EPIC Elvis Presley in Concert Review: How much new footage?

Watching Elvis on an actual movie screen is a rare occurrence in our modern era, so when the chance comes everyone should take it – especially when it is offered for the first time on IMAX! 

A few years after I had become a hardcore Elvis fan, I went to see Presley’s 1970 documentary Elvis: That’s The Way It Is in a movie theater during a limited run in 2014. I had seen some TV specials and DVDs of Elvis but I had never seen him before on the big screen. I remember coming out of the theater saying, “Felt like I was in the front row in Vegas!”

I also saw the ’68 Comeback Special in a movie theater in August 2018 during the limited release for the 50th anniversary. So I understand how the people who became Elvis fans in 2022 after seeing Baz Luhrmann’s ELVIS movie feel — seeing the real Elvis on a big screen for the first time. Many fans have commented that it’s “like you are there” in the room with him. 

But I was surprised how Baz Luhrmann’s EPIC Elvis Presley in Concert movie was different. It has been promoted as featuring lots of new footage of Elvis (to be discussed in a moment) and also like it’s the concert tour around the world that Elvis never had. 

UPDATE: EPIC is now available to pre-order on Amazon Prime! CLICK HERE TO ORDER 

**WARNING: SPOILERS**

I knew they were going to use audio from an interview that Elvis did in the 1970s about his life to serve as the narration for the film. But they also used many other interviews he did throughout his career including the Hy Gardner TV phone interview, multiple 1956 audio interviews, the February 1970 Houston Astrodome press conference and the Madison Square Garden press conference in 1972 — many which are familiar to Elvis fans. 

I really felt that EPIC was almost like Baz’s real-life version of the 2022 ELVIS movie, meaning he showed a lot of the real footage of Elvis that he based his 2022 movie on which spanned Presley’s career from the 50s to the 70s. 

Yes, seeing it on IMAX was such a great experience due to the enhanced sound and giant screen. The color restoration and sharpness of the film footage of Elvis is amazing. I especially can’t wait to watch this on a smaller screen to be able to pause the film and get a longer look at all of the jewelry Elvis was wearing in different scenes. It’s amazing seeing Elvis with the TCB on the side of his sunglasses and the EP ring on his finger in such clarity. 

What I was really excited about in terms of new footage is how they restored a small part of Presley’s concert in Honolulu in 1957 when he was wearing his gold lamé jacket. We get a brief snippet of Elvis singing “Don’t Be Cruel,” as well as a few scenes of him dancing on stage. 

That footage has been circulating on the internet for a few years, but at a much lesser quality. I only wish there was more of it. For this early Elvis enthusiast, that was worth the price of admission. 

There were many brief clips of Elvis from The Ed Sullivan Show and the Dorsey Brothers’ Stage Show. They also included rare footage that they restored of Elvis in the early 1960s visiting the site of the new Elvis Presley Tupelo Youth Center (which was built in 1961). 

As for the “new footage” claim, the exact amount of new footage is hard to pinpoint exactly from one viewing of the film, but many fans estimate that there is only about 20 minutes of never-before-seen footage of Elvis out of the 98-minute movie. This includes songs like “Burning Love” and “How Great Thou Art” and some of the rehearsal footage. However, they surprisingly didn’t use the original audio from “Burning Love.” The video was synced up with the 2015 orchestral version of the song from the album, Elvis with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Overall, if you are a hardcore fan expecting to see lots of new footage of Elvis, you may be disappointed. Elvis historian, Ernst Jorgensen, who also worked on the film, explained some behind-the-scenes details in October 2025: 

But if you are a newer fan or just happy to see restored footage of Elvis, old or new, on a big screen, EPIC gets an A rating! 

Additional songs that Elvis performed include “Never Been to Spain”, “I Can’t Stop Loving You”, the “Little Sister/Get Back” medley, “Polk Salad Annie”, “Hound Dog”, “You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling”, “That’s All Right”, “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” and many more. Highlights in the rehearsal footage include Elvis singing The Beatles’ “Yesterday” and “Something”. 

What I would have loved to see more of were those behind-the-scenes moments when Elvis is talking to his backup singers and bandmates before going onstage. There, we really see Elvis’ sense of humor! In one scene, he started imitating one of the female singers who told him, “I’m not doing it tonight!” Elvis kept repeating that by imitating her voice, “I’m not doing it tonight!”, which was a funny moment.

Another fascinating moment was when one of the fans kept pulling on the fringy frill strips of his jumpsuit really hard and Elvis kept pleading with her, “It don’t come off! It’s attached to my suit.” 

And, of course, Baz made sure to include his dig at Colonel Parker when he played a montage of video of Parker with the song “Devil in Disguise” playing in the background. 

At the end, we hear Bono from U2 reciting a poem he wrote about Elvis called “American David.” Only a small part of the full poem was used, but I question why that specific part which is more negative (starting with “Elvis white trash” and ending with “Elvis ate America before America ate him”) was used compared to other more positive parts of the poem. 

When Baz declared, “it’s not a concert film, it’s not a documentary, it’s EPIC”, that is a good way to explain it. Many of the songs Elvis performs are spliced together from 2 or more different performances from the Elvis on Tour and Elvis: That’s The Way It Is footage, or even from some 1956 appearances. And some of the songs are not shown in their entirety.

Many fans say it leaves you wanting more. I think that is partly because we don’t get a full concert experience in EPiC. While it’s enjoyable to watch, many fans say that the most desirable video of Elvis to watch is a full, complete concert. Hampton Roads, anyone?

Baz made it clear during recent interviews that there was so much of the footage that they didn’t include. So, the next question is what’s next? Will there be a sequel to EPiC? 

Watch this video for more info:

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For more fascinating Elvis Presley stories, check out the author’s 4 books, including ELVIS: Behind The Legend: Startling Truths About The King of Rock and Roll’s Life, Loves, Films and Music