In case you thought that year where Austin Butler walked around doing every interview pretending he was such a heavy method actor that he couldn’t shake his Elvis Presley voice was some sort of fever dream, it actually wasn’t. Baz Luhrmann really did direct an Elvis biopic, and it really was nominated for multiple Oscars. As a byproduct of making that film, Luhrmann clearly developed an even deeper fascination with Elvis Presley, and that eventually led him to dig through archival material, restore and assemble footage from different performances, and create one of the most exhilarating concert films I’ve ever seen. Epic: Elvis Presley in Concert. That’s what Epic stands for. The E is for Elvis, the P is Presley, the I is In, and the C is Concert. Of course, Elvis Presley himself was also kind of epic. Unless you’ve recently watched Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, in which case you may have a few more complicated feelings about the man. Still, Elvis has become such a permanent part of American culture, especially in Las Vegas, that even after everyone who actually lived through his heyday is gone, I suspect people will still know who he was. They may not fully understand why people keep dressing up like him, but they’ll know the image.
Instead of celebrating the overweight Elvis from the later years of his career when things had become a little sloppier, Epic celebrates the vibrant, career-defining performer. This is the hip-swirling, impossibly charismatic Elvis whose stage presence practically jumps off the screen. Every movement, every grin, every little flourish reminds you why audiences completely lost their minds over him. Luhrmann cuts together footage from different sources in a way that gives the concert a unique visual identity without ever feeling distracting. Even more impressive is the sound restoration. Given the age of the material, everything sounds remarkably clean and full, making the entire experience just as enjoyable if you’re listening as if you’re watching.
The set list works through a massive portion of Elvis’s catalog. Naturally, you get the songs everyone expects, but you also get his interpretations of material from other artists along with several gospel standards that he made distinctly his own. Elvis has always been criticized for popularizing songs he didn’t write and, in some cases, repurposing music that originated elsewhere. That’s a conversation that isn’t going away, nor should it. At the same time, popular music has always been filled with artists recording songs that originated with someone else. Sometimes the original remains definitive, and sometimes a later performer transforms it into something entirely new.
A perfect example is Dolly Parton’s I Will Always Love You. Dolly wrote and recorded a beautiful song, but when Whitney Houston performed it, it became something altogether different and took on a life of its own. Nobody lost Dolly’s version because Whitney’s became iconic. The same argument can be made for songs like Hound Dog. More than one version can be great. More than one artist can leave an unforgettable mark on the same material.
I usually avoid concert films because, frankly, I think they’re one of the easiest things streaming services can churn out. Every platform seems desperate to pad its library with celebrity documentaries, true crime docuseries, stand-up specials, and concert films because they’re generally cheaper and easier to produce than an original scripted series or feature film. Most of them blur together after a while. But this is Baz Luhrmann. This is the filmmaker behind Moulin Rouge!, The Great Gatsby, and Elvis. He has never been interested in doing anything ordinary. His films race forward with an energy and rhythm that’s unmistakably his. Whenever awards season rolls around and people start debating directing achievements, Luhrmann is one of those filmmakers where it’s immediately obvious what he contributed because nobody else makes movies that feel quite like his.
That same style carries over into this documentary. Even working with archival footage, Luhrmann finds ways to make it feel alive and immediate instead of simply presenting a collection of performances. His admiration for Elvis comes through in every decision without turning the film into empty hero worship. It’s a celebration, certainly, but it’s also an energetic piece of filmmaking that reminds you why Elvis became such a cultural phenomenon in the first place. Coming from someone who generally doesn’t care for concert films, that’s about as high a compliment as I can give it.
The audio description is ultimately pretty forgettable, but the movie doesn’t leave it with much room to shine. Because the documentary constantly shifts between performances and interview material, there simply aren’t many natural openings for description to jump in. Even so, the track occasionally finds moments to establish the passage of time or explain how the performances fit into the broader arc of Elvis’s career. It’s functional more than memorable, but it gets the job done without becoming distracting.
Epic: Elvis Presley in Concert is a reminder that Elvis wasn’t simply a singer with a collection of hit songs. He was an event. Baz Luhrmann understands that better than most filmmakers, and he channels that understanding into a concert documentary that feels electric from beginning to end. Even if, like me, concert films usually aren’t your thing, this one is absolutely worth making an exception for.
Fresh: 8.2/10
