DVD Pick of the week: ELVIS (Shout! Factory)
The King lives in this epic 1979 bio-pic from executive producer Dick Clark, which marked the first collaboration between director John Carpenter and leading man Kurt Russell, who’s got all the right moves as Elvis Presley (Ronnie McDowell provides the singing).
The film covers much of Elvis’ early life and rise to fame, as he ruminates about the past on the eve of his triumphant “comeback” in Las Vegas in 1969. The film neither sensationalizes or romanticizes Presley’s life, although it leans more toward the latter.
There’s good supporting work from Bing Russell (Kurt’s real-life father), warmly playing Elvis’ dad, Vernon Presley, and the incomparable Shelley Winters (nicely subdued) as mother Gladys. Season Hubley, who later married Russell in real life, plays Priscilla, and the always-welcome Pat Hingle appears as
Elvis’ longtime agent, Col. Tom Parker. Other familiar faces on hand include Melody Anderson, Ed Begley Jr., Joe Mantegna and Carpenter favorite Charles Cyphers, as Sun Records’ founder Sam Phillips.
Of course, the success of the film rests entirely with Russell, who masterfully plays the human side of the icon. It’s not an impersonation or a caricature, but a heartfelt performance in a daunting role. For many Elvis Presley fans, this is the definitive version of his story, and much of it is due to Russell.
Originally broadcast in two parts on ABC-TV, Elvis was a surprise ratings smash (besting even the network repeat of Gone With the Wind) and earned three Emmy nominations, including one for Russell as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Special.
ALSO ON DVD“ACADEMY COLLECTION: THE ENVELOPE PLEASE…”: VOLUME 1 (Infinity Entertainment Group): A boxed set ($24.98 retail) of eight feature films, all of which received Oscar nominations as Best Picture: Louis Wolheim stars in director Lewis Milestone’s 1928 adaptation of Bartlett Cormack’s play The Racket; Chester Morris and Regis Toomey (in his screen debut) star in the 1929 adaptation of Alibi, also nominated for Best Actor (Morris) and Best Art Direction; Adolphe Menjou and Pat O’Brien star in Milestone’s 1931 adaptation of the Ben Hecht/Charles MacArthur stage classic The Front Page, also nominated for Best Director and Best Actor (Menjou); Gary Cooper, Helen Hayes and Menjou headline the 1932 adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, which won Oscars for Best Cinematography and Best Sound Recording, also nominated for Best Art Direction; Charles Laughton took home the Oscar as Best Actor for his memorable turn in the title role of Alexander Korda’s 1933 historical drama The Private Life of Henry VIII; Janet Gaynor, Fredric March and Menjou star in William A. Wellman’s original 1937 version of A Star is Born, which won the Oscar for Original Story and a special award for W. Howard Greene’s color cinematography, and nominations for Best Actor (March), Best Actress (Gaynor), Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Assistant Director; Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller earned Oscar nominations as Best Actor and Actress, respectively, for the 1938 version of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, which won the Oscar for Best Screenplay; and Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer star in Leo McCarey’s 1939 romance Love Affair, also nominated for Best Director, Best Actress (Dunne), Best Supporting Actress (Maria Ouspenskaya), Best Original Story, Best Art Direction and Best Song (“Wishing”).
“ADAM 12”: SEASON 4 (Shout! Factory): Once more, Martin Milner and Kent McCord patrol the streets of Los Angeles, in all 24 episodes from the 1971-’72 season of the long-running, prime-time NBC-TV crime drama, originally spun off from “Dragnet” and overseen by executive producer Jack Webb. Guest stars include Robert Conrad, Lindsay Wagner, Keye Luke, Rose Marie and Foster Brooks. This four-DVD boxed set retails for $34.97.
BLOOD CREEK (LionsGate Home Entertainment): Nazis, runestones and blood rituals figure in director Joel Schumacher’s nasty, confused shocker (originally titled Town Creek) that sees two brothers (Dominic Purcell and Henry Cavill) battling evil forces on a remote farm. Despite a few interesting touches, this plays out like a gory episode of “Supernatural”… and, yes, there’s even a “twist” ending. Lynn Collins appears unbilled. The studio dumped this into a handful of theaters with zero fanfare. Rated R.
THE COVE (LionsGate Home Entertainment): The ongoing slaughter of dolphins in a remote Japanese cove is exposed in first-time director Louie Psihoyos’ persuasive documentary feature, which earned an Oscar nomination in that category. Rated PG-13.
“DESIGNING WOMEN”: SEASON THREE (Shout! Factory): Dixie Carter, Delta Burke, Annie Potts and Jean Smart are back — duly joined by Meshach Taylor as Anthony — in all 22 episodes from the 1988-’89 season of the award-winning prime-time CBSTV situation comedy about the ladies who make Sugarbaker & Associates the premier interior-design firm in Atlanta. Three Emmy Award nominations including Outstanding Comedy Series and for Taylor as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. This DVD boxed set retails for $44.99.
GAMER (LionsGate Home Entertainment): The executive producing/writing/directing duo of Neveldine/Taylor (Mark and Brian, respectively) strike again with this unrestrained, super-charged, brain-dead sci-fi action thriller, in which convicts compete in life-or-death virtual-reality combat games as created by a ruthless techno-mogul (Michael C. Hall). Gerard Butler plays the hero who decides to fight back. Also on hand: Kyra Sedgwick, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, John Leguizamo, Amber Valletta, Keith David, Zoe Bell, Terry Crews, Efren Ramirez, Milo Ventimiglia and an unbilled Alison Lohman (Mrs. Neveldine in real life) — but whatever potential the story might have had is lost amid the barrage of gunfire and gut-spilling, although Hall does get to perform a unique rendition of “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” Rated R.
THE GATE (LionsGate Home Entertainment): A “monstrous special edition” of director Tibor Takacs’ enjoyable, award-winning 1987 feature debut, in which three kids (Christa Denton, Stephen Dorff and Louis Tripp, the latter two in their screen debuts) unwittingly unleash demonic forces upon their neighborhood when they discover a secret passageway in the backyard. Good B-movie fun. Rated PG-13.
“GI JOE: A REAL AMERICAN HERO”: SEASON 1.3 (Shout! Factory): A collection of the final 22 episodes from the inaugural 1985 season of the syndicated animated series based on the popular Hasbro toy line, in which a highly-skilled military force wages an ongoing war against the diabolical forces of Cobra. This boxed set retails for $29.97.
“LINCOLN HEIGHTS”: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (Shout! Factory): A four- DVD boxed set ($34.99 retail) of all 13 episodes from the 2007 season of the awardwinning ABC Family drama starring Russell Hornsby as an LA cop who relocates his family from the suburbs to the inner city.
“LIONSGATE BLU-RAYS” (LionsGate Home Entertainment): The Blu-ray roll-out continues: Arnold Schwarzenegger is the prime contestant in 1987’s The Running Man (rated R), adapted from a novel by Richard Bachman (AKA Stephen King), with an award-winning turn by Richard Dawson as a smarmy game-show host; Wesley Snipes stars in 1994’s Drop Zone (rated R); Billy Zane plays the title role in the 1996 comicbook adaptation The Phantom (rated PG); and 1998’s disaster/heist thriller Hard Rain (rated R) stars Morgan Freeman, Christian Slater, Randy Quaid, Minnie Driver and Edward Asner. Each Blu-ray retails for $19.99.
“STORIES FROM THE VAULTS”: SEASON TWO (Smithsonian Networks/Infinity Entertainment Group): Host Tom Cavanagh takes viewers on an insider’s tour of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC in all eight episodes from the 2009 season of the Smithsonian Network series. The DVD retails for $19.98, the Blu-ray for $29.98.
Mark Burger can be heard Friday mornings on the “Two Guys Named Chris” radio show on Rock-92. 2010, Mark Burger !
