Sep 7, 2025 2:05pm PT 'EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert' Review: Baz Luhrmann's Elvis Documentary Is One of the Most Exciting Concert Films You've Ever Seen The director found boxes of never-before-seen footage in the archives, assembling it into a dazzling testament to Elvis's late-period greatness. By Owen Gleiberman Plus Icon Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic @OwenGleiberman Latest 'EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert' Review: Baz Luhrmann's Elvis Documentary Is One of the Most Exciting Concert Films You've Ever Seen 57 minutes ago 'Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery' Review: Set in a Church Parish, and Pairing Daniel Craig and Josh O'Connor, the Third Entry in the Series May Be the Sharpest Yet 18 hours ago 'Christy' Review: Sydney Sweeney Transforms - and Stuns - in a True-Life Boxing Drama as Powerfully Downbeat as It Is Rousing 2 days ago See All Courtesy of TIFF Think back to the greatest concert you ever saw - it could be Springsteen or U2 or the Stones, or Lady Gaga or the Ramones, or Taylor Swift or Radiohead, or (in my case) two concerts from the '80s (Prince and X) and one from the 2000s (Madonna on her Confessions tour). Now think back to the greatest moment in that concert, the one that gave you chills you can still feel. That's the kind of experience I predict you'll have watching "EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert," an extraordinary new documentary directed by Baz Luhrmann, the director of "Elvis." Related Stories Netflix's 'Hostage' Is a Jaw-Dropping Political Thriller With Soapy Elements: TV Review 'The Truth About Jussie Smollett?' Can't Answer Its Title Question: TV Review The movie is a revelation, because for 96 minutes it shows you just how intoxicating Elvis Presley was when he began to perform live in Las Vegas in 1969 and the early '70s. Many don't quite think of him that way. There's still a mythology hanging over Elvis during this period - the Vegas glitter, the white suit with the half-sun cape, the giant finger rings and the car-grille sunglasses, the "Thus Spoke Zarathustra"-from-"2001" bombastic musical intros, the sweat pouring off his shag-carpet sideburns, the onstage karate moves. It can all add up to a vision of the king of rock 'n' roll presiding over a kingdom of kitsch. Popular on Variety But there's the myth and there's the reality, which has always been incredible, and there are reasons why the perception of that reality has evolved over time. I can hardly overstate the degree to which in the '70s, the simple fact that Elvis was performing in Las Vegas was thought of as unspeakably cheesy; it wasn't what rock performers did. His outfits seemed a parody of grandiloquent fashion camp, and the fact that he would sing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" right along with "Hound Dog" and "Don't Be Cruel" made him seem like some cornball Americana nostalgia act. So what's changed? In the age of Vegas residencies (not just Gaga but the Grateful Dead!), Elvis's Las Vegas gigs now look startlingly ahead of their time. The taint of it all has melted away. (Vegas is no longer the place where vulgar "Middle Americans" go; it's the place where everyone including hipsters go.) And in the age of fashion as postmodern excess, where stars are now expensive exhibitionists, Elvis's straight-Liberace costumes, in their quite intentional loud-and-proud spangled peacock gaudiness, no longer look like something anyone would even think of ridiculing; they have the glam audacity of true...rock 'n' roll. (It's Jimmy Page, in his comfy sweaters, who now seems dated.) Elvis, in the early '70s, was still relatively lean and mean, and still incandescent to look at. He was in his regal mid-thirties, with those sexy dimples and one of the greatest heads of hair in rock history. And that voice! His tremolo vibrato made every note into a pearly gem. Seven years ago, when "Bohemian Rhapsody" came out, I went back and watched a lot of footage of Queen in concert, because I wanted to key into Freddie Mercury, who is now universally thought of as one of the most electrifying performers in the history of rock. He deserves that reputation. But I'm here to testify that he's about one-third as electrifying as Elvis was in the early '70s. The power of Elvis's voice remained undiminished - it soared, it quavered, it caressed, it boomed, it rocked, it hit every note with singular beauty. And though he would sometimes flirt with comedy in his moves, and didn't jiggle the way he did in 1956, the way he held and moved his body still possessed a flamboyant erotic eloquence. Luhrmann originally planned to incorporate never-before-seen footage of this period into "Elvis," and decided against it. But what he discovered, at the time, was 68 boxes of 35mm and 8mm footage in the Warner Bros. archives, including vast outtakes from the "Elvis: That's the Way It Is" (1970) and "Elvis on Tour" (1972), the two major Elvis concert films, plus audiotapes of unheard interviews. Much of the footage was silent (though there was correspondi