NO ONE HAS EVER TAKEN US THIS DEEP BEHIND THE SCENES. JOINDIAMOND JOE ESPOSITO, ELVIS' BEST FRIEND OF NEARLY 20 YEARS,AS HE SHARES HIS MOST PERSONAL STORIES IN THIS EXCEPTIONALLYRARE AND INTIMATE COMPILATION. HEAR JOE'S AC... more »COUNT OF EXACTLYWHAT HAPPENED ON THE TRAGIC DAY OF ELVIS' DEATH.« less
Jon M. (Johnny) from ASHLAND, MA Reviewed on 8/19/2016...
I wasn't expecting much from this DVD, just wanted to view it cause I'm an Elvis fan, but previous reviews on this were not glowing. While it's not a great, must-have addition to my DVD library, it IS worthwhile viewing for Elvis fans. A number of stills and film clips I'd not seen before and Joe Esposito gives a good overview of his years with Elvis. Additionally, Joe comes off as a decent guy and it isn't hard to see why Elvis valued him. He appears to have been a loyal confidant to Elvis and with all the sycophants around the King that's saying something. Recommended viewing for Elvis fans.
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Movie Reviews
A Loving Tribute By A Best Friend
Paige Turner | Hawaii | 02/15/2003
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This is a very positive, upbeat tribute to Elvis by his top man and best friend, Joe Esposito. He avoids the negative topics that has already been covered endlessly by the media, and focuses on more folksy and humorous stories about the King. At times I wish he could have talked more in depth about some of the topics, instead of including chapters about the impersonators, the biggest fan, the nuttiest fan. I could have done without that information. I'm sure Joe has a lot more interesting Elvis anecdotes to share, and to see such rubbish included brings this DVD down a couple of stars in my book.
Still, it is refreshing to view a kinder portrait of Elvis by someone close to him instead of the vitriol dished out by West, & Co in their book written by Steve Dunleavy. Elvis deserves better, and so do his fans, so if you're looking for the more sensationlistic Elvis information, you won't find it in this DVD.It is interesting to note that a few years back, Joe Esposito was embroiled in a battle with EP Enterprises (read: Priscilla), who tried to force him to surrender his private collection of movies and photos of Elvis he'd taken over the years. Perhaps this DVD is the result of a compromise that was reached."
JUST A LITTLE BIT BORING...
Bjorn Johansson | OSLO Norway | 08/09/2002
(2 out of 5 stars)
"First of all, when you buy a DVD that is not "official" - and that includes most of the documentaries made these days - you won't get to listen to any Elvis-music at all. And in this case, you hardly even see Elvis perform.What you get is 1 hour of picture after picture, while Joe Esposito tells you his stories. The stories are a little shallow, they give you the overview and nothing more.There's also a few glimpse of the press-conference at Graceland in 1960 with sound (about a minute), you see Frank Sinatra and Elvis TALK on the Welcome Home-show from Miami (20 seconds), that's about all you hear from Elvis. You also see a few glimpse from a 1950's newsreel, the press-conference after the wedding etc. No sound. Oh yeah, and there's about a minute from the famous b/w-footage done at Hayride in '57 where you see Elvis rockin' and rolling. Great footage, but it has been shown on many documentaries.The bonus-material is mainly (junk). 6 chapters, and one is about the world's craziest Elvis-fan. Another chapter is about Elvis-impersonators, but you don't see them perform! There's also one that shows two news-reports from August 1977. Here they added about 30 seconds with J.D. Sumner from an interview done right after Elvis died, and all he says is "except for Jesus Christ, there was no bigger man"..Basically this DVD is for the die-hard collector. It's nice to hear a story or two about Elvis, but an hour of stories mainly accompanied by pictures just gets boring."
Elvis and Priscilla together
Susan Eppard-Gemmel | 11/28/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This was the first video where I've seen alot of Elvis and Priscilla together. I think they really must have a had a very special relationship. I really enjoyed it. The video seems to really show what a kind, generous and real person Elvis was. I think it also showed what an outgoing person Elvis was and showed some of the difficulties he faced in his everyday life. Elvis was really a people person, seems like he was always surrounded by alot of people. I think Joe Esposito has always tried to show the positive side of Elvis, I think he was a true friend. But, also all the other guys in Elvis' life really cared for him too, I just think that everyone had a different experience with Elvis. I, for one, miss Elvis."
Shockingly sanitized -- no wonder Elvis shot the television!
Lela Soulier | Denton, TX USA | 01/06/2006
(2 out of 5 stars)
"This is a 2 hour 10 minute documentary that seems to be a cross between any ET television segment and a typical timeshare travelog video. The home videos, including extented interview segments not usually seen in the usual Elvis rehash documentaries, are worthwhile just to hear Elvis' thoughts in his own words. I had hoped this documentary would be enlightening to show a more balanced (and honest) view of Elvis' duality, since Elvis is usually portrayed as somewhere between an "angel with a broken wing" to a lost sinner, but this documentary tends to portray Elvis as a downright neutered cream-puff hearts-and-flowers cherub without a shred of the raw masculine romantic seducer who captured the hearts of millions during his lifetime and after. I had hoped that Diamond Joe would set the record straight, considering he really was Elvis' right-hand man for 20 years, but this movie makes it clear his strings were connected to Elvis Presley Enterprises. The Machine is still running, and Elvis is still lost behind the smoke-screen of media illusion. Elvis never stopped being a man, but his friends seem to have turned him into a shrine, just a picture on the wall, angelic voices in the background, a halo of remembrance -- and the essence of Elvis as dead as vinyl. If you're looking for any true character insight about Elvis, stay away from this documentary. Hero worship and exploitation are a bad combination, and this movie shows the real heartbreak of knowing a man such as Elvis for 20 years, yet apparently having no clue who that man really was. If you want to know the true Elvis, listen to his music, watch the movies and concerts you like, and remember that Elvis never lied about himself. Elvis laid down, but at least he didn't sell out. Loyalty was one of the few qualities Elvis really expected from people close to him. The test of that loyalty might be measured by who kept their silence. After seeing this documentary, I'm thankful to all the people close to Elvis who have kept their mouths shut. Let the music speak for itself -- that was how Elvis spoke to the world. There's no Elvis music in this video, which is probably just as well. The music would have been sanitized, too."