that looks just a little like Elvis or made him look like him. I wouldn?t have noticed it if in the midle of the series they would have cut JRM part and replace him with a pig.
_________________
Jonathan..........a pig..................??
THE PIG IS BETTER!!!!
I'm kiddin', of course......poor Jonathan!He's not so bad....
Anyway...I don't want to be so critical but I agree with Gayle...they could work better to this miniseries and try to find someone who could have a small resemblance with Elvis, although it's really hard!
Anyway, you can like or not the series and Jonathan but for one point we all agree...................IF I CAN DREAM WAS AN INSULT TO ELVIS....
I hope Elvis was busy up there when they broadcasted that scene........
Last edited by ForeverTheKing; 07-15-2006 at 09:24 AM.
dale midkiff was the worst elvis in my opinion nothing like him in any way hes the worst for me.
don johnson is the second worse.
I totally agree about Dale Midkiff!
He's a good actor...also very handsome but he had nothing of Elvis and was terrible in that role....but maybe Cilla had told him how she wanted him to act!
Here in Belgium I will probably never have the chance to see CBS the miniseries.
I know the reviews are not that great and Jonathan is not looking at all as Elvis but I would liked to have seen it.
Better to see one film about his life then to see nothing at all I guess.
I did see the performance of him If I can dream on youtube and it was VERY dissapointing.
I guess that is normal, when we hear that song we immediately see our Elvis looking really at the peak of his beauty in our mind and we really expect so much of it when we see those red letters and that man in the white uniform and then suddenly we see Jonathan and that is so dissapointing.
I would really not want to be in any male actors shoes to play Elvis.
Never ever will there be a one looking like him and stand up to the great expectations all the fans will have of him.
Perhaps that is why that we will probably never will have a quality picture of his life like for instance walk the line.
Elvis can't be played by nobody. An actor can have the looks or the voice or the charisma which I even doubt but the whole package.
No way, never again.
He was unique. And the looks and the "presence" is something we will never witness again in our lifetime.
It was released on DVD in Sweden as far as I know.
The Sun Never Sets On A Legend...
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