It’s time to rock and roll, with a whole lotta love for this new Led Zeppelin documentary film. It has been cooking away for several years but is now ready to be watched. The film was released to cinemas earlier this year but will soon be available on Netflix to view at your leisure and for your pleasure. It hits the streaming platform on June 7.
Becoming Led Zeppelin is a two-hour documentary directed by Bernard MacMahon, the man behind the great American Epic music series from 2017. He has been working through archive footage about the band for over five years to make this exceptional new film. It was well worth his time and effort. Whether you are into classic rock or keen to learn more, this is a must-watch for you.
Let’s face it, people may argue for years about what the world's best-ever rock and roll band is. They will have favorites and personal views. Led Zeppelin will always be a popular choice for the accolade, but whichever band gets your vote, they will almost always feature strongly in the debate. This means finding out more about how they got together and set off towards those heady heights is always going to be essential viewing.
Becoming Led Zeppelin has the story of the band forming
As the title suggests, Becoming Led Zeppelin is about the early days of the band. It looks at the childhood of Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham. It shows their early musical careers and then explains how they got together as a band. MacMahon weaves together those individual tales and joins them up nicely into the rock and roll giants they became.
You can expect to see plenty of the band in action. But it does focus on their early days together. The film covers the period up until 1970 and the release of their second album, Led Zeppelin II. The live-action has brilliant clips of the band on stage at their peak in the likes of the Royal Albert Hall, London, and Fillmore West in San Francisco.
There are also rare interviews with all four band members. That includes an archive and an unseen interview with the late Bonham. He comes across so well, surprisingly quiet compared with his high-powered drumming style. There are also newer and more recent interviews with Page, Plant, and Jones, which give new insight into the band after all these years.
MacMahon's film has been getting rave reviews since an early excerpt received a ten-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival in 2021. It’s proved popular with fans in the cinemas, now it’s time for a wider audience via Netflix. Sure, not everyone will be able to see it there, but if you haven't got a subscription, keep your eyes open for offers, trials, and discounts, or find a friend who has one and take round a beer or two. It's well worth seeing and hearing.