Becoming Led Zeppelin

I loved it. The second album was always my favorite, and I'm glad they went into depth on all the songs. Ramble On & What Is And What Should Never Be got the love they deserved.

I wasn't alive to get to see them perform (I'm 18 😭) but in the middle of high school I discovered all of their music and fell in love with them. This movie gave me everything I wanted, and there was a lot I didn't even know about. I as I stated before, I really hope they make a 2nd part, just because I want to see them go into Physical Graffiti.

Anyways I wanted to write a review to support the movie and tell you all to go watch, you won't be disappointed! I'm sure it's the closest you can get to being in one of their concerts.

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.

A brilliant and insightful documentary, saw it at the Olympic Studios cinema; watching footage in the actual room they recorded Led Zeppelin I was fantastic, (In Dolby Atmos too it's was LOUD!) Their love of their craft shone through and the archive footage is phenomenal, the editing and montage sequences have painstakingly been put together and gave a real sense of a place and time, the raw live performances also hit hard and showed what fantastic musicians they were individually and as group, the candid interviews and audio clips of John Bonham were really powerful, just wish they'd make one for the next stage of their career.

2025 has been the year of musical biopics so far, though this film about the early years of Led Zeppelin is a documentary / concert film, unlike any of those.

Looking to break away from his comfortable life as a session guitarist, Jimmy Page established his own band, bringing in fellow session player John Paul Jones as well as two prodigious talents from the West Midlands in Robert Plant and John Bonham. Their chemistry is immediate and they head to American to tour on preexisting contracts for Page's former band The Yardbirds. Their first album is a commercial success, though not well reviewed. They resolve to come again with everything they have for their second album.

The documentary has the full co-operation from the three surviving members of the band who all appear in talking head style interviews, explaining their story themselves. This is intercut with footage from various different sources showing the band performing, or home videos. There is also inserts from an Interview with John Bonham, that never aired anywhere previously, but cover his early life, and time spent with Plant before the band came together. It's quite emotional when they play the interview to the rest of the band, particularly a section when he talks about how he feels about his bandmates. It's a very well researched documentary, though does only get the bands opinions on what's going on, with none of the supporting characters offering any thoughts.

It's a criticism that you see in all the reviews, but it is valid. Ending where they do, with the release of Zeppelin 2, does mean that they can avoid all of the contentious topics that a full documentary would cover. So, there's no spiralling into heroin use, no talk of what they may have gotten up to with groupies and there's no actual discussion of Bonham's death, even how they feel about it. Maybe with the trust that Bernard MacMahon has established with them, they could come back and do a follow up "The End of Led Zeppelin".

If you don't have any interest in the band it's perhaps unlikely to change your opinion, but I enjoyed it.

I grew up in an home where folk music reigned, and a bit like with those folks at the Newport Folk Festival who recoiled in disgust at Bob Dylan's shift from acoustic to electric, my parents wouldn't give this band house room in their collection. Therefore, save for the odd rendition of "Whole Lotta Love" or "Stairway to Heaven" I knew precious little about this band when I watched this documentary. It starts by introducing us to each of the members, and rather poignantly uses an interview with the late John Bonham as all four take us through their own musical influences before they met and make musical history. There's some serious archive research gone into this film providing an astonishing array of material from not just those who inspired these men but of some of their own early appearances. There's an especially enjoyable scene from London's Roundhouse theatre where, already having had success in the USA, they perform to a bemused collection of Londoners - some with their fingers in their ears! I didn't love all of their music, and as one journalists quoted here declared - they can be a bit self indulgent. So what, though? That old adage about serving others best when you serve yourself springs to mind. If you can't enjoy making music your own way, you can't expect others to enjoy listening to it - and that search for a musical style that resonates with an audience is clearly important to these blokes. Interestingly, after fifty-odd years, they still appear to respect each other and look back fondly not just on their days touring and making music, but also display a touching affection for their lamented drummer who's comments elicit a genuine emotion from Messrs Plant, Page and Jones. It features very little by way of noises-off comments, instead focussing on the band's own insightful narration as well as plenty of actuality material - including some long form performances from their gigs up until the release of "Led Zeppelin II" where our history rather abruptly concludes. These are three erudite and engaging men who who have clearly lived life's ups and downs fully and energetically, and emerged remarkably sanely out the other side of a music industry that they refused to be consumed by. There music won't be to everyone's taste, but as a history of an industry, a band and a genre-busting style of rock this is an easy film to absorb for two hours.