Went to a sold out screening at TIFF. The fact that this screening, along with others was sold out, is a testament to the continued popularity of Elvis Presley, whom passed away 48 years ago, an immense loss to the music industry.
The film is less of a concert and more of a semi documentary, with Presley doing his own narration throughout the film.
The concert footage, is fantastic, especially on a large screen format, as this was presented at the local IMAX. Colors were vibrant, resolution was sharp, audio was excellent; 10/10 for the restoration of the footage and audio. Footage contained in the film, was edited footage from 1970's 'Elvis: That's the Way it Is' and 1972's 'Elvis on Tour'. Both excellent concert films, if one has never seen them.
Main issue, for me, with EPiC is that there isn't enough concert footage in this film and songs were not played in full, as it does intercut with Presley's narration and other clips during the performance, in which the title is somewhat misleading, as there is absolutely no full concert in the film. Although there is quite a bit of concert footage that has never been seen in this film, some footage has been shared in one format or another, however, not in this quality.
A bonus is the fact that the found footage is extremely eye popping, along with the surround sound is also enveloping. Quite an achievement in restoration of footage that was perhaps in poor condition, being stored in Salt mines. If there 59 hours worth of film that was found, I'm hoping that there is plan to actually restore and release these clips, with or without audio. This would be priceless to any Presley fan.
As a Presley fan, it was phenomenal to see this in the large screen format, however I went expecting to see an alternate version of 'Elvis That's the Way it Is' and 'Elvis On Tour', but experienced what seemed to be an almost incomplete film and it could have been so much more. An Elvis concert in this format is a must!!
Viewing this in a large screen, made me wish that the earlier concert documentaries would have a re-release in a large venue, such as IMAX.
Overall, this is definitely worth a watch, but setting some realistic expectations.
