SXSW Film

Iron Maiden: Flight 666

Documentary Feature, 24 Beats per Second
D: Scot McFadyen, Sam Dunn

The Maiden faithful showed up early Wednesday night for the North American premiere of Iron Maiden: Flight 666 at the Paramount, and they weren't disappointed in McFadyen and Dunn's feature-length (and long overdue) tribute to the metal gods. It was criminal that this hugely popular and influential group had never been properly immortalized on film; now they have been. Flight 666 follows the band on its groundbreaking 2008 Somewhere Back in Time tour where they travel to 13 countries in 45 days in a custom-fitted Boeing 757 they've dubbed Ed Force One, with lead singer Bruce Dickinson moonlighting as pilot on his days off from performing. This unique method of travel allowed them to play in many countries that had been logistically impossible for them to perform in prior to acquiring EF1. The concerts in locales such as Mumbai, India, and Bogotá, Colombia, surpassed being mere entertainment and became attend-at-all-costs cultural events with hysterical kids singing along to every word, often moved to tears.

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Saturday, March 21, 2pm, Austin Convention Center