Elvis His Best Friend Remembers is a DVD that is done from the private collection of "Diamond Joe" Eposito. Joe worked with Elvis for nearly twenty years. Over the years Joe has served in many roles to Elvis from best friend, bodyguard, bookkeeper, co-best man at his wedding and road manager through thousands of concerts.

They met in Germany while both were serving in the Army. They spent a holiday in Paris, France where they got to become better friends. Elvis asked Joe if he would work for him when they got back to the United States. Joe gladly agreed. He was with Elvis for 26 out of 31 feature films that Elvis was in. He was Elvis’ most trusted and reliable confidant and the highest-ranking member of Elvis’ inner circle “The Memphis Mafia”. Joe was at his side for over 6,000 live performances. This DVD has over 500 rare photos, rare footage, interviews and film clips.

There is a picture shown of a big house that Elvis rented while he was in Germany. Elvis’ beloved mother, Gladys, passed away while Elvis was in Germany. There is footage of Elvis as he stands in the falling snow as he is leaving to come home from the Army. Elvis was very patriotic and really loved the United States. He talked about his experience serving in the Army. There is a clip of Elvis, Joe and Frank Sinatra from 1960. There is some footage of Elvis as he is with his fans signing autographs. Jailhouse Rock was the third movie that Elvis made. It made him an international movie star. Three of his thirty-one movies were done in Hawaii. He also took karate lessons.

On May 1, 1967 Elvis married Priscilla. He was 32 at the time. He bought her a 20-carat diamond ring. There is footage from his intimate wedding ceremony. There were only a few close friends and family in attendance. Hawaii was Elvis’ favorite vacation spot. He bought an airplane, which was called “Lisa Marie” for $275,000. There is footage of an interview before his first concert in New York. In February 1968 his daughter, Lisa Marie, was born. She was his pride and joy. He would buy her anything and everything she ever wanted. He felt guilty for being away from her so much.

Also in 1968, he did a comeback special on NBC. It was the highest rated show that year. Doing that show made him want to get back touring. Elvis took his last vacation in March 1977 with Ginger Laden. Joe shares the last minutes of Elvis’ life. Joe was at Graceland at the time of his death on August 16, 1977. He chokes up with emotion as he shares of the ending of Elvis’ life. Elvis was only 42 at the time of his death.

Main Menu:

1. Chapters
2. Bonus Materials
3. Languages
4. Play

Chapters:

1. Burning Love-Intro
2. The Army Years
3. A Star is Born
4. Jailhouse Rock
5. The King Loves Karate
6. Elvis at the Movies
7. E.P. Buys a Boat
8. Las Vegas Wedding
9. Vacations
10. The Lisa Marie Jet
11. NYC Press Conference
12. Elvis, Priscilla, and Lisa Marie
13. Colonel Tom Parker
14. Texas Loves Elvis
15. Comeback Special
16. Onstage in the 1970’s
17. Singer Kathy Westmoreland
18. Elvis and Linda Thompson
19. Backstage with Elvis
20. Aloha from Hawaii
21. Elvis’ Last Vacation
22. August 16, 1977
23. Cry Like Memphis (Music Video Tribute)
24. End Titles

Bonus Chapters:

1. The World Mourns
2. Touring Memphis
3. Candlelight Vigil
4. Memorabilia Auctions
5. Elvis Has Left the Building
6. The Impersonators
7. World’s Biggest Fan?
8. World’s Nuttiest Fan?

More of Joe’s Favorite Stories:

9. Elvis Buys a Chimp
10. Germany, 1959
11. A Kiss from Don Ho

Misc. Information:

The captions are all in English. The subtitles can be read in English, Spanish, French or they can be turned off. The sound is in English Dolby 2.0. Also included is Joe’s bio, which is in text format. The total running time is 2 hours, 10 minutes. This is a Universal Studios Home Video.

The sound and the picture were both great on the DVD. I had no problems at all. The menus were very easy to navigate through and I didn’t have any problems in that area either.

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed watching this DVD very much. There were so many pictures of Elvis, but I didn’t see any from his childhood. There were no pictures of Elvis with his mother. I saw one of him with his father. The pictures were mostly from the time Elvis was in the army up until a few months before his death. There were pictures of him while he served his country in Germany. There were pictures of him performing concerts and from the sets of movies. There were wedding photos and some pictures of him with Lisa Marie.

Also included were some clips of Elvis as he did interviews and talked about different things. I would have loved to have seen some footage of him actually singing, but there was not included. I would have really liked to have seen some interviews with some other people who were close to Elvis especially Priscilla or Lisa Marie.

In the bonus section they had actual tapes of a couple of news broadcasts that had announced the passing of Elvis. It was so funny to see how different things are today from back then. Twenty-five years sure makes a difference in how people dress and the sound and picture of the program.

I thought the world’s nuttiest fan was pretty funny. She owns a house that Elvis had bought for someone that worked for him. Elvis spent time in the house many times and now she thinks his spirit visits there. There is a steamed looked on her sliding glass door and she swears there is an image of Elvis on the glass. She also says that the name Elvis comes up on her bathroom mirror when she takes a shower and there is steam in the bathroom. She was an interesting character for sure.

Also included on the DVD was footage from inside Sun Studio which is in Memphis. That is where Elvis got his start on his musical career. It is now set up exactly how it was when he first came there. By the way, that is also where Johnny Cash got his start.

I found this entire Elvis documentary to be very interesting.

Related Reviews:

Graceland


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8