There a lot of different footage on this DVD, most of it are excellent but I still had a few things who annoyed me (not a lot actually!!!). The DVD menu by itself is done with taste and easy to use. Without going into details of every bits of footage included here's some comments about certain parts of it:
-April '56 footage: I was a bit surprised to see all of this as being labelled from April 1956 when it's quite obvious it can't be from this month. We all know the footage of Elvis' backstage with Liberace and his brother George, this was filmed in April '56 while Elvis first appeared in Las Vegas. On the DVD you have footage from Elvis' second meeting with Liberace which was actually filmed on November 15th 1956. It's also obvious that Elvis' look on the footage here doesn't match what he actually looked like in April 1956. There's also some references in "Day By Day" book from Guralnick/Jorgensen (p.91) and the series of 660 cards (card #305). Same goes for the meeting with Marge and Gower Champion (clowns) that was filmed in October '57 (Elvis' look being definitely not April '56 either).It's also well documented into the aforementioned series of 660 cards (card #306).
-Tupelo '57 is among my favourite clips here and very nice to have it all together. I must say however it is very annoying to see that text appearing all of a sudden, and incidently hiding parts of Elvis' legs while moving across the stage. Why not making that appear on a shot where Elvis isn't there? The same goes for other parts of the DVD where you see those appearing.
-March and May '60 clips are pretty good. I also liked the July '61 Weeki Wachee Springs, FL. footage a lot although it's a bit shaky. The rarity wins over quality here and we don't get to see that type of stuff too often. On the other hand I can't see the interest of that film of "Follow That Dream" movie premiere since Elvis weren't there. The clips with Bobby Darin backstage is excellent and most of it was new to my eyes, excepted for a brief part included on the GoodTime video "King Of Entertainment".
-The footage with Danny Thomas from 1964 is also excellent (another highlight of the DVD) and this is indeed cool to see some never before seen footage.
-May 1st 1967 : This part contains mostly stuff we've already seen but the quality is overall excellent, and again nice to have it all together. The 8mm footage taken by a fan in August 1968 at Elvis' home is of excellent quality considering the source, and most likely from the original film as the colours aren't all washed out.
-April 1969 : Elvis officially signed his contract on April 15th 1969 but this clip featured on the DVD was actually filmed on February 26th 1969. Again you can find a reference to this in "Day By Day" book on page 256. The Colonel took the opportunity to publicize the event and had Elvis to sign a contract there for the camera, yet the actual document wouldn't be signed before April 15th 1969. This is also make sense as if you look at the construction site, no way the International Hotel would had been ready for Barbra Streisand's opening prior to Elvis appearances if indeed filmed in mid-April. Overall very nice to have it as complete as possible for the first time.
-June 9th 1972 Press conference : The quality is again excellent and wished we had the complete thing. It's also one of the highlight on this DVD, at least for me. I don't know if some more will be featured on the second volume, if yes then I would seriously questioned why it wasn't put together here.
I didn't care much for some of the "News In Brief" featured in the bonus sections apart the Elvis' related ones. The September 5th 1972 (it was actually held between the dinner and midnight show of the closing night on September 4th 1972) doesn't have a great picture quality but so far I have yet to see an excellent picture of this press conference anyway. The Memphis '74 pictures are very nice but in my view photographs belong to books or magazines, not on a DVD. I personally have no interest of looking at pictures on my T.V. screen.
The overall quality is pretty good but rather short for the price asked. Still there are definitely some hot shots and cool clips on this DVD and recommend it to the fans.