“The porker’s been dead for 20 years�.

It is with this quote that you have to ask yourself what a movie with a title hinting at something to do with the King is really going to offer the average Joe. Heck, why not write a story about a robbery, have it occur at a casino rather than a bank and have them dress up as Elvis to blend in with the rest of the nuts arriving for a week-long Elvis convention?

When ex-cons Michael (Kurt Russell) and Murphy (Kevin Costner) pull off a 3.2 million dollar heist from a Las Vegas casino, it seems that the perfect crime has been undertaken. But nothing is always perfect, and when Murphy gets rid of the rest of his crew to take the money as his own, certain events don’t go according to his new plan and it’s soon a race north to the border with the police hot on their tails.

Courtney Cox also stars, as a mother with a sleight of hand son who pick-pockets everything from wallets to bags of stolen cash. Michael is soon smitten with the lovely lady, and inadvertently acquires more luggage than he initially needed. But she’s not all that she seems either, as she becomes the third con trying to get the money to the ‘cleaner’.

Just when you think things are going to be concluded, a new twist enters the fray that carries this intriguing story even further. Director Demian Lichtenstein has obviously borrowed cues from his viewings of The Matrix, with the opening and closing scenes reminiscent of the camera work used in the famous lobby scene, as well as the musical score employed. Elvis running on walls and doing flips this is not, but the shootouts are sure to hold your interest if the soundtrack doesn’t.

With Roadshow seemingly trying to outdo themselves with each release, the image they produce can only be so good. This release takes the best of the best and creates a new league for only a select few to be included. This is a good looking disc. Blacks are black, as can be seen in the opening scenes, even if outdoors, exhibiting some deep shadow detail. Colours are rich and rendered beautifully throughout with the hot red paint jobs of Michael’s car to the flashy lights of Vegas coming up trumps throughout. Sharpness and detail are pretty much incredible, with images that look as fresh as your being there yourself.

The 5.1 soundtrack is a mixed bag, in the sense that some scenes take full advantage of the six channels of sound on offer while other scenes collapse down to a front sound stage performance. The entire opening scene is one to savour for those of you keeping tabs on the amount of speaker activity occurring around you. You will be thinking of The Matrix just as this reviewer did. There is nothing to fault with the soundtrack at all, however that doesn’t mean it’s going to be one to remember.

On the extras front, this is probably the first Roadshow release to have a lack of extras in a while, as they usually pride themselves on going above and beyond for the most part. What was interesting to note here was a short introduction about DVD showcasing select scenes from past, present and future Raodshow releases such as Swordfish, Miss Congeniality, What Women Want, The Matrix, Cats & Dogs, Chocolat, Driven, Pearl Harbor, Rush Hour 2, Spy Kids and Enemy at the Gates. At least it’s not an ad for DVD found on a VHS tape, and this one makes use of your 5.1 system. Also included is a trailer for the movie presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, two channel stereo along with trailers for Reindeer Games, In Too Deep and Three Kings.

Couple this with an 11-minute behind the scenes look on the set of filming, as well as cast/crew biographies and some nicely animated anamorphic menus. Ladies and Gentlemen, Elvis has left the building. Make sure you catch a glimpse of him if you get the chance as it’s a pretty darn good performance all round.