When I was growing up in the seventies, I remember Elvis very well. He was the man, the king of not only rock and roll, but of all American music. He did it all from regular standards, country, gospel and of course Rock and roll. I like to think of Elvis as the "King of American music. He was loved by people of all ages. You can't put him in a box-you can't catorgorize him-he does it all.

Far superior to any previous home-video version, this huge 2 disc deluxe edition of ‘Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii’ captures over four hours of footage from the King's historic televised concert from January 1973.

The main concert is presented in its entirety for the first time since its original worldwide satellite telecast, and re-edited to remove the now-dated split-screen "montage" look. But that's not all, as a prelude to the concert, the first disc includes 17 uncut minutes of the "Elvis arrives" footage (only 2 minutes of which appears in the concert film) followed by the complete rehearsal concert that took place two days before the telecast. This rehearsal, which was released separately on video as The Alternate Aloha Concert, is rougher than the official show, but more relaxed and often satisfying musically.

Leading off disc 2 is footage of five songs (Blue Hawaii, Ku-U-I-Po,No More, Hawaiian Wedding Song, and Early Morning Rain), including multiple takes, recorded after the performance, four of which No More, was the exception were incorporated into the American television special that was shown a few months after the live telecast. Those four songs are not included in the uncut version of the concert on disc 1, but the original version of the American television special is also on disc 2, so you can watch the concert the way you've always watched it for the sake of nostalgia, or you can compare it to all the other pieces you've seen and decide which you like better.

Here’s a short review on each "Chapter" on this DVD.

Disc 1:

(Running Time 2.18.77)

Chapter 1:

"Elvis Arrives and greets fans"

This is the unedited version-17 minutes of what amounted to 2-3 min of footage that was included in the American version of the concert.

Chapter 2:

"Rehearsal concert"

2 days before the original broadcast-Elvis and his band and 6,000 fans did this concert. It was a precaution-if anything went wrong with the satellite feed-they would have this concert as a backup-of course-nothing went wrong. This concert is a bit shorter-but the music and performance was very good.

Chapter 3:

"Elvis, Aloha from Hawaii concert"

This version is the original concert as it was broadcast over satellite on 14^th January, 1973. This is basically the no frills version of the concert. Americans had to wait 3 months to see this concert in April of 1973.

Disc 2: (Running Time: 1.43.39)

Chapter 1:

"post-concert 'insert' songs session"

Elvis and the band gathered to do 5 songs that(4 songs)would be inserted into the American version of the concert.

Chapter 2:

"Elvis, Aloha From Hawaii-NBC TV special" This is the American Version of the concert-broadcast on 4^th April, 1973. Including four of the songs that was done after the concert along with outdoor footage of Hawaii. He does a lot of popular songs of the 50's thru 70's. Favorites are Something and Fever, but then again all of the songs are good.

Some of his other songs that are in this DVD and a few of my favorites include a rollicking version of See See Rider, Burning Love, You Gave Me a Mountain. Presley also gives spirited renditions of his hits including Suspicious Minds, A Big Hunk of Love as well as some selections by other well know artists I Can't Stop Loving You (Ray Charles), Fever (Peggy Lee), and I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry (Hank Williams).

With 24 songs performed, there is bound to be something for every Presley fan. Finally, It comes back to the performance of one of the seminal singers of the 20th Century and what a performance it was captured here for future generations to discover and enjoy. Thanks to the dedication and hard work of those at Graceland and BMG to bring this on DVD, Elvis lives on-Long live the King.

The DVD package is an attractive white case, with gold embossing on it. The case opens three fold, two sides holding the DVDs, and the other side holding liner notes of the DVD contents booklet with some amazing images of Elvis.

Media Format: ‎ Color, DVD, NTSC

Run time: ‎ 4 hours and 1 minute

Release date: ‎ 22^nd June, 2004

Language: ‎ English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), Unqualified

Studio: ‎ Sony Legacy

Number of discs: ‎ 2

Rating: *****

Reviewed by Verus Ferreira