Iron Maiden: Flight 666

I was checking out what was on TV the other night and found this tucked away after midnight. As a bit of a fan of Iron Maiden, (I've seen them a couple of times over the years) I thought I'd give it a go. What I found really surprised me, a very professional bunch of guys that happen to play some great heavy metal music (IMO). But more of my thoughts later, here's a very brief summary first (summary haters please load the plane while I write the next paragraph).

Iron Maiden hardly ever get their records played on mainstream radio and are seldom featured on mainstream Music TV. And yet their albums always sell well and they have a massive fan base all over the world. As part of their 2008 Somewhere Back in Time tour they provided their own transport in order to reach some of these fans in far-flung parts of the world. The transport took the form on a 757 jet, modified to accommodate the entire crew, the band and all of their equipment. Of course the plane was piloted (amongst others) by their lead singer and qualified pilot, Bruce Dickinson. We see the logistics of moving such a huge operation through India, Australia, Japan, Los Angeles, Mexico, Central and South America, before ending in Canada. Interviews with the band, the crew and many of the fans intersperse live performances of many of their classic songs. It gives a real insight into the lives of the band members and just what life is like on the road these days for this group of musicians who, let's face it, aren't too young any more. But that's enough summary, here's what I think of it.

As a fan of Iron Maiden, of course I like this documentary. As a fan of film, I think it's very well edited and gives a coherent chronological account of the international leg of the tour. The balance between the live performances and the interviews and the narration is just about right for me. It may be a little long for those that aren't fans of the band, but I guess if you're not a fan then you wouldn't choose to watch it. So, over all, a definite recommendation for fans of Iron Maiden, but maybe give it a miss if you're not.

For those that are fans, what follows is a list of live tracks included in the film: "Aces High", "Transylvania", "Wrathchild", "Moonchild", "2 Minutes to Midnight", "Revelations", "The Trooper", "For the Greater Good of God", "Number of the Beast", "Wasted Years", "Can I Play with Madness", "Powerslave", "Run to the Hills", "Heaven Can Wait", "Fear of the Dark", "Iron Maiden", "Rime of the Ancient Mariener", "Hallowed Be Thy Name" My score: 8.3/10

This was written by me for a metal forum. I am in no way associated with Iron Maiden, DVD retailers, or any of the like. I am a lifelong Iron Maiden fan going back to 1982, and I wanted to share my take on the new DVD release.

= "Flight 666: The Film," came out today, June 9th, and it is worth every penny of its purchase price. For anyone who saw Iron Maiden on The Somewhere Back in Time Tour, or has seen Maiden at any time in the past, I don't have to tell you how good of a show they put on, we all know, already. I wanted to just add my two cents about this DVD release, for anyone who was thinking about buying it, because not only is it an official Maiden release, it is also one hell of a bargain for what you get. = Whether you get the "standard" issue, or the "deluxe" issue (only difference is the packaging, and you get an expanded booklet in the deluxe version) you get two discs. Disc 1 is "Flight 666 The Movie," and Disc 2 is the concert footage from the film in its entirety, city to city. = All footage from both discs is shot in high def, so everything looks great, I can't imagine what this looks like on the BLU-RAY format, must be mindblowing. The sound mix is excellent, and each disc caters to various sound systems no matter how simple or how high end they are. Sound formats include Dolby Digital 2.0, Dolby Digital 5.1, NTSC-PCM, and DTS. Personally I always like DTS, so I was pretty excited. = As far as being a good bargain..... It is. I purchased this at B@$t B%y. They only had the "deluxe" edition which was listed at $16.99, but it's on sale for $11.99 !!!! It's less expensive than most audio cd's. = As far as the content is concerned, well that is left up to the viewer. I thought the movie itself was pretty entertaining, a good mix of live footage, and documentary footage. The live concert disc is excellent because they go song to song, city to city, and you get to check out different Maiden fans, and venues from all over the world. = As usual Iron Maiden delivers the goods with a class and integrity that most bands have never had, or lost a long time ago (ie. see Lars Ulrich in movie footage). Overall this is a quality DVD release, at a very fair price. It seems like Iron Maiden is always a step ahead of the game.

On January 30th 2008, Maiden embarked on the first leg of their most adventurous tour: the "Somewhere Back in Time" tour. Their means of transportation was a Boeing 757, which carried the band, the fans, and the crew, as well as up to 12 tons of stage equipment. The pilot? Vocalist Bruce Dickinson.

Flight 666 is an incredible documentary that documents the first leg of this adventurous tour. Made by Samm Dunn and Scot McFadyen, the geniuses behind two other awesome documentaries, "Metal: A Headbanger's Journey" and "Global Metal", this film is a treat for all Maiden fans.

During the 112 minutes, we see the band travel from country to country, with some breathtaking shots of the plane flying, and some great footage of the band when they're NOT on stage too. We even get footage of the band on the plane, having fun as usual. They do such things as go golfing, visit the Mexican pyramids, and much more too. Thbe band are their usual selves with their usual sense of humor, which is expected! Of course Nicko has his usual hilarity too! The concert footage is flat out amazing. Real up-close-and-personal footage, it gets my blood pumping every time I think of it. No overdubs in the audio as well, and the great audio quality is enough to make you feel like you're at the concert. Watching this movie made me think back to when I saw them on the second leg of the tour, and what a magical night it was too.

In short, this movie is a must see for all Maiden fans, and all fans of good music in general. It's a must-own too! I own the blu-ray, and have already watched it 3 times! But you know the deal, 3 times is never enough... not even 1000 times is enough!

Before I first saw this vid 8 or 9 years ago, I liked Maiden but wasn't all that keen on them. Watching this Rockumentary honestly changed my life. I went from luke warm, to over the course of a few years of deep diving their music catalog via Spotify, recognizing that they are probably the GOAT of hard rock. Ever. I'm now an unabashed fanboy. Classically trained skills, unparalleled riffs & writing, battle hardened over years of experience, charismatic & fun. In particular, this iteration of the band starting in 2000 when they reformed as a six piece, with 3 world class guitarists, arguably the best rock bassist, brilliant & free drummer, and one of the greatest front men - - it's hard to argue. Their live performance work from about 2003 to 2015 is IMO the pinnacle of live virtuosity and chemistry. This movie lays it all bare. And they have their own freekin plane, and masses of rabid fans in every corner of the Earth despite the total lack of mainstream support. Just huge. Enjoy Maiden!

A fun, entertaining, well-edited on-the-road travelogue following a 3-decades old band that had created all of its best material a quarter of a century earlier. The indisputable fact is that IM had their creative prime in the mid-80s, with the releases of three very good albums, "Piece of Mind", "Powerslave", and "Somewhere In Time". As far as I'm concerned, practically all the music that they had recorded before that – particularly after it – is totally inferior run-of-the-mill forgettable cliché HM nonsense for un-choosy metal-head zombies who lack criteria i.e. for metal fans with genetically built-in low expectations who are far too easily pleased.

Only one small part of IMF666 touches on this sensitive subject, which I am sure annoys the hell out of most IM band members: the scene in which Dickinson gets interviewed by a guy who suggests that they are living off their old catalogue. Bruce gets visibly annoyed, but not rightfully. (The truth hurts.) Unconvincingly (and rather desperately), he tries to make the case that IM are doing this tour as a way of "thanking the ever-growing young fan-base that never saw us perform the old material". But who's buying that? If so many of their fans really were that young, then in all likelihood they would have never seen Maiden live anyway, or only once, in which case IM might as well play their new stuff to them because they hadn't seen them play those songs either. Bruce's argument is also flawed because during this tour IM had visited many places that they'd never or very rarely visited, hence they could have just as easily played only new material – if only they'd dared. IM's post-1988 material is abysmal by comparison, average at best. There isn't one song they'd written in the past 20+ years that I would consider as good as their mid-80s stuff.

However, the point I am trying to make is not that IM is a derelict band wasting everyone's time touring as old useless fogies. The point is that it's totally OK to live off your old material, the glory days. It is perfectly fine to be proud of the old material and simply accept the fact that the past two decades had been a rather dry spell studio-wise. After all, it's THEIR old material, no-one had handed it to them on a plate. Additionally, it's not as if they're some one-hit wonder pop-band that are desperately milking a 4-minute song for an entire tour; THAT would be truly embarrassing and worthy of mockery. They've got three high-quality albums to pick songs from, and there aren't many bands that have such a rich back-catalog to pick from, metal or otherwise. But for this acceptance of reality to occur, Bruce & co would have to leave their considerable egos behind. No-one wants to face the fact that they'd run out of inspiration such a long time ago. That is understandable, so I don't condemn them for desperately trying to make excuses, justifying playing old material - as if they even need to justify themselves.

Bruce Dickinson is such a high-energy personality, one could almost believe the idealism that he portrays in the film (and generally), when he, for example, somewhat modestly talks about "perhaps having achieved something in life". On the other hand, I am not so sure I can trust Steve Harris entirely when he says that "it's all about the music" and someone's comment that "Steve is totally incorruptible". Quite to the contrary, throughout the decades I have had an increasing impression that Harris is more concerned about milking the band dry for profit, more than any other band member. He may be the "creative driving force" (which would mean that he is the main one to blame for IM's stagnation on the last several albums), but he is also the Pharaoh who always had his whip ready to drive his band-slaves to eke out the last dollar out of the lucrative franchise.

If it really were "only about the music" would they have relied so much on that silly childish prop/mascot/mutant-monster called "Ed"? Harris had realized early on that their album covers alone brought them many fans, sniveling little zit-faced kids, much like the kids today who get attracted to black metal imagery (with the obvious difference that BM bands have almost nothing to offer musically). Would it have hurt this band to release just one album without Ed doing something goofy on the cover? Harris is a businessman, first and foremost. He's got six kids to feed and send to college (or to make more cash with in various band projects he supports).

IMF666 comes off as an interesting, unpretentious look into a more-or-less unusual metal tour. I was never a great IM fan, but I enjoyed this very much, so you might not even have to like metal in order to enjoy this. The fact that some of their best songs are featured – instead of the more recent crap – is a nice bonus. I have to admit that I wouldn't have been able to watch a documentary of Bon Jovi doing such a tour (unless it included footage of a fan stabbing one of the band members in the leg, or Bongiovi slipping on a pile of cow-dung on the way to a gig).

Sam Dunn is a typical denim-and-leather-clad wide-eyed undiscriminating metal-head. Of course IM are his "favourite metal band", who else could one expect it to be? Strapping Young Lad or Voivod? But I'm hoping that perhaps because he's Canadian he might one day film something similar with Devin Townsend. Dunn seems to have all the connections nowadays, and with three successful metal documentaries under his belt he has more freedom than ever to pick his projects. But I am not optimistic; he is more likely to cover Manowar or Judas Priest, or the latest "sensational" trend that's coming from some p*ss-ant little hamlet in Norway.