Iron Maiden: Flight 666

This is a review of the DVD release, as I was not one of the lucky ones near the limited release screening of the movie.

If you are a longtime maiden fan, the film is a love letter to you and your brethren, shot by documentary crew consisting of fans. Not surprisingly, the band is shown in an almost reverent regard. Nothing controversial to see here, folks. For people that have more than a passing interest in the band, unfortunately, there is not much here that you don't already know or have already seen. If you own or have seen the "Death on the Road" documentary disc you will not gain any new insights to the band and what makes them tick. If not, you will be in for a treat if you have an interest in maiden and/or what it takes to bring off an audaciously planned and executed world tour to thousands of dedicated and psyched fans.

Shot with high-def cameras and lots of them, the concert scenes are great (more on this later). The fan scenes and band/crew interview scenes are entertaining and well edited. You really get an idea what an undertaking this tour was and how much the fans appreciated the effort. Compared to the dedication shown by some of these fans, my own interest seems trivial, though I have been a fan since I first heard "somewhere in time" back when I was a sophomore in high school. You can tell the band is at times awed of, bemused, frustrated by, and proud of this loyalty they inspire.

By the time we make the trip with them from India, through Australia, North and South America, you are exhausted. I can't imagine how Steve and the boys felt after suffering jet lag, food illness, hangovers and sleep deprivation. Yet they still managed to put on kick-ass, crowd pleasing shows. This is why they have the live following and the pro rep they do.

As for the bonus concert disc, it alone justifies the price of the DVD purchase. This, friends, in my opinion is their best live concert release yet. Better than the legendary Live After Death you say? Hell yes, I say. High def camera work. Wonderfully captured and mastered 5.1 surround in Dolby and DTS. Consistently great performances from Bruce and the boys. Great crowds. A killer set list. The edits are quick but not dizzying like on Rock in Rio or Death on the Road. Honestly, what's not to like?

Overall a must have for maiden fans, and even of hard rock fans in general, if you ask me.

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!

Honestly, Maiden put most bands to shame. To see a band that's been going for so long, who still puts on one of the largest and most energetic shows around night after night, across the planet, is as exhilarating as it is touching.

Maiden have always commanded what is probably the most loyal and rabid fan base in the world, and yet they've never let the fame go to their heads. Here you see six totally down to earth men, playing music because they love it. And the crowds worship them for it.

This is an incredible documentary not just for fans of the band, but for fans of rock music in general. I daresay that if you go into this film not knowing much of their music, you're likely to come out a new fan.

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

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.