Well Deserved Praise

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

This is totally worth the 3 hours. It talks about Elvis through the people who met or knew him and shows in a way how Elvis saw his life.TOTALLY RECOMMENDED FOR EVERYONE TO SEE!!!

This documentary is mainly about Elvis as an artist and the information about his personal life that is brought up is information that influenced his career. This isn't about Elvis and women, prescription drugs, his marriage, Elvis who gained weight in the end etc., it's about Elvis and his talent, his influences, his dreams, his inspirations, where he came from, his motivation, how life influenced his career, how Colonel Parker influenced his career, how he felt about his career en why career choices were made etc. Elvis was an incredible talent and the first of his kind and this documentary is about all of that that we should remember about Elvis and what Elvis is about. People who actually knew him speak about him and the talented Bruce Springsteen speaks too. Not a second is wasted by showing the people that are being interviewed, you hear their voices over new and old videos and images of Elvis. The documentary itself is very well done. The overall style and the footage filmed at Graceland and atmosphere shots at places he has lived and he has been really give you a feeling of the vibe of the era and time the documentary speaks about.Part 1 is more uplifting, part 2 is darker. The documentary won't give the die hard Elvis fans a lot of new information, but it's still worth watching as I find it the best documentary on Elvis because it's about him as an entertainer and his talent and it tells about his true feelings about his career. It's a documentary that is respectful towards Elvis.

It's amazing how many people now think of Elvis only as a caricature, with a few hit songs and girls screaming in front of him. This documentary goes a long way in helping those who don't know why Elvis was a pioneering artist, why he was so much more than just an early rock and roller, how he re-imagined the blues, country and even bluegrass into a form uniquely his own. Much like his life, the pre-Army years are the most interesting. I wish they had interviewed more contemporaries - surely there are people still alive who were actually at some of these concerts, tapings, etc.? I so appreciate the film-makers making it clear that Steve Allen was attempting to humiliate Elvis and kill rock and roll - he definite deserves "credit" for that attempt. The doc also gives a good view of Colonel Parker - why Elvis picked him to manage him, why that absolutely was a great idea early on but how it turned disastrous at the end and how, for all the great things he did for Elvis early on, he ruined his career, and perhaps his life, at the end. What a shame that, at the time of this doc's release, the 1968 Comeback Special isn't available on DVD (unless you are willing to pay someone almost $100 for it) - this doc made me so hungry to watch it again (haven't seen it since a NYE broadcast in Germany back in 2007 or so).

This "HBO" doc called "Elvis Presley: "The Searcher" is long and drawn out as it's really informative and educates all about the life and the making of Elvis from his early life all the way up to death. Really it's a great biography type film to see with classic footage of concerts, interviews, and comings and goings of the one and only "King". Also the film is supported by talk and narration from the late Tom Petty and "The Boss" Springsteen and ex wife Priscilla all talk about his impact on music and culture and all recall the good and bad times.Early you see how the blues and gospel music and being around blacks influenced "Elvis" to be outside the box and mix his music to a blend to be classified as many different styles. Then along the way his journey to "Memphis" and meeting Tom Parker would help shape his music life.Yet a downfall and backslide was Presley's dive into movies and acting which hurt his image and would age him and cause his need to start over with music. However his pressures and stress would lead to drug abuse and a much to early departure. Overall good look at the life and times of the king the one and only "Elvis Presley"!