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5. "Aloha From Hawaii"
On Jan. 14, 1973, Elvis Presley strode on stage at the Honolulu International Center in his white jumpsuit to the strains of Richard Strauss' "2001" defining theme ("Also Sprach Zarathustra") launched into "C.C. Rider" and made television history. The live concert was beamed by satellite all over the world -- except, ironically, the United States, where the broadcast was delayed for three months, trimmed and topped off with four additional songs performed after the audience left, solely for the cameras. It's not Elvis at his best necessarily -- the rehearsal concert (also available on DVD) is better -- but it was his last blast of television glory.

4. "Elvis: That's the Way It Is"
The definitive portrait of Elvis the Vegas headliner follows the King through his 1970 summer engagement in Las Vegas from backstage bustle to box-office hustle to 27 stage numbers. The original release of Elvis' rebirth as a Vegas showman was a concert rockumentary interspersed with interviews, backstage material and a wealth of footage featuring the King in rehearsal. The 2001 home video revision jettisons the fan interviews for more music, all for the better, but the rehearsals are still a highlight, where Elvis jokes and laughs with an ease that stand in sharp contrast to his mumbling onstage banter. Is the King nervous in his live comeback? Only between songs, it seems: He pours sweat into a passionate performance, but when he sings, it sounds effortless.

3. "This Is Elvis"
The 1981 documentary begins with awkward recreations of Elvis' early life but soon turns into an excellent introductory portrait of the country boy turned rock 'n' roll phenomenon and his roller-coaster ride to superstardom and isolation. Elvis narrates from beyond the grave (courtesy of impersonator by Ral Donner) the rich selection of TV and film clips: from home movies and newsreel footage and press conferences to his legendary TV appearances and clips from the best (and worst) of his movies. It also features my favorite piece of Elvis arcana: growling "Witchcraft" while Frank Sinatra croons "Love Me Tender" as a swing-a-ding-ding number. It was expanded for home video version with even more priceless footage than the original theatrical version. For completists, co-director Andrew Solt gathered Elvis' small-screen appearances in a trio of TV specials (collected on "Elvis: The Great Performances Box Set"), but they lack the focus and shape of this well-made (if somewhat timid) portrait.

2. "The '68 Comeback Special"
More than 10 years after his legendary "Ed Sullivan" appearances and eight years after his last live performance, Elvis reinvented himself in just more than an hour (sans commercials) of network television, strutting onstage with a confidence and fire unseen since the '50s and a newfound maturity never before seen. He tours through his high-energy standards, gamely plunges into campy production numbers (watch for his karate kicks in the "Guitar Man" sequence) and offers his gospel-infused answer to the folk-song pleas for a better world in his climactic number, "If I Can Dream." "It's been a long time baby," he mumbles to his audience between pieces of a medley. It's more than that: We've witnessed the phoenixlike resurrection of the dynamic, modern Elvis Presley.

1. "One Night With You"
The King's finest post-1950s hours are found in the 1968 jam sessions with original guitarist Scotty Moore, drummer D.J. Fontana and friends, recorded in front of a live audience for "The '68 Comeback Special." Only portions of the two live sessions were included on the original special, but now these complete Elvis unplugged sessions live on as his greatest preserved performances. He's relaxed and easygoing, making music and cracking wise with his friends, recapturing the spontaneity and joy of making music heard in those early Sun sessions. The King has never looked more relaxed or at ease as he jams, chats and jams some more as he rocks the night away and reminds the world that he's still the once and future King.

Pretenders to the Throne -- The Best Elvis Impersonators on the Screen

Since his death in 1977, Elvis Presley has been portrayed on the big screen and the small screen by a host of actors, from Don Johnson in "Elvis and the Beauty Queen" to Val Kilmer in "True Romance." Here are the best of the men who would be the King.

3. Jonathan Rhys Meyers in "Elvis: The Miniseries"
The Irish actor with overripe lips has the casual sneer down cold and he works hard at giving us the contradictions that Peter Guralnick brilliantly explored in his biography, but he never quite gets the soul under the torment.

2. Michael St. Gerard in "Elvis: The Series"
In this short-lived but lovingly produced series, St. Gerard gives us the nice, polite Memphis, Tenn., boy before his national fame, a modest young man as surprised as anyone else when his R&B/rockabilly performances incite audiences in small clubs and country fair performances.

1. Kurt Russell in "Elvis: The Movie"
Kurt Russell (who, as a child, kicked Elvis in the shins onscreen in 1963's "It Happened at the World's Fair") is the king of Kings in John Carpenter's 1979 TV movie. His drawl is dead-on yet unforced and his stage performances seem to channel the spirit of Elvis without actually mimicking his moves. More importantly, he shows us the man in the bubble, trapped by the very success that has made his fame and fortune.

Special Mention: Bruce Campbell in "Bubba Ho-Tep"
Senior citizen Elvis battles a mummy in a retirement home with little more than a walker and creaky kung fu moves! Campbell is brilliant as a sad suggestion of a dethroned King who drove away everyone he loved and now rots away in near solitude while the world is convinced he's dead (well, not everyone). "Hail to the King, baby."

Get a good look at the King through photos: In Focus: Elvis Presley | Elvis in Film

More on Elvis from MSNBC: Roots and Influences