EPiC: ELVIS PRESTLEY IN CONCERT

To say that Elvis Presley has played a role in my life would feel like an understatement. The King of Rock'n'Roll has been a staple of music and a source of so many core memories over my 37 years that if I got into even a fraction of detail here, this review would be 14 paragraphs long.

So as the lights went dim, and the overlay of "Can't Help Falling In Love" began to echo the sweet and sultry voice of Elvis in that IMAX theatre on a Wednesday morning, I found myself having an emotional response - happy tears, of course - taking a stroll down a lane I had never visually visited before. One where the King was still young and vibrant. Full of laughter and love, joking with his bandmates and gearing up for a transcendent tenure in Las Vegas - something that we to this day still associate with Elvis. I was at an all time theatrical fever pitch, for a documentary of a man who has been gone for nearly 50 years. Baz Luhrmann's EPiC felt like home, and my wife, and dancing with my mom in the kitchen while growing up again, and quite frankly the documentary could have been four hours long and I would have still been smiling ear to ear the entire time. It is that damn good.

Featuring never before seen footage of Elvis Presley, director and Elvis mega-fan Baz Luhrmann (who directed the 2022 bio-pic starring Austin Butler), starts the documentary off with a quick timeline of Elvis' life before his residency in Las Vegas in 1969. Elvis' rise is showcased quickly, spliced together with clips from CBS' Stage Show and the infamous Ed Sullivan Show along with performances from state fairs as he rose in popularity.

The documentary pivots for a quick second to highlight his time overseas in the army - where he would of course meet his wife Priscilla - followed by a whirlwind of clips from some of his movies like Bossa Nova and several others. It's almost blatantly obvious that the objective here by Luhrmann and his editing team was to show how bad those films were, leading to a moment of true transparency where Elvis candidly tells a reporter that they were not the films he wanted to make. Luckily, or so it seems, they steered Presley back into doing what he does best - performing on a stage with a guitar in his hand.

Once the stage is set for Elvis' residency at the International Hotel in July of '69, we are bombarded with over an hour of beautifully edited pieces of Elvis and his band rehearsing, along with performances on that International hotel stage in front of a live audience. The footage is jaw droppingly beautiful for something that is nearly 50 years old, looking restored and crisp. The rehearsal footage shows a softer, gentler, even funnier side of Elvis that some people (including myself) have never seen. We see the bonds and friendships the King had forged with his fellow performers and get to bask in the process of them putting together a show that would go on to become a staple in the landscape and legend that was Elvis' career.

The performance clips of Elvis on stage at the International are reason enough for anyone - whether familiar or a fan of Elvis or not - to watch this film. The colors of the International hotel, along with the Vegas strip of the summer of '69 flourish in 4k. The clips give us a taste of the brilliance and presence he brought to that stage, with the rhinestones, jumpsuits, gyrating in full force, better than any footage before. Vegas’ glitz and glamour is full frontal, with the bright oranges and full three piece suits on show in the crowd, all the while the haze of cigarette smoke fills the room making the footage still seem like a product of its time transported in a time machine.

It's a full force, roller coaster ride of a concert performance doc that sonically revels.

As a lifelong Elvis fan, I expected the hits to be front and centre during this film but much to my surprise, enjoyed Luhrmann's choice to include songs that were not in Elvis' original catalogue. Of course Hound Dog; Are You Lonesome Tonight? and Always on My Mind get their time to shine, but getting the chance to see songs like Polk Salad Annie and The Beatles' classic Get Back included put a gigantic, unexpected smile on my face. The most electrifying moment of this hour and 40 minute runtime though was hearing the King absolutely shred The Righteous Brother's 1964 classic You've Lost That Loving Feeling.

Baz Luhrmann's EPiC was a transcendent experience - like entering the Church of Elvis while he sang a gospel, surpassing every single expectation I ever had for this film. As mentioned before, this could have been four hours long, and I would have been as glued to my seat at hour four as I was at minute one. As we near The 50th anniversary of King of Rock'n'Roll's passing next year in 2027, this new found interest by the public warms my heart, allowing a new generation of Elvis fans to emerge while lifelong fans like my wife and I get to continue to preach that Elvis is one of the greatest performers to ever live.