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EIN's Piers Beagley has seen the film 5 times so far.... It’s been stated that "Elvis' impact was like the world went from black and white to Technicolor" and there is little doubt that Baz Luhrmann is the ideal director to capture the impact of Elvis on stage. Baz Luhrmann movies always have a similar feel of bursting into technicolor, they are loud, brash, super-colourful, fast-edited and exciting. As Elvis fanatics we are extremely lucky that Luhrmann happens to be such an Elvis Presley fan. After the success of his 'ELVIS' biopic and discovering the lost-footage Luhrmann basically used his own money to finance this follow-up documentary and then took it to market at the Toronto Film Festival to see which companies might be interested in distribution. Elvis fans have lot to be thankful for as ‘EPiC’ is the definitive documentary of not only Elvis the legend but also Elvis the creative genius who came from small-town Mississippi. Elvis died a long time ago so Luhrmann, along with editor Jonathan Redmond have to work hard to impress the general public - who will have heard the Elvis story before - and to quickly set-the-scene. But like any well-thought-out story arc ‘EPiC’ quickly lures you into to Elvis’ world with ‘Can’t Help Falling In love’, the passion of ‘An American Trilogy’ and the anticipation of ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra.’ You’re already feeling that ‘Elvis excitement’ and yet you’re less than 2 minutes in. The finale, 90 minutes later, very cleverly concludes with the same arc.
For the general public seeing Elvis tell his own story along with the candid home-movies, rehearsals and stunning live performances has to be a delicious discovery – yes, Elvis really was as impressive as that Austin Butler guy! For us hardened fanatics the newly found footage impresses at every edit, and there are so many little snippets in glorious quality that it is impossible to properly absorb it all in just one viewing. Luhrmann has spent so much money to make this film look fantastic and up to IMAX quality - that is an amazing technological feet in itself since Elvis On Tour was only shot on 16mm film - that at times it takes one's breath away.
And the sound quality is similarly stunning, clear and loud. Using Peter Jackson's (Beatles Get Back) team there is so much more revealed that you will never have heard before. One example is 'Oh Happy Day' where a poor-quality less-than 2 minute rehearsal has been magnificently transformed to sound like a new "2026" studio quality recording. And there are plenty more similar examples to be enjoyed on the recently released soundtrack album. At every Australian event Baz Luhrmann noted that it was "Elvis expert" Ernst Jorgensen who actually suggested that he searched the MGM vault for the new material. So there is no doubt that Jorgensen, who worked with editor Jonathan Redmond for several years on the film, was also a key player in creating this the well-researched documentary. The delightful section with Elvis sitting down playing his Gretsch guitar from his stunning TTWII August 12 midnight show is shown almost in full. Little Sister / Get Back never sounded finer. The vision quality is better than anything you have seen before and also from multiple camera angles. It is a highlight of the movie. During ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight?’ Elvis says, “sing it Armond” to Imperials’ bass-singer Armond Morales and right on cue this beautiful bass-line bursts out on the soundtrack. I have heard this concert so many times before but never noticed these tiny details. And there are so many more special moments that Luhrmann reveals – but we need to leave these as nice surprises. Audiophiles will be interested to note that James Burton’s lead guitar is placed left-channel and John Wilkinson’s rhythm guitar right channel. For once you can appreciate why John Wilkinson was an important part of the overall TCB sound.
In the movie Elvis not only comes across as our "superhero" but also as very down-to-earth, worried about how the performances might turn out, always interacting with his musicians and showing that he genuinely cared for his friends, his family and also his loving fans. The introductory section which quickly summarises Elvis in the 1950s (Hawaii ‘Gold Lame suit’ performance in great quality) and his 60s movie career is super-fast but cleverly still cuts between eras thus connecting with the main on-stage seventies material that we are all waiting for. Elvis’ spoken narrative has been sourced from various interviews but mainly from the famous 'On Tour' interview - which crazily never actually got used in the original film. It takes around 15 minutes before the film gets to the stunningly upgraded material from TTWII – and such a treat to see so much Opening night “Fringe-suit” footage in magnificent quality. With different camera angles and alternate edits, so many stunning close-ups, every August 1970 performance is phenomenal. The Elvis On Tour material truly begins after 55 minutes and the quality of the 1972 material is very impressive. In the past I have always thought Elvis looked a little pasty and tired in the EOT material but either clever editing or good colourisation has certainly improved Elvis’ look.
Core fans really will see Elvis go from B&W to glorious colour!
Baz, as always, keeps the film moving at a pretty hectic pace which neatly echoes Elvis’ own concerts and tours. Did Parker really need Elvis to do two concerts every night? Why on earth was the filmed Hampton Roads the second performance of the day? And yes, Baz once again presents Parker as the baddie in the movie! There is an stunning moment when Col Parker (the ‘Devil In Disguise’) is shown in a single flash-bulb moment lurking off stage at Elvis’ ‘red-suit’ April 10 Richmond performance. Consider the fact that Luhrmann / Jonathan Redmond watched 60 hours of unreleased material and spotted that one telling moment to include. The final selection of In The Ghetto / Men With Broken Hearts / Walk A Mile In My Shoes and Suspicious Minds flow together so beautifully it is the sublime ending. The surprise is that at the end ‘EPiC’ makes you feel truly sentimental for what Elvis achieved and what the world lost all too soon - and yes, I shed a tear - even though Elvis' sad later life and downfall is never mentioned. That in itself is very clever direction. ‘EPiC’ superbly presents the colour, the excitement and the true glory of Elvis but still manages to touch you with the emotion of the gentle side of Elvis – “I’m just an entertainer!” If you are an ELVIS fan you'd want it to be twice the length but for the "general public" 96 minutes seems just right. Hopefully the original 2 ½ hour version that has been mentioned will be released as the “Director’s Cut” on BluRay. Bootleg collectors will have seen the near complete August 12, 1970 Midnight show in poor quality and now Luhrmann confirms he also has the complete Hampton Roads April 9 1972 evening show. Released as a double BluRay set they would make this hard-core Elvis fan very, very, happy.
Those original 'Elvis In Concert' 'Big Screen' events 25 years ago with the original TCB Band were I believe the closest one could feel, post-1977, to witnessing Elvis in person - but as a film there is no doubt that ‘EPiC’ (especially in IMAX) is as close as you can get cinematically to the unbelievable sensation of seeing ELVIS live. As an Elvis fan I promise you will need to see it more than once.
EIN contributor Vince Alex has supplied his beautiful insight into the film.... The nucleus of EPiC the film, is the man who 'became' the song, whose genre/ race/ gender bending, gut-meets- groin- meets-heart music & persona forever redefined visceral art, and who melted into performance in ways where it becomes difficult to tell where the man begins and music ends. EPiC intuitively understands this essence of Elvis, and distills that eclectic immersiveness like a perfume. It does so by using a tactile cinematic and aural language, that allows the viewers to be enveloped in the close perimeter of the man and his music. Plenty of tight close ups & swirling mid-shots. Swiping transitions that match the movement on stage. The shifts in story are always guided by music. And I didn't find the need for a complete performance even once- because of the way individual songs are presented. Of course it is the masterstroke of using Elvis' own narration to thread the narrative. Elvis gets an agency in EPIC, unlike any other previous project. The absence of any other voice explaining him brings forth 'his' story with emphasis. The lilting and introspective narration from the Elvis On Tour interview. The cocky fifties confidence of "I don't think I am doing anything wrong", or "I have sold five million records, someone thinks it is music." The joking around on stage with a delight in pleasing the audience with his banter, with that characteristic smile. Shy and mischievous, and oh so sexually charged. His insights into his audience. The gospel significance. The young boy unguardedly laying down his hopes for future on the Blue Moon / June Juanico boat footage. His agency as a totally in-control artist is of course the soul of the film. Communicating his abstract ideas like a possessed Dervesh-meets-an-orchestra-conductor. Music flowing through his body is made vivid ‘till we see & feel every quiver, every shake, every thrust highlighted- look at this hand, look at that leg, look at this shimmying chest, look at that tapping foot, look at those upturned soulful eyes, look at that dripping with sweat hair. Stop, look and listen Baby.
And the central idea of rehearsals flowing onto stage. And the retina popping quality of footage, quite a lot of which is unseen. Kinetic editing. Superb sound design. The big screen experience. But beyond this, it is the intimate and pulsating storytelling that distinguishes it from everything that has come before, including the source films. The star's musical life force, genius and beauty are the tent-poles on which the narrative is firmly constructed. Soulful, sexy, funny, vulnerable, proud, in total control, loose, strutting, voluptuous, shy, otherworldly beautiful, goofball - the film lovingly presents the legend's seeming contradictions in all their glory and his one-ness with music, with array of cleverly strung imagery, shots, scenes. The long, lingering uninterrupted shot just before the rehearsal of Yesterday, for example. Or an extreme close up so we can see his eyes through tinted glasses from EOT gospel rehearsal. (Also, what astonishing blue colour. 'Anime eyes' on a real person.) Musical set pieces are edited with emotional rhythm that goes beyond the traditional concert film, and share some of the best contemporary performance art aesthetic. The organic music making process of Elvis and his musicians is centered. Polk Salad Annie, Burning Love, How Great Thou Art, You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin' segments are stand outs.
The musical and collegial cord that ties Elvis and his musicians as if they are his tentacles, also serves to emphasize the living- breathing- interconnected organism of the performance. Feral Ronnie. Quietly confident Burton. JD's reverent stare. Most highlighted are the vibrant Sweets. All of them sip from that life force that is Elvis and give him back their own. Editor Jonathan Redmond is simply obsessed with Elvis' hands!!! Give them hands a supporting cast credit of their own. The Dance-Anime like editing aesthetic is THE most intoxicating substance of the film. Swirling, slashing, throbbing, swaying. Accompanied by sound design that is telling a story, but also has a strong moody vibe. I have never before read or seen that Elvis took any interest in the lighting of Vegas performance. This was a revelation. Speaking of lighting, there are so many off-stage pivotal scenes that are underlit- but used in full for impact, for example the Vegas stage entry scene, or the final elevator shot. No prettying for the sake of it here. The orgiastic audience shots are sweeping, kinetic, chaotic. They are the surrogates for all of us watching it in 2026, very much part of the body and soul of this 'Elvis' ectoplasm.
Take the film makers' genius to use the fifties master of Love Me. It needs to be seen to fully get it, as they seamlessly move from the Ed Sullivan performance to intimate close ups of fans from EOT. "Love Me," Elvis croons. And love him they do. Or when Blue Moon starts playing on footage of June Juanico boat, and some colour footage of early fifties. Shivers down the spine. Btw, there is a lot of fifties footage in the film. Which makes me want to physically abduct Luhrmann and force him to make a similar film on fifties!!! The non diegetic music is equally fascinating. I noticed great use of Dirty Dirty Feeling (backdrop to the preacher - Jimmy Snow - ranting against Rock and Roll), Little Egypt (ticket lines at International) & Heartbreak Hotel.
The most interesting omission is the ‘68 Comeback Special. There is no mention at all. As far the “Image is one thing and Human being is another” or "I'm just an entertainer” subtext is concerned, it is threaded throughout narrative. Via family footage and photos. Through astonishing visual interpretations. As he sings "And I Miss her" with Gladys on screen, or spills out his guilt to toddler Lisa Marie "Girl, I'm so sorry, I was blind", or when the famous baby Elvis photo with parents slowly fades in on "that's all they had to eat, but they did alright". The soulful In the Ghetto and Walk a Mile in my Shoes with the "same god that made him" monologue intercut with his refusal to speak on politics in public. He sings it instead. But the sense one gets is the inevitability of the Image consuming the man. When the art is so powerful- how can any mortal body contain it without combusting? (Although we fans and "Men in Black" know, that Elvis didn't die, he just went home!!😄). Luhrmann and Redmond's love for Elvis doesn't wallow on the impending tragedy, the traces of which are teased, especially the EOT portions. And the pretentious but still heartfelt Bono poem towards the end. Or in the only mean spirited moment of the film - Colonel sunbathing on boat, which was a bit below the belt. Instead they show that the image was made precisely because of the otherworldly talent and beauty of the man. They celebrate that, with love and empathy. Like every fan, they lean over a little on a defensive and protective side too, and it is indeed very touching.
The fans have seen quite a bit of footage (though not a lot of it, and not even remotely in this quality) - but what EPiC does is compose it in a compelling manner. There are just tooooo many shots and scenes and musics to quote - but fans should discover these for themselves. I won't claim to speak on behalf of non- fans, but my sense is that some will walk away with an understanding of the hysteria, while some will discover the man & his art in a deeply long lasting way. The only minor quibble I had was the length of opening Elvis History 101 section. As a fifties devotee- this footage could have gone on for two hours, and I wouldn't have complained, personally. But structurally, it takes away from the dreamscapy-ness of the film. And it inevitably feels rushed and formulaic.
Words are all I have to express the feelings, but watching EPiC on big screen is one of those deeply satisfying tactile experiences that can truly only be felt in your body. A great meal. A satisfying run. Swimming in warm ocean. Crisp mountain air. Playing with your puppy. Having a good buzz. Drowning in music. You pick whatever works for you. EPiC is one of those sensuous, touch & feel thingamajigs. The extreme close up of his face during the Are You Lonesome Tonight sit-down performance - is burned on my retina. This level of beauty and grace is beyond gender, sexuality or changing aesthetic. I confess I got a bit emotional when it ended. "Sentimental son of a bitch", as Elvis would say. Redmond and Luhrmann deserve all the love and praise they are getting, and some. My only wish is that this association continues with future Elvis projects.
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