Alicia I love this movie so much

Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Dotbankey A lot of fun.

Curt Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Mark Monto This is the quintessential peak of Elvis Presley's now immortal career. In my opinion musically in full stride, 35 years old looking healthy, happy and rail thin. What for history's sake this movie shows so brilliantly is the epic preforming artist Elvis actually was and truly shows that Elvis wasn't at all the parody of the bloated parade of impersonators that followed his passing. Not to be missed an really almost an entirely new movie in the re-edit of Elvis: That's the way it is special edition. Either movie shows the magnanimous performer Elvis was with brilliant live performances like "I Just Can't Help Believing", "Suspicious Minds", "Little Sister", "Words", "The Next Step Is Love "Mary In the Morning" to name a few. His live performances were lensed August 1970 in Las Vegas, sadly he would pass almost exactly 7 years later. Elvis: That's the way it is, so amply titled musically in the adult contemporary arena is as relevant in 2010 as it was in 1970.

Scarecrow-88 Turner Classics was celebrating what would've been Elvis' 75th birthday with a night of movies dedicated to his memory. I felt very fortunate to experience MGM's "Evlis:The Way It Is", a documentary detailing the back stage preparation, rehearsals, and eventual concert in Las Vegas. We have an opportunity to see who Elvis was during this moment in his career and life. While in complete control(..and the environment with all his musicians and singers is so warm and inviting), Elvis was engaging, commanding, playful, off-the-cuff(unpredictable), willing to experiment, and such a hard-worker. The inside look was quite exciting to me, an Elvis fan, and to see it restored, with added footage, containing the lengthly concert accompanying the off-stage activities was an absolute pleasure. His incredible charisma is so vivid, and having been born around the time of his death, it was nice to see him in such an athletic shape, and comfortable joy before all the bad stuff would eventually overwhelm him. When he enters the studio and mentions his gang of musicians as "his backbone", you can see why they loved and admired him so. Elvis cut up during the rehearsals and studio preparation, as well as times on stage while performing. It was amusing seeing the ladies, young and old, swept away, and just swooning as Elvis approached them for his customary smooch..and there were plenty ready for a kiss and hug. Oh, and to see him during rehearsals go from such a lively joker into a professional when it mattered most, was also quite enlightening, and we can see how the performer in him takes over. I consider Elvis the very definition of a performance artist. It's funny, as I was watching the concert, you could see older gentlemen scattered throughout at their tables almost lulled into a stooper while the women surrounding them were enthusiastic and absorbing every moment he's on stage..my kind of guy, The King will always be alive as long as his memory remains on celluloid. Maybe, those who aren't Elvis fans might find this a bit too lovingly a portrait, but for us who are, it's a fitting tribute to him at the peak of his power. Seeing back stage footage of Elvis greeting Cary Grant and Sammi Davis, Jr, was fabulous. His ability to perform at such a high level as he sweats profusely and loses wind, only to explode when need be is quite a testament to his stamina at this particular time(..which was before he'd balloon in weight and appear worse for wear later in years to come).

George R. Willeman Sadly, some people feel that they know better than the director how a film should be. Since director Denis Sanders is now deceased, he cannot comment on the "special edition" DVD of his film, which basically removes the heart and soul from his movie--the people who loved Elvis and made him the phenomenon that he was (and still is, for that matter!) I have no problem with creating a concert-only version-the concert footage is superb and shows Elvis at one of the high-points in his career; just a few years before his death, but before his sad decline. It's great fun to watch him rehearse and horse around. However, it seems wrong to me to palm this off on the public as the film "Elvis: That's the Way it Is" when much of the footage has been removed! Denis Sanders wanted to show several aspects of Elvis World, reaching from the kitchen of the International Hotel all the way to Luxembourg. To be able to view the original version, I had to wait until an aging Laserdisc came available for purchase and then I realized how removing the non-Elvis material lessened the importance of the film, as the documenting of an important cultural icon. Hopefully, someone at Warner Home Video will realize the error of this and make BOTH versions available, if for nothing else than to right the wrong done to the film's director.

Peter Hayes Elvis rehearses/jokes with his pickup band and then hits the low rise super club stage in Las Vegas. This review refers to the re-cut version (a big improvement), although I have seen both.Since America revoked its monarchist past and went republican they have had only one "King." Rightly put there by popular demand rather than by being born in the right bed. Maybe the only democratically elected king of all time! It would be foolish to try and summate the man, but chew on this - he made more people dip in to their pocket and pay for his recordings/products/museum and home than any other artist in the history the world. No critic, however skilled, can take that away from him.(That is not to agree with some of them that his films were bad and at times so camp that only a dyed-in-the-wool fan could sit through them.)In reply to other reviews - Elvis's weight yo-yoed throughout his life. Between movies/tours he blow up and he went on crash diets aided by more of those strange pills. Here - in 1970 - he looks slim enough and young enough to be of sexual interest to any woman of any age (although the surgeons knife had already helped), although good natured and warm he never looks "straight" for a second.The early rehearsals are worthwhile in that he knows what he wants, although his guitar doesn't seen to switched on (although it is plugged in). He is backed by talented musicians, but they are still - when all is said and done - only session men. Capable of playing anything, but probably couldn't come up with a song of their own. The musical 9 to 5'er. Not that anybody could take the limelight away from the king.(The backing singers are too many in number and could almost take the gig over if Elvis passed out on stage.) The audience is older too - some middle-aged - with lots of collars and ties. In the main, the usual Vegas mug punter minus their cup of dimes. The place didn't really have the resident population it has now. The theatre is large and the seats well padded - but would you really want to eat a full meal before Elvis? I couldn't or wouldn't. He even play two shows a night - two shows! Amazing really.The tunes are well known and all inclusive - from his early hits (cut short) to the hit pop songs of the day. Even Bridge Over Troubled Water. They play - on film - better than you might think because Elvis made every tune his own: although he was a strange singer, ad-libbing and often stopping to kiss the girls and take gifts. A moment to remember all your life for those on the receiving end - tedious to us watching. Never mind the diseases you can pick up from sticking your tongue (and he is clearly is!) down the throat of a complete stranger. Even in 1970!You can't live your life like Elvis did and live long. Food, drugs and hangers-on were soon to get the better of the guy and he lay in his grave at the age of 42. A stupid age to leave, but the product of stupid living. "No one said 'no" to Elvis", said wife Priscilla once. I couldn't say "no" to walking down a time tunnel and seeing all this in the flesh myself - even if it did cost an arm and a leg.