 | |
List Price: $9.99 | | Label: Universal Studios
Salesrank: 48878
Released: July 30, 2002 |
| Our Price: $3.65 |
| Used Price: $1.63 |
|
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
|
Editorial Review:
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 ACCOUNT OF EXACTLYWHAT HAPPENED ON THE TRAGIC DAY OF ELVIS' DEATH.
Description of Elvis - His Best Friend Remembers:
Essentially an illustrated interview with longtime Elvis buddy Joe Esposito, Elvis: His Best Friend Remembers is meant for the hardcore Elvis fan only. Esposito met Presley in the Army and stayed a member of the "Memphis Mafia" for the rest of the King's life (and death--his account of finding Elvis's body is by far the most interesting part of the interview). Esposito's memories are cozy and sanitized; in his telling, the news that Elvis gave Tom Jones his first peanut butter sandwich while on vacation in Hawaii qualifies as a fascinating anecdote. Random footage from newsreels and various Presley press conferences is cut into the interview, along with a lot of vintage '60s Polaroids. As befits the bargain-basement ambience, there's not a single note of Elvis music to be heard. --Robert Horton
Elvis - His Best Friend Remembers Reviews:
Not his Best Friend 
2009-07-15 - Anyone who buys this DVD is soiling the Elvis legacy! Esposito was a mere friend that hung onto The KINGS coat tails. George Kline was the true BEST FRIEND of Elvis. He was friends with Elvis before the Army and before the Louisiana Hayride days all the way til the King died. And now carries on the positives that Elvis gave of himself via the Elvis channel on Satellite radio. George was his true Best Friend and if you ask any of the Memphis Mafia who was closest to Elvis, they would say George! Esposito was trying to get a buck by putting this together as some of his so called friends did, but George has never tried to prosper from Elvis or his death! I am appauld that Amazon would allow this to be sold and i'm upset that he got away with it after his family didn't want it released. His, so called friend released it with the family of Elvis saying NO!! That is just dispicable! And very tasteless, so please people don't support this DVD. It may be a good DVD in my opinion when I saw a pre-release showing, but it was not what the people who loved Elvis wanted out there. It is unforgivable to do something like this that involves someones death against their family wishes!
Joe way to go! 
2008-06-17 - I really enjoyed this DVD and thought it was a wonderful look into the King's private life. Joe allows us to see hundreds of rare and never before seen photos, which I thought were well worth the price of the DVD. There are also newsreels of Elvis and Joe does a wonderful job of telling us his recollections of his time with the King.
There is also a touching tribute song to Elvis towards the end that I thought was beautiful and Joe's touching recollection of Elvis's death really broke my heart. You won't be disappointed by this DVD if you love Elvis they way I do!!!! Make sure to also check out Joe's books "Remember Elvis", "Elvis Straight Up", "Celebrate Elvis" with Daniel Lombardy. I highly recommend them also. Great Job Joe.
"Elvis' Best Friend"???
2008-04-07 - If Joe E thinks he was Elvis' best friend, then Elvis had no decent friends at all. Very likely, Elvis was his best friend, and see what that got him!
Gee, everyone wants his best friend to tell such warped private details of said best friend's life after he dies.... Doesn't he?!?!?!?
Elvis was gifted, brilliant, a warm and loving human being. But you won't know that from Joe's book or many of the other Memphis Mafia books.
But it does serve to make Joe look good - which seems to be a trait of those called the Memphis Mafia - true leeches, now moving into their 70's, but still vying for top dog position - and nearly all of them are STILL sucking on the memory of Elvis for every last dime they can pull from his good deeds turned ugly by them.
And, in every book Joe has written, his story changes. What is truth? Where's the mention you sued Elvis after coercing him in to the racquetball deal? How about that you were double dipping and being paid as a spy for the Colonel to control and eventually ruin Elvis, but never told him or made it right?
Truth? Joe never knew it. Friendship? Joe knows even less about this subject than he knows about truth....Sorry, Joe, with friends like you.... who needs enemies?
Shockingly sanitized -- no wonder Elvis shot the television! 
2006-01-06 - 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.
New and Refreshing Account of Elvis by His Friend
2005-08-24 - Joe Esposito gives a more intimate potrayal from a perspective of the close, personal friend he was. Although it is obvious he remains loyal and enjoyed his years with The King of Rock and Roll, Joe gives a somewhat different perspective that what most fans are accustom. It's refreshing, especially from fans who have "read it all."
