''Iron Maiden: Flight 666'' is a

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

featuring the British heavy metal band

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

. The film follows the band on the first leg of their

Somewhere Back in Time World Tour Somewhere Back in Time World Tour was a concert tour by the Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Iron Maiden in 2008 and 2009, focused on the band's 1980s material, in particular songs from ''Powerslave'', ''Somewhere in Time (Iron Maiden album) ...

in February and March 2008, during which they travelled on their own customised

Boeing 757 The Boeing 757 is an American narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the 727 (a trijet), received its first orders in August 1978. The prototype completed its mai ...

, Ed Force One, which used the call-sign "666". ''Flight 666'' is co-produced by Toronto-based

Banger Films Banger Films is a Canadian film and television production company, which specializes in documentary films and television series on music and culture. The company was launched in 2004 by Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn to create and distribute their fir ...

, known for their documentaries '' Metal: A Headbanger's Journey'', ''

Global Metal ''Global Metal'' is a 2007 documentary film directed by Scot McFadyen and Canadian anthropologist Sam Dunn. It is a follow-up to their successful 2005 documentary, '' Metal: A Headbanger's Journey''. The film's international premiere took place ...

'' and '' Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage''. The film was shot in

high-definition video High-definition video (HD video) is video of higher resolution and quality than standard-definition. While there is no standardized meaning for ''high-definition'', generally any video image with considerably more than 480 vertical scan lines (No ...

with accompanying 5.1

surround sound Surround sound is a technique for enriching the fidelity and depth of sound reproduction by using multiple audio channels from speakers that surround the listener ( surround channels). Its first application was in movie theaters. Prior to sur ...

produced by

Kevin Shirley Kevin Shirley (born 29 June 1960), also known as The Caveman, is a South African music producer, engineer and mixer for many artists,Spencer et al, (2007Shirley, Kevinentry. Retrieved 4 February 2010. such as the bands Journey, Iron Maiden, ...

(who has worked with the band since their 2000 album ''

Brave New World ''Brave New World'' is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, whose citizens are environmentally engineered into an intelligence-based social hierarch ...

''). It was distributed by Arts Alliance Media and

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

(except in the US, where it was sub-distributed by D&E Entertainment) in select digital theatres on 21 April 2009.

Synopsis and background

Boeing 757-23A, Astraeus Airlines JP6187959

''Iron Maiden: Flight 666'' documents the opening leg of the band's

, which took place between February and March 2008. During this leg of the tour, the group travelled 50,000 miles (encompassing India, Australia and North and South America) in just 45 days, performing 23 shows in 13 countries to half a million fans. To achieve this, the band travelled in their own

, nicknamed "Ed Force One" after the band's mascot,

Eddie Eddie or Eddy may refer to: Science and technology *Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle *Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Linu ...

and in the style of the U.S. president's

Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and used ...

, which was specially converted to carry the band, their crew and twelve tonnes of equipment. The aeroplane was largely piloted by the band's lead singer,

Bruce Dickinson Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who has been the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1981 to 1993 and 1999–present. He is known for his wide-ranging operatic vocal style and energetic stage ...

, who was then employed by

Astraeus Airlines Astraeus Limited, trading as Astraeus Airlines, was a British airline based at Astraeus House in Crawley, West Sussex, England. Founded in 2002, and named after the Greek God of the dusk, it entered administration on 21 November 2011, ceasing ...

. According to Dickinson, who came up with the idea, Ed Force One meant they could visit countries where "The bean counters said it's just not worth going" and allowed them to "do an almost European-type itinerary, but on an inter-continental basis". As a result, the band were able to perform in Costa Rica and Colombia for the first time. The aircraft was flown under the call-sign "666", a reference to their 1982 single " The Number of the Beast", which provided the film's title. Despite the technical aspects behind the tour, the documentary is predominantly about the group's fans, with Dickinson commenting that "Two-thirds of the film is not about us". Scenes shot in South America are particularly focused on the audiences, where

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

report that they are "venerated like football stars", while ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' state that the film makers "elicit tearful eulogies" from those in Costa Rica and Colombia, then seeing the band for the first time. Dickinson asserts that the band's relationship with their fans is "the real story of Maiden", and the fact that this is the film's primary theme "is the way it should be". The documentary was written, directed and produced by

Scot McFadyen Scot McFadyen is a Canadian film director, producer and music supervisor whose work focuses on the subculture of heavy metal. He co-owns Toronto-based production company Banger Films with Sam Dunn. Films Metal: A Headbanger's Journey McFadye ...

and

Sam Dunn Sam Dunn (born 20 March 1974) is a Canadian documentary filmmaker, musician, and anthropologist, best known for his series of documentaries on heavy metal music. He co-owns Toronto-based production company Banger Films with Scot McFadyen. Dunn ...

, using their production company,

. McFadyen and Dunn requested permission to shoot the film as soon as the tour was announced, which they received with just two months left to prepare. Despite the fact that the film makers had been acquainted with Iron Maiden while working on their first two documentaries, 2005's '' Metal: A Headbanger's Journey'' and 2007's ''

'', some band members were initially mistrustful of the venture and were wary of having their privacy invaded. Although Dickinson and drummer

Nicko McBrain Michael Henry "Nicko" McBrain (born 5 June 1952) is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden since 1982. Having played in small pub bands since 1966 from the age of 14, McBrain paid his bills after grad ...

were the most comfortable with the filming, bassist Steve Harris and guitarist

Adrian Smith Adrian Frederick "H" Smith (born 27 February 1957) is an English guitarist best known as a member of heavy metal band Iron Maiden, for whom he also writes songs and performs backing vocals both live and in the studio. Smith grew up in London ...

took longer to adapt, while guitarist

Janick Gers Janick Robert Gers (; born 27 January 1957) is an English musician who is best known as one of the three guitarists in heavy metal band Iron Maiden. He initially joined to replace Adrian Smith, but remained in the band after Smith rejoined. G ...

largely ignored the crew until the final week. Following ''Iron Maiden: Flight 666'', the band worked with Banger Films once again on their 2012 live video, '' En Vivo!''.

Theatrical showings

The film's world première took place at the Cine Odeon in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 14 March 2009, during the final leg of the band's

. The UK première took place on 20 April 2009 at the Kensington

Odeon Odeon may refer to: Ancient Greek and Roman buildings * Odeon (building), ancient Greek and Roman buildings built for singing exercises, musical shows and poetry competitions * Odeon of Agrippa, Athens * Odeon of Athens * Odeon of Domitian, Rome ...

in London. The following night, the film was screened simultaneously on over 450 screens in 41 countries globally. Distributed by Arts Alliance Media and

, with D&E Entertainment sub-distributing in the US, ''Flight 666'' was shown in a 2K

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals **Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...

format, with

5.1 surround sound 5.1 surround sound ("five-point one") is the common name for surround sound audio systems. 5.1 is the most commonly used layout in home theatres. It uses five full bandwidth channels and one low-frequency effects channel (the "point one"). Dolb ...

mixed by the band's producer,

. The screenings on 21 April were very successful, with Arts Alliance Media reporting that it was the largest simultaneous worldwide release of a documentary film. This led to additional showings in some territories, such as in India, where it was released on 8 May by

PVR Pictures PVR Pictures is the film production and distribution arm of PVR Group, which also owns PVR Cinemas, one of the largest multiplex companies in India. History The company has its origin is Priya Cinema in Vasant Vihar in South Delhi, which was ...

, and Australia, where it was screened from 30 April to 6 May. At the UK box office, the film grossed £84,276 (US$123,886), while making $74,134 in Australia and $35,173 in Russia

CIS Cis or cis- may refer to: Places * Cis, Trentino, in Italy * In Poland: ** Cis, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, south-central ** Cis, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, north Math, science and biology * cis (mathematics) (cis(''θ'')), a trigonome ...

, totalling $233,193 from the three territories tallied.

Reception

''Flight 666'' was welcomed by overwhelmingly positive reviews from the music press and general media. Rock and metal magazines ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

'' and ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

'' each gave the movie full marks, with ''Kerrang!'' referring to it as a "unique peek behind the Iron Curtain" that was "not to be missed" and ''Metal Hammer'' calling it a "continent-jumping, fire-breathing monster of a film". ''

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

'' gave it 4 stars and felt that the behind the scenes antics were interesting, despite lacking in drama when compared to

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

's '' Metallica: Some Kind of Monster'' and ''

Anvil! The Story of Anvil ''Anvil! The Story of Anvil'' is a 2008 Canadian rockumentary film about the Canadian heavy metal band Anvil. The film is directed by screenwriter Sacha Gervasi, in his directorial debut, and features interviews with other musicians who have been ...

'', and that the concert footage is "magnificent". ''Flight 666'' won the "24 Beats Per Second" award for best music documentary at the

SXSW Film Festival South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

in Austin, Texas, Music DVD of the Year at 2010's

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

s, and Best DVD at the 2009

Metal Storm Metal Storm Limited was a research and development company based in Brisbane, Australia, that specialized in electronically initiated superposed load weapons technology and owned the proprietary rights to the electronic ballistics technolog ...

awards.

Home media

''Iron Maiden: Flight 666'' was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 25 May 2009 by

. In North America, it was issued on 9 June and by

Universal Music Enterprises Universal Music Enterprises (UME, stylized as UMe) is the catalogue division of Universal Music Group. It includes Hip-O Records, Universal Chronicles, and UM3 or UMC (which is the international division of the company). Under various divisions, ...

in the US. In addition to the documentary film, the video contains the full sixteen song setlist from the Somewhere Back in Time World Tour, with each track recorded at a different venue. Alongside the DVD and Blu-ray, a double CD soundtrack album was released simultaneously, featuring the same track listing as the video concert footage. The DVD and Blu-ray release was particularly successful, peaking at No. 1 in 22 countries including the UK and US.

Soundtrack and concert footage track listing

Charts

Video

Album

Certifications

;Album ;Video

Credits

Production and performance credits are adapted from the Blu-ray, DVD and soundtrack album liner notes. ;Iron Maiden *

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

* Dave Murray –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s *

– guitars,

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

– guitars * Steve Harris –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, backing vocals,

co-producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working Independent film, independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordina ...

(concert audio) *

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

;Additional musicians *Michael Kenney –

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

;Film production *

–

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

– producer, writer, director, narrator *

Rod Smallwood Roderick Charles Smallwood (born 17 February 1950) is an English music manager, best known as the co-manager of the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. With his business partner, Andy Taylor, whom he met while studying at Trinity College, Ca ...

–

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

band manager A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry. The responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee the day-to-day ...

*Stefan Demetriou – executive producer * Andy Taylor – executive producer, band manager *Victoria Hirst –

*Martin Hawkes –

director of photography The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

*Lisa Grooten Boer –

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

*Wendy Hallum Martin – editor *Mike Munn – editor ;Concert audio production *

– producer, mixing *Jared Kvitka – assistant *Ryan Smith – mastering *Dave Pattenden – live audio recording *Ian Walsh – assistant *Johnny Burke – assistant *Tony Newton – assistant ;Additional personnel *Peacock –

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

John McMurtrie John McMurtrie (born 1969) is a British music photographer. He makes portraits of musicians, usually in the heavy rock arena. He has shot covers for ''Metal Hammer'' magazine and ''Total Guitar'' magazine and also contributes to ''Rolling Stone'' ...

–

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

*Hangman – stage design

References

External links

* * * *
''Iron Maiden: Flight 666''
at

BBC Online BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

{{Iron Maiden 2009 films British musical films Canadian musical films English-language Canadian films Concert films Iron Maiden video albums Documentary films about heavy metal music and musicians Documentary films about aviation Films shot in Chile Live heavy metal albums 2000s English-language films 2000s Canadian films 2000s British films