I’m just in from watchingIron Maiden – Burning Ambition at the local cinema and felt that I had to throw a few words at the Internet about it. Mainly good ones, don’t worry! I have no idea if today was the only chance you’ll get to catch it or if it’s running for a while, but I’m sure it’ll stream somewhere if you miss it on the big screen.
How appealing can a near 2-hour documentary about a band we all know everything about be? As it turns out, very appealing indeed. The writer (David Teague) and director (Malcolm Venville) have done a great job in providing a focus for the tale: the fans. Working more or less chronologically, the story of Iron Maiden is told not just by the members, past and present, in the order the appeared in the Maiden timeline, but also by fans (famous and not so). The only little blip that stood out was that the emergence and significance of Eddie popped up two separate times which seemed a little odd. Though Derek Riggs’ name was mentioned, there was no inerview with him… which isn’t hugely surprising given that he fell out with the band some years ago.
The story covers the early years with Paul Di’Anno right up to Nicko’s departure more recently, and the majority of the talking comes from the guys themselves. There’s a smooth mix of archive footage with current-day voices, sometimes backing into each other and it’s interesting to hear how those voices have changed over the years. The fans’ pieces are interspersed throughout and include the likes of Scott Ian, Lars Ulrich and Tom Morello.
As I said, there’s nothing hugely new or revalatory in the film, but it’s simply that it’s been put together and paced so well. You can tell this has been thought about and worked hard on, and in honesty you’d expect nothing less from a band who’ve always pushed for quality. Something that really struck me was the way that live footage has been included. One thing that jars with me (I can’t stand it) is when video footage of a band playing is overlaid with music which is obviously out of sync, possibly from another song. Not the case here. I don’t think I could spot a single instance where they hadn’t matched the music to the moving mouths, fretting fingers, or Steve Harris’ plucking.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen archive footage of the earlier shows with the now-departed Di’Anno on vocals and it was lovely to hear him reminisce about his time in the band, and give an honest account of his struggles and the reasons he had to leave. There are some show-stealing quotes and they’re not all from Nicko, which is a bit of a surprise. Steve’s comments about the possibility of them shaving off their hair raised actual laughter in the theatre and they weren’t the only moment where I could hear people obviously enjoying themselves.
When I walked out at the end I couldn’t believe I had been sat there for so long.Burning Ambition is well filmed, well made, well paced, and interesting. Moreover, it’s not just the story of Iron Maiden. It’s the story of heavy metal, at least over the last 50 years… though this perhaps isn’t surprising given the huge influence and presence Maiden has had throughout that period. Who’d have thought that “impressed young me” back in the 90s with his First Ten Yearsbox set would be sitting here watching the first fifty roll past with a cinema showing.
Absolutely worth two hours of your time. Up the Irons!
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Header image byGavin Lowrey
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