Whilst Elvis was made by Carpenter for TV in 1979, it was actually later granted a UK cinema release the next year. With the running being nearly three hours long, that made for many aching buttocks in cinemas up and down the country.

But, fortunately, Elvis is anything but a chore. Yes, some of Carpenter’s stylistic flourishes will have had to have been removed so that he can not stray too far away from the traditional TV biopic genre. But there’s still plenty here to show that it was expertly crafted and the TV movie was rightfully nominated for an Emmy.

But, most importantly, it features Kurt Russell who is amazing as The King. It sounds like a cliche but you really do think it’s him.

This would, of course, mark the debut of one of cinema’s most brilliant director/actor partnerships. We will get to see how truly brilliant this is very soon.

4 out of 5 stars