Gladiators

been waiting years for this to be finally released 'officially' by graceland!-it was stopped by graceland lawyers in 2001,but now given a proper dvd release!!(it will prove beyond doubt that elvis was indeed a true martial artist and not a fake black belt as most poeple claim or try to say)..the only snag is the fact it appaers to be very hard to find pre-order at the moment?-i have searched the entire webb and not even amazon can find it for sale yet!(is shopelvis the only place that you can order this dvd from??-it appears so??)..can anyone help me in knowing wether or not this dvd will be released world-wide and in the uk or just available to fans in the usa???.

pasa-ryu, I pre-ordered the DVD from Essential Elvis.

i managed to pre-order this excellant dvd from elvis.com only two weeks ago and I just received it today!-it only cost me $14 AND AN EXTRA $14 for postage and packing,making the whole price $30 dollars,but well worth it.(it worked out only costing myself £19.00 in total)..to be honest,i would have paid alot more as this dvd is unique and a true collector item!..i wonder how much "Essential elvis" are asking for the same dvd?(i am not a great fan of essential elvis to be honest,as i had some very bad expriences with items i ordered in 2004,but i wont go into details as i do not want to get 'banned' from elvisnews.com,..lets just say i am glad i never had to purchase the dvd from essential elvis)i am very impressed with this dvd and really was impressed with the booklet you get inside the caase aswell as the very nice 6 postcards included with the dvd!!-a very nice treat and i am going to frame the 6 postcards a.s.a.p. and order another dvd copy from elvis.com as i want a 'spare' dvd copy to have the 6 postcards still inside the dvd case...Regarding the karate footage:awsome and very intresting indeed to watch,it was nice to master kang rhee and bill "superfoot" wallace recieving his 4 degree black blet from Elvis(elvis was then the current highest black belt in the dojo-even higher than his master was)all in all,a must have dvd for any elvis fan and a must have dvd for lovers of martial arts(like myself)this dvd finaly lays to rest the misconception by most people that elvis was fake black belt or that he paid for his black belt with money...it is a pity this dvd is easy to get hold for us uk fans.

I just recieved the new magazine from the superb "o.e.p.f.c."(official elvis presley fan club)and they now have it for sale for only £15.00,a good price when you consider it cost me $30 dollars to pre-order it from elvis.com(costing myself £19.00)..i might consider even purchasing another dvd as i want one dvd copy to keep and one dvd to frame the 6 postcards inside the dvd case!..as i was greatly impressed with postcards and they would look very nice indeed framed on my wall with my Elvis karate memorabillia collection..the footage is the best i have ever seen it and it is available to watch with or without audio commentry by master wayne Carmen..i also enjoyed the bonus features of the 1968 comeback special karate segment outtakes,aswell as the very nice 50 photos of Elvis in his karate gi and other karate poeple(red west,ed parker,etc,etc.)..I highly recommend any Elvis fan to get this awsome dvd soon as they possibaly can!-i also recommend it for lovers of the martial arts!!-it proves thta elvi was indeed a true "black belt".

I checked out the entire internet and just realised that "GLADIATORS" is NOT available to UK/ Europeans fans untill at-least JANUARY 10TH'2010.(thats a long time to wait)..i was very lucky in pre-ordering this awsome dvd. (just realised that epe/graceland are offering this dvd in two formats; NTSC and PAL,i pre-ordered the NTSC vewrsion firstly as the PAL version wasn't available to order until recently,so i also just pre-orddred the PAL version aswell and should get this new PAL version in about two weeks time??(it still quicker than having to wait 3 months for it to be released here in UK. My advice to Elvis fans who are dying to see this dvd too purchase this great dvd fro melvis.com and not to bothet waiting to get from amazon or anyone else!!9besides,i have noticed that if you pre-order the same dvd from say amazon,play or any else in the uk you are gonna end up paying more money for it)..do not be ripped off!!

I received my copy from Essential Elvis UK on 3rd October - £11.99 inclusive. The packaging is nice in every respect, but the content is NOT awesome - such an overused word ! The video visual quality is excellent but the original sound is virtually inaudible. The editing (visual) is amateurish but the voice-over by Wayne Carman is excellent. The extracts from the '68 Special are nowhere near the quality now freely available. In no way does this DVD prove Elvis's abilities as a martial artist, but that is not meant to denigrate him in that respect. What we need is a DVD devoted to Elvis's involvement with karate starting in 1960, orthe precise date was. It should feature amateur footage plus his use of karate, choreographically, both in films and on stage, and with a well written story narrative. Now, that would be something ! This latest DVD is a treasure after all these years (I have waited 34 years!) but I would only give it 6 out of 10.

I 100% disagre with Steve morse!-this dvd DOES prove Elvis was a true martial(unless your an idiot)and if your a martial artist(like myself who does JU JITSU)it is even more enjoyable in seeing elvis show his passion for the martial arts and it is good in seeing the other martial artists on the dvd,such the lgendary Bill "superfoot" Wallace..Elvis was the chief instructor and awarded Bill Wallace his 4th dan in this dvd..this film would have ahead of its time if releaszed in 1974(and completed)..Elvis' passion was for EVERYONE to study martail arts-even old poeple, kids, everyone!! Lets not forget, children were NOT allowed to gain "black belts" in the 1970's and it was Elvis' aim to get martail arts accpted as a sport and so EVERYONE can earn a black belt.(i.e. you can get get a black belt at 13 years old nowadays-then you could not)This dvd is a must have for lovers of elvis and Martial arts!!-it finaly proves that elvis was a true black belt and colonel Tom parker was a fool making Elvis stop this project!!(to sing songs)

I recieved another dvd copy from elvis.com as i decided to order the PAL version aswell as the previous NTSC version to see if thier is any difference in picture quality?;well,i opened the package today and put it in my dvd player and noticed thier is far less wavey lines than the previous ntsc version i purchased at the beginning of october(2nd october)..i ordered this particular pal version on the 11th october and recieved it today(not bad considering it came direct from the usa)and the average peson would not reconginse the picture qualtity difference at all!-i do think that this pal version is slighty better quality and glad i now own the 'both' formats as "Karate Elvis" has always been my most intresting thing about being an Elvis fan..and ialways knew that he was a real black-belt and knew that one-day epe/graceland would release this rare footage from thier vaults officaily one-day..a dream come true for me!!

Finally got a copy here in Holland. First, it is great to have so much of this material. That alone is allready worth the purchase. The documentary is imho not so good. There is no introduction, you are just launched into the material whereby the original sound is allmost impossible to hear and then abruptly interrupted by Wayne talking us through the film. I liked Waynes book but to hear him talk for an hour with comments like, "here Elvis is breaking the neck, it is hard to shoot when your neck is broken" and so on is quite irritating to me. Also you get to see the same footage from different angles but this is not clearly stated "Elvis is showing some hand techniques again"....It is better just to start with the bonus material and watch the raw footage without Waynes commentary. The other material shot for the original intended movie (in Europe) is not included. No 8mm shots from Elvis on stage performing karate or excerpts from movies. So, as a documentary about Elvis and karate (and tae kwondo) this dvd leaves much to desire. Nevertheless i am still very happy to finally see the original material. Niek