Iron Maiden Album: “Flight 666 [DVD]”

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 Best Buy. 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.

I recommend this movie even to people who don't like heavy metal. This is a film about six guys doing what they love, living outside the stereotypical debauched rockstar existence, and making millions of people quite happy with their rather gentle (for heavy metal) music.

Whether you like heavy metal, or even rock music, it's part of life. It's how teenagers learn about the world, among other things, since their parents are busy working and our cultural centers like churches and traditions are on the wane. If you had to pick a heavy metal band to respect, Iron Maiden is it, and this documentary tells us with gradual anecdotes why this is true.

Flying around the world in their own plane, piloted by their vocalist, the band attempt a mega-tour of 36 dates around the world, delighting audiences in Latin America, North America, Asia and Europe. Dunn and McFayden start their portrait of this band by showing us the typical rock star stuff: the thronging crowds, the complexity of setting up the stage, the giant amplifiers and security.

Having introduced us to the ostensible, they go deeper, into the personalities of the band and what they are as people. The answer is that they're fairly mild-mannered musicians who are thoroughly enjoying making music, touring the world, playing golf and scuba diving, and in some cases, bringing their families along. They don't seem to care at all about upholding the rock star image that negative propaganda like "Dethklok" hopes to make us see everywhere heavy metal is mentioned.

The point of this movie is that success isn't just about being money or being popular. It's about putting together songs people like with an image people find inspiring, and the origin of this mentality is in well-adjusted very normal people who simply love what they do and want to keep doing it. Whether the subject is lawyers, technical divers or rock stars, this subject brings calm to the mind as we all like hearing about success stories that involve the soul as well as the credit card.

In addition to this insight into the character of one of heavy metal's longest-running and most wide-selling bands, "Flight 666" offers us expertly-edited live shots of the band that include most of a dozen of their most emblematic and enduring songs. It's not quite a concert video, but there's a concert video hidden within it, in addition to scenes of the band recording, playing for personal enjoyment, and talking about music.

Not only would I let my kids see this, but I'd encourage them to see it -- this is a wholesome portrait of people who got to the top of the world by doing what they loved, doing it well, and not getting sidetracked into the politics of image. It's a great life-affirming documentary as a result.

If you buy this and play it once it would be worth the money.

The performances are outstanding. Bruce in fine voice, the playing excellent, the sound really not stadium affected, the band is VERY tight, the crowd shots and involvement just amazing. A way to attend a Maiden concert without having to mingle. I have most of their concert videos and this one is WAY better than the others. I will play it over and over (my favorite Maiden stuff really well done and filmed.)

I thought the documentary stuff was pretty much standard rockumentary stuff. (the part where members say only nice things about members of the family, the part about how hard the crew works, the drummer who is a good hearted goof,etc...) Suspect Maiden is another one of those bands where the members have grown into adults and don't want their family to be part of the circus that comes with fame. It was worth watching once but I can't imagine wanting to see it again.

My husband is a big Iron Maiden fan and he has been wanting this dvd so when I saw it I bought it!

Very prompt delivery!!!

Until a couple of years ago, I had never listened to Maiden. A good friend suggested I give them a listen. I am grateful for that suggestion.

I was lucky enough to see them on the first performance of the The Final Frontier tour in Dallas with the friend that got me interested in Maiden (to whom I am eternally grateful). They played 2 solid hours. The set list was superb.

Bruce Dickinson is perhaps the most underappreciated front man in rock history--he really is great.

I don't see how the band played 2 hours as hard as they did without passing out.

WE were exhausted. They are non-stop, no-ballads, almost no-talking, hard-core rock.

See them if you can.

If you cannot, buy this DVD. If you're a Maiden fan then this will please you.

If you don't like Maiden then don't buy it.