Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley

This is a a very good documentary of Elvis Presley. It is centered around his 1968 Comeback Special. The film is a sort of companion piece to the highly successful Baz Luhrmann film. Baz is heavily interviewed together with the Priscilla Presley. There is more here than the 1968 Comeback- the main part of the story is what lead to the need for the Comeback at all. That was a series of monetarily momentous, yet culturally disastrous decisions by his Manager, Col. Tom Parker. The footage is great. The music is great. The film is not too long. I highly recommend this for Elvis fans, or for people not too familiar.

Gives new life to an incredible story. But does not do justice to his fascination with religion. Elvis used to carry a Bible with him everwhere, and he would ask friends to open to a page at random, pick a verse, and he would complete the verse from memory. In my IMDb comment on the original ELVIS THE COMBACK SPECIAL (1968) -- on my IMDb list of best all-time films -- I suggested that, decades from now, historians looking back at our present time period will note that, of the many dozens of Conspiracy Theories floating around, the Bob Joyce controversy was the only one that could actually produce a smile. The world is a brighter place with him still in it. Do your own research. Start with "Clark Kent Syndrome." ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

This is an EXCELLENT Documentary about The Greatest Showman/Entertainer Of All Time. The Documentary tells the Elvis story from the very beginning, and throughout his amazing career as a singer/entertainer, including his many ups, and some downs. His story is told through the people who knew him well. The documentary shows many wonderful photographs of him throughout his colourful career. Showing many clips of him singing lot's of his great songs, many clips of his shows/concerts, his interviews, and personal family/friends footage, though a lot of it on view to the general public, which would follow him around throughout his life, as though he was 'public domain'. I know the many legions of Elvis Fans around the world, including the many hundreds or thousands of Elvis impersonators, who will have seen the many documentaries made of Elvis, to know how this latest documentary compares to the previous one's, and how good they think it is. For me, who has 'Johnny Cash' as my number one singer, and seen a number of Elvis documentaries over the years, find this one my favourite. Really nice to see, and hear Bruce Springsteen talking highly of Elvis. Like me, I do hope you all enjoy this highly rated Elvis documentary. (ps)

Whether you are a big fan or someone just starting to learn about Elvis Presley's story, anyone who watches this super production will see facts, reflections and discoveries that are increasingly surprising when we think about the artist's masterpieces, his humanization, personal trajectory, his feelings and their impact on the American entertainment industry (which spread throughout the world).

More than that. Anyone who watches this documentary will see how the man's life was partly shaped and even impacted (both positively and negatively) by the captains of industry, and how the paths of Elvis and even society could have been different and more lasting if it weren't for the evil greed of others.

When I first read the title, I was displeased with the fact that it insinuated that there was in fact a "fall" of Elvis Presley, since to this day his works and actions are admired and arouse strong emotions and projects all over the world. But if you read it carefully, you'll notice that the "rise" comes after the "fall", showing how he recovered from difficult times and continues to rise in music, movies, art, fashion, business and society.

A beautiful, true documentary, with fans, historians, colleagues and relatives who really lived with him and know what happened at the time, as well as artists and professionals today who know how he must have felt, with the empathy that only those who live in the same environment know how this business works.

Even as a "documentary" with sincere and exciting facts, the production brings action, suspense, lots of energy and intimate views on different moments in the life of the King of Rock, from before he won this title, to the phase of one of his greatest artistic achievements, known as the '68 Comeback Special show (the first musical acoustic recorded and televised) that changed many trajectories, both in Elvis's life and in the lives of several other artists and the public.

Those who know the story may feel like something is missing at the end, since even after the shocking ending of the 1968 show (which is the focus of the documentary), Elvis actually continued his career with another 9 years full of innovations and stardom in his Las Vegas phase, show circuits all over the US, new successful films, the first show broadcast via satellite to the entire world and other artistic and personal changes of great value.

Since the king's life was relatively short, but full of such great achievements compared to the short time he was physically with the public, there really wouldn't be enough space in this particular production to show all the rest of it. There are already other works that talk about these other complex and spectacular moments.

But whether or not this rest of his life is present in this documentary, what anyone can feel after watching the work, as after listening to any album or watching any other show by the great Elvis Presley, is that good feeling of "I want more".

The story of Elvis is the quintessential triumphant tragedy story. From a truly dirt, poor person to the highest points of stardom and still being held back from even more lightning in a bottle by Colonel Tom Parker, not letting him tour overseas. But I always grab me about the story is that there was no blueprint for anything back then. Certainly they were great singers, actors, etc. But this level of fame was different. For all the different reasons, whether they were good reasons or bad, or somewhere in between Elvis was the chosen one. And he struggled with that for most of his life. I enjoy hearing people giving him reverence for his contributions and his story. It is tragic beyond words how his the Klein affected him and was so rapid. At least he ate the world before they eat him. Incredibly sad. I would give this a nine, but only because I want more. Hopefully they'll be another one of like this covering the Vegas years. I agree with some of the other posters here. This wasn't all that in-depth. There's much more to say by people who were really there. But the Elvis machine keeps feeding the masses because so many of us want it. He was just simply taken too soon and people like me want more. I've never seen an artist be copied by so many tribute artist across the world. It always amazes me to see people putting so much effort and making a career out of it essentially. An amazing man for sure with an amazing story.