Inside G.I. Blues

Elvis Unlimited released a Special Edition Box of their publication “Inside G.I. Blues”. Do we get the definitive “inside” view on this movie?

The design

The book comes in a well designed box with the book, a DVD, a vinyl single and postcards, a very complete package. The entire set is designed in the red white and blue military style which is so familiar for the movie and printed, full color on glossy paper.

The book

With an Elvis movie book with the title “Inside …” we can’t help but thinking about Ger Rijff’s classic series of books on Elvis’ movies. Ger’s books followed the line of the movie, sometimes literally following the script. This book has a wider perspective. The content is divided into several chapters and deal with the movie, the people making the movie, a day by day sequence, the recording of the soundtrack and memorabilia, lots of it.

The book is mainly a picture book, browsing all photos it sure looks like our man had a good time filming one of his last more entertaining movies. The photos are taken from the movie and off-stage, looking at these Elvis must have been busy on and off the movie stage. This release is not pictures only, the text in this book, written by Megan Murphy and Henryk Matraszek, is very informative and sticking to the facts, dates, actors and others involved.

The DVD

The DVD contains the well known original trailer and an unknown trailer entitled “G.I. Hope you like it” which includes never before seen footage of Elvis. Also interesting to see is footage from Thailand on the meeting of the Taiwanese King and Queen with Elvis on the set of the movie. We miss the translation of this item, but the footage is new to us and a nice visual from the old days.

The vinyl

The 45 rpm single comes like an original with an old label and original, rare, content a nice touch.

The conclusion

This release is a very complete package, writing the definitive story on this movie. The only thing missing to make this the definitive package is the movie itself.