reviewing the aloha DVD

[jeanno]

The intro :

Tuesday, june 29th 2004
El Corte Ingles (Spain biggest supermarket)
Spain ? 7h28 PM

I?ve just entered. My wife is talking to me but I don?t hear her. I can?t hear her. My eyes are already looking for ?it? (hello Torben). I am surrounded by tones of DVDs (horror, western, action, science fiction, etc) but I can?t find the musical section with the? Wait? Wait a minute? Over theeere! I?ve just seen the musical DVD section : I jump towards it letting my wife talking all alone.

Eric Clapton? Oasis? Shakira? Where the hell is?!?! HERE. In front of me. All white. Calling me : ?ELVIS : ALOHA FROM HAWAII? (DVD deluxe boxset). I take it. Beautiful (despite the design). Mine. All mine. In two minutes, I pay it, run towards my car, stop, go back to the Corte Ingles, take my wife by the hand, fly towards my car, get in and leave to my house. There are only 9 km between the supermarket and home but, man, what a long travel this time!!!

Jean-No?s home (Spain smallest house)
7h52 PM

Ah Boy, my boy! It?s been a long time!
My wife, respectful, leaves to the bedrom and let me alone in front of the TV set. Disc 1 is already inside the player. I sit down, turn off the lights and push ?play?. Look up : Elvis is entering the building!

Part ONE :
Elvis Arrives



This part is a nice extra. We get here the whole material recorded on january, 9th 1973 during famous helicopter arrival. You have a good time watching people haircuts (1973 man!), listening to a hawaiian musical group (with white pants and green shirts) and seeing the dancing hawaiian girl that appeared at the very beginning of the edited version.

Then arrives the helicopter and, inside, our King. During 15 minutes, you can see Him shaking hands, collecting flower collars, shouting ?Hi!? or ?Hello!?, and kissing girls, women, childrens? It looks like a presidential campain and He is very happy. At the end, He gets in a jeep and leaves.
Note : No Paradise Hawaiin Style music background. Much better this way.

8 / 10

Part TWO :
January 14th 1973 Broadcasted Show



Note : Sorry, I couldn?t wait. I had to see ?it? (Still here Torben?!?) before the rehearsal one?

In one word : wonderfulgreatoutstandingbeautifulstunningohsogood .
For several reasons, this new version, to my humble point of view, is far much better than the original-edited one. First of all, the image is top quality : cristal clear (comparing to my old 1984 Virgin video tape). Then, the sound also is great, specially if you have the material to hear the dolby 5.1. Just like if you were there! Finally, they droped off almost all the ?montage? effect and released lots of different camera angles. The best are :

- during YOU GAVE ME A MOUNTAIN, JOHNNY B (during the intro, the big smile), AMERICAN TRILOGY (during the trumpets part)
- the alternate ?end? versions of : MY WAY, IT?S OVER, BLUE SUEDE SHOES (my favourit), I?M SO LONESOME I COULD CRY and CAN?T HELP FALLING IN LOVE
- STEAMROLLER BLUES, FEVER, LONG TALL SALLY / WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN? are almost new performances!
- special attention to the very end of SUSPICIOUS MINDS : Elvis has just done his final karatee move and He looks at the Stamps or Sweet Inspirations. When he smiles, you have to ?pause? the image : here you have the face of the eternal Elvis. It?s just the same expression like in 1957 or 1968. A happy man. Great!

I prefer not to say it all (I?ve already said too much) so the people who didn?t see it can enjoy (that?s for you, Sam : take it easy).
The few minus : there are still several errors or failed transitions : between MY WAY and LOVE ME, the very beginning of AMERICAN TRILOGY, the very end of fever? and do I need to speak about Elvis intro? Anyway, that?s a very small part of the whole thing : let?s not pay it too much attention.

10 / 10

Part THREE
The Rehearsal Show

Generally speaking, this show is less impressive than the broadcasted concert. Although Elvis seems more relax and loose (too relax and too loose perhaps) and a few performances are better in the rehearsal show (maybe FEVER and STEAMROLLER BLUES are a litlle bit more Bluesy), the whole thing is at a step down compared to the official show.
The King seems too focused on the public (shaking hands, playing, laughing) and, because of that, lose control on the music : he forgets STEAMROLLER and BURNING LOVE?s lyrics, and ?mumbles? in several songs (MY WAY, WELCOME TO MY WORLD). And although he smiles a lot, He looks better (much better) in the Aloha show.
To resume, the concert is not bad at all but, compared to the other, it loses impact.

8,5 / 10



Part FOUR
The Insert Songs

This is a pretty interesting part. You can see here Elvis during the recording of 5 songs that would be ?insert? later in the edited version. Actually, only 4 would be used (NO MORE out!) and the black background was there to put behind Hawaiian landscapes and girls. Here we all the footage including false starts, goofs and final versions. Everything is introduced with two shots in once so we can see it all, including the people that show to Elvis the lyrics of the songs! (which is the reason why EP looked ?down? during those performances).
In total, you can enjoy 12 takes in a row! A nice insert for this DVD.

9,5 / 10

Part FIVE
The Edited Version

After seeing all the rest, this edited version seems a little bit dated. But, as they say in the booklet, this is histoy : the way american people watch the show back in april 1973. It?s also the way I look at it some 15 years ago when I bought the video tape so it still keeps (at least for me) his own interest ? to compare both versions ? mixed with a lot of nostalgia. I know I?m not going to watch it (not right now at least) but it?s good to know it?s here!

8,5 / 10

FINAL RESULT : GOOD FOR YOU! 8,9 /10



PS : dedicated to SAM who has to wait to get it!
PS2: also dedicated to Torben...

[Albert]

Thanks Jeanno for this wonderfull review. I took the liberty to add some pictures to your post (hope you like it). I also completely agree with your ratings

By the way, at Play.com this DVD-set only costs 23.99 euro (with free worldwide postage). Order it now and make this release a truly (deserved) succes!

[jeanno]

HI ALBERT!

The pics are a great idea! They fit well with the text.
In Spain, the Aloha DVD is at 24.95?!

[jbgude]

Caramba ! Ole !

ayi ayi ayi ... and what happened to the 68 set ?

Muchos Funos !

jb