Elvis appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie came with solid visuals.
Sharpness worked well. Virtually no softness manifested here, as he image felt accurate and concise.
No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects appeared, and I saw no edge haloes. Source flaws also failed to manifest.
Despite the period setting, Elvis opted for 21st Century Amber/Orange and Teal. I don’t get this choice, but within stylistic preferences, the colors felt well-reproduced, and it tossed in some pinks and other hues occasionally as well, especially when Elvis got into the 1960s.
Blacks seemed dark and deep, while low-light shots offered appealing delineation. This turned into a satisfactory image.
In addition, the film’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack worked fine for the material at hand. Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, music dominated and used the various speakers well. These elements came to the fore during concert segments and elsewhere, and those offered the movie’s most involving sonic segments.
Effects got less to do and usually offered general ambience. That left us without much in terms of auditory fireworks, but given the story’s focus on music and characters, this made sense. A few of the movie’s exaggerated elements also brought out appealing use of the various channels.
Overall audio quality seemed good, and speech was natural and concise. Music sounded peppy and full, while effects seemed fine.
Those elements appeared accurate and showed good range. This all added up to a “B+“ soundtrack.
A few extras fill out the disc, and Bigger Than Life runs 22 minutes, 23 seconds. It offers notes from co-writer/director Baz Luhrmann, costume designer/production designer Catherine Martin, producers Gail Berman and Schuyler Weiss, movement coach/choreographer Polly Bennett, prosthetics designer Mark Coulier, hair and makeup designer Shane Thomas, prosthetics supervisor Jason Baird, director of photography Mandy Walker, and actors Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Yola, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Dacre Montgomery, and Olivia DeJonge.
“Life” examines aspects of Elvis’s life, cast/performances and physical transformations, photography and Luhrmann’s approach to the material. Some good insights emerge – mainly related to turning the actors into their characters – but much of “Life” feels fairly superficial.
Rock ‘n’ Roll Royalty spans seven minutes, 33 seconds and features Luhrmann, Butler, Yola, executive music producer Elliott Wheeler, producer Patrick McCormick, and actors Gary Clark Jr. and Shannon Sanders. We hear about the movie’s approach to music in this erratic piece.
Next comes Fit For a King, an eight-minute, two-second reel that includes comments from Luhrmann, Martin, Butler, and DeJonge. Here we get info about the film’s costume design and find some decent notes about that domain.
Viva Australia goes for seven minutes, 26 seconds and involves Luhrmann. Martin, Butler, Walker, DeJonge, and set decorator Bev Dunn.
The show investigates the movie’s sets and attempts to recreate vintage locations. It becomes another moderately engaging reel.
A Lyric Video for “Trouble” lasts two minutes, 15 seconds. It offers a montage of movie clips with the song and lyrics played on top. It’s an ad and nothing more.
Finally, Musical Moments allows viewer access to any of the movie’s 19 song segments. Have fun!
As a biopic, Elvis attempts to provide a fresh telling of a familiar tale. Baz Luhrmann gives the project a vivid sense of style but the end result seems superficial. The Blu-ray comes with solid picture and audio along with a smattering of bonus materials. Elvis entertains to a moderate degree but it lacks depth or insight.