Led Zeppelin Documentary Movie Was Planned in Secret

Becoming Led Zeppelin, the highly-anticipated documentary about the band’s rise to fame, will go on general release in February.

Sony Pictures previously announced the movie’s arrival in IMAX cinemas on Feb. 7, two days after select preview showings. Now it’s been confirmed the feature will hit standard theaters on Feb. 14. Tickets are on sale now.

Director Bernard McMahon used cutting-edge technology to revitalize archived footage with the intention of having them look and sound brand-new.

“Powered by awe-inspiring, psychedelic, never-before-seen footage, performances, and music, Bernard MacMahon’s experiential cinematic odyssey explores Led Zeppelin’s creative, musical, and personal origin story,” a blurb explained. “The film is told in Led Zeppelin’s own words and is the first officially sanctioned film on the group.”

Production had been underway for several years. In 2021 McMahon told The Upcoming: “The process of making this film was much closer to that of a feature film than a documentary.

“We told the story from their childhood through to 1970 when they become the biggest band in the world. To tell that powerfully is a full length feature film in itself.”

Led Zeppelin Documentary Movie Was Planned in Secret

Writer Allison McGourty added: “We did [our] preparation without telling a soul, because we wanted to be sure it would work on screen before we presented it. Then we flew to London and met with Jimmy Page then John Paul Jones and then Robert Plant and Pat Bonham.

“We knew the band had turned down countless documentary offers for fifty years but we believed in the higher purpose of the story that we were planning to tell.”

Watch the Full-Length ‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ Trailer

Ranking Every Led Zeppelin Live Album

It took a while, but they finally got things right.

Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso

TVT

No. 7. ‘Live at the Greek’

(Jimmy Page and the Black Crowes, 2000)

Contractual issues meant the Black Crowes couldn’t include any of their own songs from these double-billed shows on the subsequently released LP. That might have been seen as great news for Led Zeppelin fans, since it presumably meant Live at the Greek would be focused on Jimmy Page’s deep well of material. It was. So why didn’t this more consistently work? Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson later admitted, “I’m not a big fan of Robert Plant’s lyrics or his singing.” Unfortunately, at various times on Live at the Greek, it really shows.

Swan Song

No. 6. ‘The Song Remains the Same’

(Led Zeppelin, 1976)

Led Zeppelin opens with the tough one-two punch of “Rock and Roll” and “Celebration Day” but then eventually dissolves into a well-named 27-minute version of “Dazed and Confused.” It was a time of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. But, as The Song Remains the Same definitively confirms, sometimes the former had a huge impact on the latter. At least listeners didn’t have to contend with goofy segues from the film version where Robert Plant rescues a fair maiden from a tower.

Atlantic

No. 5. ‘Celebration Day’

(Led Zeppelin, 2012)

After they’d been gone so long, Celebration Day was perhaps understandably overcelebrated in the moment. As with its participants, there are times when these renditions creak with age, times when the seams show where none did before. Still, if this ends up as the group’s last testament, then the wait was well worth it. This isn’t Led Zeppelin at their peak, but that hardly seemed possible at such a late date. Instead, Celebration Day fully redeemed those misfire band reunions in the ’80s.

Atlantic

No. 4. ‘BBC Sessions

(Led Zeppelin, 1997)

It took two tries to get this right, as the original two-disc BBC Sessions included songs from four 1969 radio appearances and an April 1971 concert from London’s Paris Theatre – but also some unfortunate edits and omissions. The Complete BBC Sessions, issued in 2016, resolved both issues. Also found was another entire disc of new material, including the previously unreleased “Sunshine Woman.” The only mild complaint that remains: This is Led Zeppelin in ascent – but, once again, not at their peak.

Atlantic

No. 3. ‘No Quarter’

(Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, 1994)

Some long-time fans were likely disappointed that this live reunion didn’t include Led Zeppelin’s other surviving member, John Paul Jones. But Plant and Page weren’t looking to reanimate past glories. Instead, No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded was a genre-bending, chance-taking project where they eschewed straight-ahead renditions of songs like “Stairway to Heaven” in order to dig deeper into the Middle Eastern and classical influences that permeated “Kashmir” – and then followed that fascinating thread into brand new places.

Atlantic

No. 2. ‘Led Zeppelin’

(Led Zeppelin, 2003)

The multi-platinum Led Zeppelin lacks a tight one-tour focus but makes up for that with its dramatic sweep. Every micro-era from their decade of dominance in the ’70s is touched upon, as live material from 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1975 and 1979 offers new intrigue for both long-time fans and newcomers alike. Of particular note is a complete concert from January 1970 at Royal Albert Hall and the August 1979 set at Knebworth that marked Led Zeppelin’s last-ever U.K. performance.

Atlantic

No. 1. ‘How the West Was Won’

(Led Zeppelin, 2003)

As they settled in for a pair of June 1972 concerts at the Los Angeles Forum and Long Beach Arena, Led Zeppelin was no longer searching for the just-right blend of their own influences and creativity. (This was well before any thoughts of acid-washed concert-film dream sequences, too.) The career-defining IV had just been released, with the deeply underrated Houses of the Holy just over the horizon. This, finally, was Led Zeppelin at the height of their considerable on-stage powers. Better late than never.

Read More: More Theaters Added to ‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ Release Plans | https://ultimateclassicrock.com/becoming-led-zeppelin-more-theaters/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral