Small Details You Missed In Baz Luhrmann's Elvis

Few people in the world possess such notable names that you immediately recognize. One such name is Elvis Presley, who changed rock music forever by combining the R&B feel and lyrics of Black musicians with the existing country music sounds. Fans know him not just from memorable hits like "Heartbreak Hotel," "Can't Help Falling In Love," and "Suspicious Minds," but also from his work in the film industry with movies like "Viva Las Vegas" and "Blue Hawaii," and from his marriage to Priscilla Presley.

But after Elvis' death in 1977, more and more information about his life, especially his relationship with his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, came to light. There were horrible stories of mismanagement and the conditions Elvis worked in, and Baz Luhrmann's "Elvis" showcases this. The film also pays homage to Elvis' work with Black musicians, his marriage and fatherhood, and his emotions throughout his rise to fame.

The film is a true spectacle, with a lot of information and insight about Elvis' life packed into it. However, there's even more than what you might notice on your first watch. Luhrmann includes many tiny details that further tell Elvis' story and add to the authenticity of the film. Interested to see what small details you may have missed? Read on for some of the blink-and-you-miss-it details Luhrmann included in his 2022 film, "Elvis."

One small detail fans may have missed were all of the hidden "Star Trek" references throughout the film. First, in the beginning of the film at the International hotel in Vegas, there's an advertisement for the "Star Trek Experience" on the sign in the front. Within the first two minutes there's a reference to "Star Trek," but there's at least one other reference later in the film during the Christmas special. While Tom Parker and the NBC studio executives are walking through the hallways at NBC studios, there are several posters hanging up that include the "Star Trek" cast and promote the show.

Some might think these small "Star Trek" details are merely a coincidence, but they are actually purposely hidden in the film. In a documentary about Elvis, it's revealed that the king was actually a huge fan of "Star Trek," both the cast of characters and the show's plot. Celeste Yarnall, "Star Trek" actress and Elvis' on-screen costar, talked about how much Elvis loved the show, and even told the documentary makers that Elvis named one of his horses Star Trek. Because of his love for the show, Luhrmann wanted to include some small "Star Trek" details that Elvis' hardcore fans would recognize as an homage to his fandom.

One of the most action-packed scenes of the film comes from the "Viva Las Vegas" montage, where the audience sees shots of real Elvis films, fake reenactments from Butler, and moments with Elvis and Priscilla or Elvis and his "Memphis Mafia," as they were called. There are several panels going at once, making it the perfect place to slip in some smaller details about the musician and actor. Though many fans see this as a moment where it's once again hard to tell the difference between the real Elvis and Butler's iteration, there's one panel where you can absolutely be sure it's the real Elvis because of the other actor in it making a cameo.

One of the panels behind Butler's Elvis while he's filming the surfing shots shows a memorable scene from Elvis' film "It Happened At The World's Fair." The scene involves Elvis asking a young child to kick him in the shin incredibly hard, and he even offers him a quarter to do so. The child agrees, and kicks Elvis really hard in the shin. In this scene, the child actor is actually famous actor Kurt Russell, who has starred in films like "The Hateful Eight" and "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2." This cameo from Russell is also meaningful because he eventually played Elvis in John Carpenter's 1979 biopic, "Elvis." The 2022 "Elvis" cameo for young Russell is brief, but there for those who pay close attention.

The relationship between Elvis and his wife, Priscilla, is a large plot point of the film. The audience gets to see their romance at every stage, starting with how they meet and bond and ending with their divorce and co-parenting style. There's one scene that's particularly heartbreaking because of how clear it is to the audience that they still love each other, but just can't work as a couple anymore. When they are talking together in the car toward the end of the film, it's a heart to heart that only Priscilla could help Elvis get through. They both get out of the car to leave, and Elvis looks at Priscilla and mouths "I will always love you."

It's a tearful moment, but it's one with a deeper meaning than just the sentiment. Elvis famously sang Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" to Priscilla when the two were getting divorced, and Priscilla told Parton about this. But even more than this, Elvis wanted to professionally record Parton's song, and she wanted that as well. However, Parker wanted to take half of the publishing rights for the song, and Parton wouldn't agree to it, resulting in Elvis never recording it. However, Parton was always honored that Elvis wanted to sing it, and about the detail that he sang it privately to Priscilla. She told W Magazine that it "touched her deeply."

One of the biggest parts of the film is Elvis' comeback special, which is where you really see Elvis defy Parker in a large way to create what he wants his audience to see, not what Parker is making him do. Elvis fans will watch the film's version of the special and note that it is nearly recreated perfectly by Luhrmann. Every detail of it is so precise, and Butler's performance, though excellent throughout the whole film, is especially well done here. However, one detail that was particularly accurate to add is extremely subtle, but tells a huge story.

In the scene, when Butler's Elvis first starts singing, he reaches for the microphone. When he does this, his hand shakes slightly, like he's nervous to perform. This is because, as Elvis fans will note, in the original comeback special, Elvis hadn't performed in front of a live audience for a long time and was nervous. This caused his hand to shake as he was getting into the feeling of the performance, and Butler included this detail in the film version to make it more authentic and exact to Elvis' behavior at the special.

One of the defining moments of Elvis' life and in the film comes from Martin Luther King Jr.'s death. His assassination deeply impacted Elvis, and eventually sparked his rebellion against Parker's agenda and deciding to work with Steve Binder to create the special he wanted to make. However, there's a hidden detail before this, while Elvis is contemplating King Jr.'s death. In the scene, Priscilla walks into Elvis' trailer to find him watching Dr. King's memorial. She greets him by saying "Satnin," which some might take to be a pet name or not really notice she says it at all. This was no throwaway line, though.

"Satnin" is actually what Elvis used to call his mother, Gladys Presley. He used this word because of her Satin-like skin. It was more than that, though, because to the two of them this word was a form of affection. Elvis and his mother had an extremely close relationship, right up until her death. It was slightly strained by the influence of Tom Parker, but was still pure and lovely. Priscilla greeting Elvis in this way is not only a nice way to squeeze that reference into the film, but also especially meaningful because he's grappling with Dr. King's death and it likely brings up feelings about his own mother's death.

One element of "Elvis" that fans enjoyed was the mixing of the old Elvis tracks with new artists' music. Artists like Doja Cat teamed up with the Elvis and Big Mama Thornton hit, "Hound Dog" to create a new spin on the classics. One such mashup that audiences enjoyed was the Elvis song "Viva Las Vegas" mixed with Britney Spears' "Toxic." It circulated around TikTok and, because it wasn't released on the film's soundtrack, was severely requested to be released by fans of the film and the scene. Though this song is an absolute hit, it also serves as an important detail in the film for those wanting to do more of a deep dive on its meaning.

One of the biggest news pieces of 2021 and 2022 came from the movement to free popular musician Britney Spears from her conservatorship. She was poorly managed by her family, and particularly her father, and suffered a lot of abuse because of it. Because this song plays while Elvis is being manipulated in his acting career by Parker, it's clear the song is a reference to how both artists were mismanaged and put into toxic work environments for the profits of those who handled their affairs. It's a small detail that people might not immediately put together, but, as Bustle writes, it's a way to link two of history's most iconic musicians through some of their shared negative experiences.