EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert

If you ever wanted to get up close and personal with The King in his heyday, here is your chance to do so in retrospect.

As a follow up to his 2022 biographical film Elvis, Baz Luhrmann has crafted a compelling documentary in which Presley is front and centre, larger than life.

Most of the time, Elvis is shot in close up, appearing just in front of your face, making the great music for which he was renowned, forever gyrating.

What extraordinary stage presence!

The visuals are stunning. Colourful attire with the bling and high neck collars are a mainstay.

And then there is that vocal register – from baritone to tenor. Oh my. I counted bits and pieces of 70 plus songs in the soundtrack.

These included many of the hits – among them Burning Love and Suspicious Minds – whether in concert or in rehearsal with his band and back-up singers.

Interspersed with the music are Elvis’ calm responses to interviews and observations of a career that saw him reach for the stars.

He reiterates his love for all kinds of music, from opera to gospel and rhythm and blues. 

We see him readily embracing swooning fans while in residence in Las Vegas.

He is forever affable, charming and playful, just like we want to remember him.

Here’s a fact that is presented in the doco: between 1969 and 1977, Elvis performed more than 1,100 shows, sometimes as many as three in one day. However, he never did so outside North America.

Luhrmann approached this project looking for unseen footage of Elvis.

That when he discovered 68 boxes of 35mm and 8mm material in the Warner Bros. archives.

That included outtakes from the 1970 doco Elvis: That’s the Way It Is and the 1972 concert film Elvis on Tour.

But, and this was a big but, the footage came without sound.

So, over the ensuing two years, that was restored and synced with existing sources to create EPiC.

The result is something mighty special, up there with some of the finest documentaries I have had the good fortune to see.

It is so slick – a generous crowd pleaser that I feel confident in saying that people will flock to cinemas to see it.

With that, I am happy to report that Elvis has re-entered the building.

EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert scores an 8½ out of 10.