What even is this? Watching it was a surreal, sometimes dull, sometimes very engrossing experience. Reflecting back on it, it feels something like a fever dream in all honesty. Comparing a movie to a fever dream would usually be a negative, but with this, it's not totally the case, as this is too bizarre and out there (and every now and then actually quite interesting) to call bad. Although when it comes to recommending it... that's an entirely different, far more difficult question.
I could spend hundreds, even thousands of words here trying to define what genre this movie falls into. I can't even call it a documentary exactly, and as 'movie' is the most general word I can think of, we'll go with that. Okay, sometimes it's a concert film. Sometimes it tries to document Led Zeppelin's trials and tribulations while on tour, with detours regarding angry band managers, stolen money, and rowdy fans. Sometimes it shows strange fantasy sequences with the band members, and honestly I got Monty Python & The Holy Grail vibes from some of these. They're occasionally interesting, sometimes dull, but usually... interesting.
It's a weak, vague word when it comes to film criticism: "interesting." But when the thing being critiqued is as strange as The Song Remains The Same, what choice do I have? Well, I could ramble on and on, and go around in circles trying to even break down what this is, and whether it's good or bad or groundbreaking or self-indulgent and stupid, or whether it's all of those, and if so, in what quantities and at what points does it reflect each.
If you're a Led Zeppelin fan you might love this. Or you might hate it. You might not even listen to much classic rock but still get a kick out of the 70s aesthetic and its dirty excesses, and absolutely bizarre detours and fantasy segments. I could see certain people indulging in certain substances and maybe getting a kick out of it in that regard- maybe that's what's led to its cult following? The members of the band certainly looked like they were under the influence of one or more things at certain points, so who knows? Maybe that's the only way viewers can get on their level.
Ultimately, my star rating is mostly arbitrary. I can't give it a bad rating, because I did gladly watch all of it and some parts I liked. But I can't give it a great one, because it's just too messy and scattershot, but then again... that's part of its appeal... I think (?)
What a strange experience though. Only in the 70s could one of the most popular, direct, and accessible rock bands in existence make something this brazenly bizarre.
