Scott LeBrun This landmark made for television biography came at a time when the death of the beloved entertainer and pop culture icon was still fresh in peoples' minds. It's written & produced by Anthony Lawrence, who'd written or co-written such Presley film vehicles as "Paradise, Hawaiian Style" and "Easy Come, Easy Go", executive produced by Dick Clark, and directed by John Carpenter, who'd recently established himself as a hot property with his hit horror film "Halloween". It's all done with the utmost respect for Elvis, and touches upon various key moments in his life, starting with his childhood when he found his own way to deal with the death of his twin brother. We learn what makes Elvis tick, and what motivates him. He wanted nothing more than to entertain people, and hopefully provide a better quality of life for the parents, Gladys and Vernon (played by Shelley Winters and Bing Russell, star Kurt Russell's own dad) who were always loving and supportive. Framed by the depiction of Elvis's big comeback performance at the International Hotel, it shows him meeting all of the important players in his life - Sam Phillips (Charles Cyphers), Colonel Tom Parker (Pat Hingle), and Priscilla Beaulieu (Season Hubley, to whom Russell was subsequently and briefly married). Russell is just tremendous as Elvis, completely immersing himself in the role and managing to make us forget that we're watching a performance. Of course, it's worth noting that Russell, as a child, had acted with The King in "It Happened at the World's Fair" and would return to the role - sort of - in 2001's "3000 Miles to Graceland". One of the highest rated television movies in history, it earned three Emmy nominations, including best television movie and best actor for Russell. This is a true warts and all affair, showing the darker aspects to Elvis's personality, and as such is riveting. It's a long but engrossing story, and was also historic for first teaming Carpenter and Russell; they would work four more times together over the years, on "Escape from New York", "The Thing", "Big Trouble in Little China", and "Escape from L.A." It also firmly established Russell as a mature actor of note after his time spent as a youthful star of formulaic Disney comedies. Everything is buoyed by genuine poignancy and, of course, a generous serving of classic Elvis songs. Well worth watching overall. Eight out of 10.

sonny_1963 Kurt Russell IS Elvis, plain and simple. His dedication to this role resulted in what I think, is the best movie bio ever. If you're an Elvis fan, see it if you can.The made-for-television film was made two years after Elvis' death.One piece of advice, there are two versions - one at 180 minutes and one at 117 minutes. The only one to watch is the longer one. The shorter one has more than one hour of footage edited out. It just does not work because the scenes in it are often dependent on the scenes that were cut.This masterpiece takes you from Elvis childhood through his emergence as entertainment's greatest star. Shelley Winters and Bing Russell (Kurt's real dad) are excellent as Elvis' parents. And Pat Hingle delivers a very competent Col. Tom Parker.Long live the King!

lilcutie18613 This movie is one of those "WOW!" movies. Not because it's the greatest movie of all time, but because it surprised me. Not only was it a T.V. movie, but it was on Elvis. I can safely say as many impersonators as there are there was only one Elvis, but I can also safely say that Kurt Russel came extremely close to being the real thing. It was one of the greatest impersonations that I have ever seen. He had me believing that it was really him. I learned a lot about Elvis' life from watching this movie. And don't led the television part of it let you stray-it's actually a really fantastic film! And Kurt Russel could've been Elvis' twin :)

FeinMess Sure, this is not the greatest "made-for-tv" movie ever (I've seen alot worse), and yes, at times the lip-sync is "out-of-sync", but still, this movie is worth a shot. Good luck trying to find it at the local video store, I looked high and dry with no luck, finally had to buckle down and buy it on e-bay. Not a huge Elvis fan, so the many alleged inaccuracies in the movie really didn't bother me that much. I am, however, a big Kurt Russell fan and that is what is important here.......Kurt Russell's impersonation of Elvis is perfect.....from the intonation in his voice to his moves on stage, no one has ever portrayed The King better. I've always felt Kurt Russell was an under-rated/appreciated actor....well, this flick proves he is a very capable actor. Thank ya.......thank ya very much.