Becoming Led Zeppelin

An excellently crafted documentary that draws you into the story of Led Zeppelin’s early years with plenty of detail and context so even non-fans can easily understand and appreciate what they are seeing and hearing.

I saw this at an IMAX theater, which may have added to my appreciation of this movie. If you’re a Zeppelin fan, this will definitely leave you wanting more!

I just loved the interesting concert and studio footage, matched to their climb up the fame success ladder... without being full of ego. It has a really sensitive tone, showing their joy and marvel even now, at having "made It". Contemplative and reflective. Admittedly I have so loved Led Zep for so many years... but they really took the angle of "look where they came from, and how they got on their way". And i love that they were bashed hard byt he critics, who were clearly and oddly bitter, dazed and confused at how this once-in-a-lifetime set of musicians came together. The critics focused on their own critics circle, not seeing how they were making interesting tuneful, bluesy music! Loved it. Loved the doc. There will never be another like them.

Like most people my age, I am a big Led Zeppelin fan. When Whole Lotta Love came on early, I said, "great here we go", but this documentary dragged on. Except for the interviews with Jimmy Page which were excellent, we heard a lot of their less popular songs. And what happened to the Stairway to Heaven story? I know they filmed it. Did I see the edited short version?

Even if you don't like their music the journey they went on is fascinating. Each member of the group is interesting and thoughtful and they clearly enjoyed working with each other and respected each others skill. One of my favourite rockumentaries and well worth viewing.

This is exactly what you want from a music documentary. The brilliant idea of having the band look at archive footage and commenting on it chronologically worked exceptionally well. Each surviving member is interviewed separately which allows them to speak freely and comment on their insights and inspiration. This documentary cleverly crafted the band's origin stories without having other people making hyperbolic statements ("Oh, they were the best band ever"). Instead, we, the audience, watch their genius unfold before us as the filmmakers take us on each individual journey from childhood to "making it".

The problem with this is that it totally devalued John Bonham. He was the one credited by all of the members of Led Zeppelin and by critics who knew music, for its unique sound by introducing different time signatures for the band, while Bonham played another time signature. I grew up listening to the band frustrated because I couldn't figure out how they got their sound. Listen to Four Sticks, Kashmir, The Wanton song, Fool In Te Rain, and you'll hear it, but likely you'll have to play it over and over again to get it. That amalgam of time was Bonham's genius. Jimmy Page was excellent, but he did not craft the sound of Led Zeppelin. How could the makers of this allow this to happen?

Get that director an editor! I was disappointed.

A documentary that really facilitates time travel. Loved clips from way way back, along with interviews - including that of John Bonham. What I would have liked more is some of music lining up with the old concert footage - picky but it was noticeable to me. Also would have loved to see all three - Page, Plant and Jones - in one room for a group interview at the end. It may be truth that they are not close, but the individual interviews made it seem a bit accentuated to me.

First off the film isn’t that bad but I found it lacking detail. I enjoyed the first 30-40 minutes as it dove into the early lives of each member, the formation of the band, and the recording of their first album. There are a few good live performances but I was thoroughly disappointed in the use of b-roll footage supplemented with album versions of different tunes. It gave the film a very low budget vibe especially when the editor tried to sync the music with some live footage. Once the movie gets past the formation stage it really turns into a lot of live and album versions of Zeppelin songs. It’s almost as if they didn’t get enough interview footage and used music to fill in the gaps. Also keep in mind the movie is titled “Becoming Led Zeppelin” and the film stops around 1970. It doesn’t address the band’s continued development, navigating their later success/fame, the death of Robert Plant’s son, and of course the loss of John Bonham. That’s not a dig at the film itself. It’s just a fact this is about the band’s formation and early success. Not bad not great. It’s worth a stream but definitely not a $15-20 movie ticket.