There are 24 regular chapters and 11 bonus chapters.
All chapters are reasonably short, but not too short, and this certainly
helps maintain viewer interest.
The 24 regular chapters include a look at the Army years,
Jailhouse Rock, a far too brief and superficial look at Colonel
Parker, Elvis and Linda Thompson, Aloha from Hawaii and Elvis' last
vacation. The documentary includes good video coverage of Elvis
and Priscilla's Vegas wedding and an interesting look at security
arrangements for an Elvis concert.
There is also Joe's emotional recollection of the events
on August 16, 1977 in which he dispels some of the myths in Elvis
lore surrounding that tragic day. The bonus chapters include a poignant
look at reaction to Elvis' death, the annual Candlelight Vigil in
Memphis and Elvis buys a Chimp! The section on Elvis impersonators
didn't impress while the 'world's biggest Elvis fan', Paul B. Macleod,
is just passable.
A chapter on the 'world's nuttiest Elvis fan' has to
be seen to be believed. While a lot of the information provided
is not new, Joe offers plenty of little known stories that add appreciably
to one's knowledge of The King.
The absence of any Elvis music in the documentary does
not weaken the release. Rather its' tight editing and interesting
vignettes are so well crafted that they quickly draw you in and
the 130 minutes viewing time passes before you know it. The editing
of the documentary is excellent keeping each chapter short and punchy.
Many of the chapters start with Joe talking about the
vignette followed by relevant video footage and interviews and this
structural device is very effective.
The video quality is very good with nice tone
and colour blend. The audio quality is equally strong and
easy to listen to.
'Elvis: His Best Friend Remembers' stands up very well
against other current documentary releases such as' The Definitive
Elvis' (on which Diamond Joe was executive consultant) and 'Elvis
The Great Performances'.
Verdict: A surprise, quality offering worthy
of a place in any fan's collection.
DVD Features: Dual layer disc Subtitles Language
options: English, Spanish and French Dolby digital 2.0 stereo Aspect
1.33:1 Picture disc
Reviewed by Nigel
Patterson, © EIN June 2002