Legendary British rockers Led Zeppelin get the documentary treatment!
How to watch Becoming Led Zeppelin in New Zealand
Becoming Led Zeppelin is arriving in New Zealand cinemas on February 8, 2025.
Becoming Led Zeppelin
What is Becoming Led Zeppelin about?
…really?
Okay, but please understand I’m not insulting your intelligence here—I just have a word count to hit. British music documentarian Bernard MacMahon, who also gave us the American Epic series on the origins of American roots music, is calling the shots on this one. It’s a look at the very early days of epoch-defining rock band Led Zeppelin, from their formative years in the London music scene of the ’50s and ’60s, to their formation in 1968, to their rapid ascendancy to being the number one band in the world circa 1970. Much to the outrage of the music critics of the time, who were not impressed with Zep’s primal, destructive sound, an outlier in the afterglow of the Summer of Love and a precursor to what we now call heavy metal.
But don’t go expecting a warts ‘n’ all tell-all tale of backstage debauchery (and more’s the pity). This is the only documentary ever authorised by the band, and the focus remians firmly on the music.
The cast of Becoming Led Zeppelin
…really?
Okay, but please understand etc and so forth.
Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, John Bonham and Robert Plant are all on hand, with the still-kicking members of the band offering their own recollections and ruminations on their legendary career, while poor old John Bonham is present via the magic of never-before-heard audio interviews, the drummer having passed on in 1980. You would expect the usual collection of talking heads that show up in this sort of thing were presumably on board as well,but you’d be wrong. It’s just Zep, now elder statesmen, recounting their early days.
Becoming Led Zeppelin trailer
Why we’re excited about Becoming Led Zeppelin
If you’re a Led Head this one is absolutely unmissable. But with so much off stage drama going unexplored, it does feel like we’re only getting half the story.
