Review of Elvis The Great Performances (Volume 2)

Introduction

This is the second volume of The Great Performances, this time chronicling his army days, movie career and Elvis where he felt the most relaxed: at home at Graceland.

The similarities between this volume and the first volume is so much (in terms of the DVD), that the disc review is almost identical.

Video

It is presented in 4:3 Fullscreen, a mixture of colour and black & white footage, shot throughout his 20 year `reign`. The print (or make that prints) is crisp throughout, and it is free of dust or grain. Although a remastered, anamorphic widescreen, transfer would have been great (and it would have improved the quality slightly), seeing Elvis in traditional form does add some authenticity to it.

The footage from Elvis` army days is the most interesting, for instance when he gets off a boat to carry on with his duties, the crowd goes wild over this one G.I., and they demand autographs!

Audio

A choice of a DD 5.1 or Dolby Stereo track is on offer. The DD 5.1 track makes good use of the surrounds, so the addictive rhythm of the songs are reproduced well in crisp surround sound. The stereo track is a good alternative if you don`t have a 5.1 setup, but of course, the impact you get from the surrounds is much better.

The main audio stream of the narration is clear and crisp, and the ambience levels during the songs are just right. On this volume there are 14 of his songs, most notably "G.I. Blues", "Return To Sender" and "Always On My Mind".

Features

Again, the main extra on the disc is a photo gallery, with stills from his various performances. As well as this (and face it, it`s a sparse extra), there are some good interactive menus, first of all asking you what audio setup you want, before you get the choice of watching the documentary, watching one of the 14 songs (some of the songs are incorporated into the documentary), watching the videos of Elvis with friends and family (again, some of these are in the documentary) or taking a look at the photo gallery.

Although it would have been nice to improve the extras for this volume, the documentary is interesting enough to satisfy you.

Conclusion

This second volume is just as interesting as the first, and treads on new ground, which is good. The choices of songs are fresh as well, meaning by the end of this volume, you have witnessed almost every significant event in the King`s life.

This volume has some exclusive moments, such as his first recording ("My Happiness"), footage of him serving barbeques to his friends and family at Graceland, and as mentioned before, footage from his army days.

All in all, this is another great insight into Elvis Presley, and hopefully the third volume will continue the tradition. Again, this comes recommended.