‘Flight 666’ – A Journey Somewhere Back In Time

The road movie to end all road movies – and all done by air!
Iron Maiden’s first venture onto celluloid (outside promo videos, of course) documents the first leg of last year’s epic ‘Somewhere Back In Time’ where the legends literally attempted to reach the parts other metal bands have never reached before... and naturally succeeded.
I’ll admit to not being the biggest Irons fan in the world: yeah, I do have most of their albums and a couple of DVDs and they are a band for whom I’ve always had the utmost respect - for always sticking to what they believe in – bombastic, straight ahead British metal without pandering to media hype or commercial pressures.
‘Flight 666’ has definitely cemented this respect in concrete – and then some.
In short, it is a fantastic film – one that has been some 30 years in the making... and worth the wait.
At the outset, it is very firmly pointed out that Steve Harris et al are extremely private individuals. This most definitely comes across in this fine documentary.
They always have been extremely honest, especially in their dealings with their fans, and this also comes across, just as they also have very tightly controlled the access they give the media to their inner sanctum (mainly due, as again comes across, to the firm but fair guiding hand of long time manager Rod Smallwood).
Obviously, the movie has a lot of flaws (there is a heavy emphasis on the family values surrounding the band, but do these guys never fight like real families?) – and it is obvious that the band did keep a tight rein on the documentary crew – but it nevertheless is a rare treat: an invaluable glimpse behind the scenes of the biggest rock ‘n’ roll behemoth this planet has ever seen (and ever will!).
There a number of memorable aspects to ‘Flight 666’ that differentiate both this movie and Iron Maiden from the norm of both of their respective artforms – the genuine, self-deprecating humour of all concerned (especially Nicko McBrain), the genuine love of the music they perform, their determination to always put on the best show possible (witness the Australian shows where half the band and crew come down with Delhi belly) – and their utmost respect for their fans.
And the DVD is definitely going to be fun: there’s gotta be at least a million hours of out-takes and 20 concert performances to spare!