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Any Extras? Please!

By Peder Olsson, September 19, 2002 | Other
The news is out that both the ´68 Comeback Special and the Aloha from Hawaii are going to be upgraded for DVD release. This is good, and very welcome news to us. But as always, as an Elvis fan, you start to hope for much but what can we expect?



When we got TTWII-SE I became disappointed. First there were some essential performances that didn't pass through the copyright renewals. Plus I think it was a bit short. If they do it, why don't they do it all the way, I asked myself. We got no extras except for a pretty uninspiring documentary of the remake. Although I must say it is a fantastic product if I hadn't known what's missing. However, all Elvis original DVD’s seem always to lack the real goodies. Although it’s great to watch the movies in crisp resolution in original wide format, with the option of 1:33 format on the flip side which is clever, we never get any outtakes (being it with or without sound) or interviews nor any extras.



Maybe the problem is that Elvis is an artist who still makes too much money for his own good. So the companies keep things in their barns for future releases because he still draws a too large and broad audience for making special treats worth the effort. The good ol' stuff in a new package is good enough for making the money it seems.



So what do I want from these new expected releases? I want a double DVD-set including the original '68 Comeback Special. As extras I want the officially unreleased sit-down segment and at least one unedited stand-up segment plus rehearsals and outtakes. And a documentary about the making of the special would be nice. Or in my dreams, everything available from the special on a double or boxed DVD - yeah, dream on!


As for the Aloha release: the whole press conference from Las Vegas plus the whole original show. If there is any outtake/related material I would like that to be included too. And if the Alternate Aloha is up for new release too, that would also have to be the whole show plus the extra songs after the show with song outtakes. What do I expect? The original specials in a(s) crisp (as possible) resolution, not missing a great song here and there because of copyright problems, great sound and some photo stills as extras. Isn't it painful to be an Elvis fan? But that’s just my opinion.