Before I start, I am not a huge Elvis fan. I appreciate some of his songs and also recognise his success and impact on music. I know that there are some obsessive fans, and one of those is filmmaker Baz Lurhhman. While researching his 2024 smash hit Elvis, starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks, he uncovered footage of Elvis’s performance during his Las Vegas residency. With the help of Peter Jackson, Lurhmann painstakingly put together the film stock and has produced a part documentary, part concert movie that just explodes off the screen, and even the least die-hard fan will be blown away.

While Lurhmann was making the film Elvis, he wanted to use unseen footage from Elvis: That’s The Way It Is and Elvis on Tour. Instead, what he found were 68 boxes of both 35 mm and 8 m footage, stored in the Warner Brothers archives and in a salt mine in Kansas. He also discovered a 45-minute audio recording of Elvis talking about his life. This has been used as the central part of the movie.

Mixing unseen footage classic clips and photos from the archives, the film slowly puts together the story of the king of rock N roll into focus, and allows the audience to share in the experience of seeing the great man on stage performing. But what makes this even more fascinating is that Baz Luhrmann hasn’t just given us the hits. He gives us songs that we wouldn’t even expect Elvis to perform.

His love of gospel music, for example, comes to light in a performance of “Oh Happy Day.” He also seemed to have a passion for The Beatles, with renditions of songs like “Yesterday,” “Something,” and “Get Back.” There’s also a flash of Simon and Garfunkel with Bridge Over Troubled Water.

Beyond the mix of rehearsals and performance, we get to see a very different side to Presley. I know that Baz Luhrmann is a huge Presley fan and wouldn’t want to show the bad side of him, but what he does show is a man who loved his fans (sometimes a little too much in the kissing scenes) and had time for everybody around him. He also seemed to have a very childlike sense of humour and would often goof around during songs, both on and off stage, and occasionally play childish pranks on his co-performers.

At the heart of this film, however, is the performer, and he is electrifying. The energy, the passion, and the non-stop cycle of giving to his audience are evident. You can see it by the way he sweats on stage and even in rehearsals. He wants to make his audience happy, and he does that in droves.

Epic: Elvis Presley in Concert is an outstanding movie. It will make you look at the man in a completely different light, and you’ll find yourself tapping along to the songs, feeling excited to experience him on stage and leaving wanting to know more about this legend. If you can, see it in IMAX. Highly recommended.

5 out of 5

Director: Baz Luhrmann

Starring: Elvis Presley

Running time: 90 mins

Cert: 12A

Release date: 27th February 2026