Restoring the King: My Thoughts on Elvis EPiC

I watched the new Elvis EPiC film directed by Baz Luhrmann, and I have to say, it was a fascinating experience from beginning to end. There were several surprising facts revealed throughout the documentary-style archival segments, and I wanted to go over a few of them while also giving my thoughts on the film itself.

One thing I should point out is that much of the footage featured in the movie has already circulated online for years, particularly on YouTube. However, when the marketing for Elvis mentioned “never-before-seen footage,” it mainly referred to restored clips, alternate camera angles, behind-the-scenes material, and archival elements that had not been widely presented in documentaries or theatrical releases before. It did not necessarily mean that every interview shown in the film was completely new to the public.

I had already watched some of Elvis’s interviews prior to seeing the movie, but I had never seen portions of his 1972 Las Vegas residency performances in such remarkable quality. There were also several intimate behind-the-scenes moments of Elvis singing that I had never encountered before, which made the experience even more absorbing. Perhaps what I appreciated most were the meticulous high-quality restorations, the different edits and extended snippets of footage, the seamless integration of dramatized scenes with authentic archival material, and the apparent access to material from the Presley archives. The film gave the footage a renewed sense of vitality and immediacy. I especially enjoyed the sequences showing Elvis entering the Army, as those moments carried a certain poignancy knowing how dramatically his life and career would later evolve.

What surprised me most, however, were some of the statistics presented at the end of the film. One fact revealed that Elvis never performed outside North America, despite reportedly wanting to tour places such as Japan and Europe. The only time he ever truly left the country was during his military service in Germany. Another astonishing revelation was the sheer intensity of his touring schedule during the final years of his career. Between 1969 and 1977, Elvis performed an incredible 1,100 concerts in just eight years. Even more shocking, there were occasions where he would perform as many as three shows in a single day. When viewed in that context, the exhaustion visible in his later years becomes far easier to understand.

The film ultimately succeeds not only as a visually extravagant musical spectacle, but also as a rather tragic portrait of a man consumed by relentless performance demands, fame, and the machinery surrounding celebrity itself. Regardless of how familiar one may already be with Elvis Presley’s life story, the restoration work and archival presentation alone make the film worth watching.

EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert trailer:



I still have yet to see the Elvis biopic starring Austin Butler. I know I mentioned in a past blog that I would eventually review that film as well, but I am admittedly a bit behind. That will definitely be the next Elvis-related film on my viewing list.

That said, I highly recommend this documentary-style film to anyone with even a passing interest in Elvis Presley or to those simply wanting to learn more about his life, career, and the astonishing intensity of the fame that surrounded him. The archival restorations, behind-the-scenes material, and historical perspective alone make it an engrossing and worthwhile viewing experience.