Becoming Led Zeppelin 2025 Movie Review
I went to the cinema to see ‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ with my brother and saw it in IMAX. Didn’t really know what to expect but I found the experience thoroughly enjoyable. I’m very familiar with their music catalogue and was a bit of a hippy myself in my teens, though post Led Zeppelin in the late 70’s and early 80’s, so I never saw them live (although I did go to a cinema ‘all nighter that included ‘The Song Remains the Same’ movie!). I don’t listen to them much these days but it was great to revisit their first two albums, hear their amazing music again and see the rare footage and listen to them talking nostalgically about those exciting formative days.
One of the things the documentary impressed on me was how stripped down those early performances were. There is hardly any lighting, the stages are often the size of a postage stamp and some the audiences on their first US tour were really tough (check out the kids putting their fingers in their ears – hilarious). This gave me a real appreciation for their dedication to the music as they give it 100% regardless.
So, I know there’s been a lot of water under the bridge, and even though Robert, Jimmy and John Paul (and even John posthumously) are interviewed separately for this documentary there’s a whole lotta love for the halcyon days of energy and creativity of the sixties. The documentary brings the era alive with some well chosen news reel footage and even rare footage of the band members playing pre-Zeppelin. In regard to this – a special moment is when they are reacting to video footage that they had not seen before – priceless.
On the picky side there is plenty of ‘lick and stick’ editing going on – you know, putting clips together with music from a different recording and making a less than convincing hash of it – but its a forgivable conceit really (for fans) and worth overlooking to make the most of all the archive material.
All in all we had a great night out at the cinema and I can say with some confidence that if you were ever a fan of the first two Zeppelin albums your gonna love this trip down memory lane – it’s a whole lotta rock n roll nostalgia.
