You don’t have to be a big music fan to know that Taylor Swift is one of the biggest musical artists of the early twenty-first century, so much so that she has a fan base (The Swifties) that rivals other artists with similar star power, i.e., Beyoncé. I would not call myself a Swiftie, though I do encounter a good amount of her work through my sister, who is a huge fan. Such is enthusiasm for Taylor Swift that she flew down to Florida from New York to see her perform a concert during a tour that broke Ticketmaster. I didn’t get the chance to see at this performance due to lack of interest and financial means. but I now have the opportunity to experience it via film with the official tour documentary film called Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.

If you were to ask me back in August if I was going to be watching Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour in October, I properly thought you were joking given that I’m usually ahead of the curve and knew nothing about it. Then again, major movie studios didn’t know of the film back then as Taylor Swift bypassed movie studios and struck a deal with movie theatre chains such as AMC and Cinemark to release her film. Universal had to move up The Exorcist: Believer one week to avoid competition. This was smart move from them, which is the only credit I will give them after experiencing that mess of an unnecessary sequel. Anyway, when my sister told me she was coming down for her birthday weekend, I asked if she wanted to go see it. She didn’t hesitate to say yes. That being said, did the concert make me a Swiftie or less of a fan after seeing it? As usual, let’s find out.

Filmed during her tour stop at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, back in August 2023, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour captures the entire concert experience from beginning to end, featuring ten acts. In these ten acts, Taylor Swift covers a majority of her music, featuring her humble roots as a country singer to the mega pop star that she is today, which amounts to forty-four songs altogether. 

Believe it or not, I did have some reservations before I saw Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, and it wasn’t about me not being much of a fan of her music. For one, it was a pricy movie to go see. It was around $70 for my sister, my mom who joined my us, and, of course, myself, and I couldn’t even use my AMC A-List pass to see it. This irritated me. Another issue I had was the runtime, which was almost three hours, though, for what it was, you did get a lot for what you paid. Finally, the amount of coverage that Taylor Swift has been getting from the NFL because she is currently dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has been annoying me. That being said, I would be lying if I said that I didn’t have a great time watching this concert film, which is also something I thought I wouldn’t say earlier this year. 

Much like the Disney + film Hamilton (2020), Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is basically a non-interviewed, documented concert event edited for viewers who couldn’t go to a concert in person but still wanted to experience it. I’ve never seen Taylor Swift in concert before and don’t go to concerts that often in general. The last concert that I got to watch in person was Sum 41, Simple Plan, and The Offspring. While they did have some theatrics on stage, it was nothing compared to the stage Taylor Swift had throughout her performance. The moving platforms and giant LED screens in the background on stage blew my mind to where if I had seen this in person, it might have been the best concert experience of all time. Aside from that, the way she transitions from one song to another was remarkable which may not sound significant if you don’t like her music, but seeing how she goes from one genre to another and another was something I appreciated. In fact, I now have a more positive perspective on her because she mentions during the film that she doesn’t like to be boxed into one category. As someone who has diverse tastes, I really enjoyed that part.

The most difficult thing about watching Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, besides dealing with the runtime, was trying to view it through a Catholic perspective. When I was watching The Exorcist: Believerfrom a Catholic point of view, it was like trying to find a group of priests at an ordination: extremely simple. With this Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, however, it was bit of a challenge given that it’s basically a documented event that happened not too long ago. If I did have to give a warning that most Catholics would find “impolitic” about this concert film, it would probably be some mild lyrics and suggestive dancing. I wasn’t bothered by it, though it wouldn’t be surprised if a very small minority would find it offensive.

So to change things up a bit, I’m actually going to do something different with one of my reviews here on The Legionnaire and feature a special guest reviewer for this review of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour: my sister Emma Czaja. As I mentioned earlier, she did get to see Taylor Swift live during this Eras tour and I figured it would be nice to have a fan’s perspective on this cinematic experience. So, without further ado, here’s Emma’s take: 

“While some would say going to the movies to see a concert where I paid $965 on floor seats and a flight to a different city (I know, I know) to see again would be crazy . . . I didn’t even hesitate to go. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour offered a remarkable experience providing new perspectives, views, and more beyond what I had seen in person. The editing was phenomenal, showing details of the innovative stage, Taylor’s expressions, the crowd, her dancers/band/backup singers, and more. You truly do not have to be a fan to enjoy this movie. It is full of great music and storytelling. It does help, however, to know all the fun of the context of the songs as I highly recommend going down those rabbit holes of the internet.”

As my sister Emma said in the previous paragraph, you don’t have to be a fan to enjoy Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour. While I wouldn’t say that I’m now part of the Swiftie nation, I can, however, say that I am more of a fan than I was before I saw the film. If you aren’t into Taylor Swift at all, then this film will not convince you otherwise as its pure Taylor Swift from beginning to end. I’m not sure if I would go see it again in theaters, mostly because I still have some films to watch in theaters including the new Martin Scorsese film Killers of the Flower Moon, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I do find myself streaming her music in the near future. It is definitely worth it for diehard fans of Taylor Swift, and I hope more concert films like this become a staple of movie going experiences, though I doubt some of my favorite bands’ performances (The Dirty Heads and Kongos to name a few) will ever get made into a film of the caliber. One can dream, however.