‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ Film Review

Feature Photo: Bruce Alan Bennett / Shutterstock.com

As a longtime Led Zeppelin fan, I’ve been frustrated by the lack of post-Led Zeppelin releases. There’s a simple explanation. The band rarely filmed its performances, and most of the tracks they recorded appeared on their albums. There are few outtakes, rare cuts, or unreleased gems. Jimmy Page opened much of the vault for the remastered album campaign that rolled out between 2014 and 2015.

A couple of major live releases have appeared over the years, including The Complete BBC Sessions, How the West Was Won, and Celebration Day. There was also the fantastic Led Zeppelin DVD set, but for the most part, there hasn’t been an endless stream of new material for a band that many, including us, feel is the greatest rock band of all time.

I was one of the lucky ones who got to see Led Zeppelin back in 1977, and as I’ve said so many times before on this website, it was like seeing God. With all that said, fans like myself were extremely excited about the release of Becoming Led Zeppelin. And let me tell you, my rock and roll friends, it did not disappoint.

Becoming Led Zeppelin opened exclusively in IMAX theaters on February 7, 2025, before expanding nationwide on February 14. Living on Long Island, there were not many theaters showing the film during that initial IMAX run, which was frustrating, but I would have driven through rain, sleet, snow, and volcanic eruptions to see this film.

This film isn’t just another documentary. It’s a pilgrimage. It captures the birth of a legend, weaving together rare video footage, fresh and archival interviews, and a treasure trove of photos, memorabilia, and more. If you ever wished you could have been there when it all began, this might be as close as you’ll ever get.

But pulling this off was no small feat. As I previously stated, Zeppelin wasn’t exactly fond of cameras. As a result, early performance footage is scarce. The surviving material includes television appearances, limited fan-shot footage, and the extraordinary January 9, 1970 performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall, which producer Stanley Dorfman filmed for the band with Peter Whitehead and his crew.

That footage alone is enough to send chills down your spine. Director Bernard MacMahon and his team knew they had to work with limited surviving material, but what they did with it is nothing short of magic. They blended rare period photographs, vintage newsreels, restored concert footage, and the band members’ own recollections into something that makes Zeppelin feel alive again.

One of the most important elements is the inclusion of John Bonham’s voice through a rare 1972 interview. Bonham died in 1980, so his recorded words allow all four members of Led Zeppelin to participate in the story. Hearing Bonzo speak within the film gives those early years an emotional weight that no outside narrator could have supplied.

This wasn’t a rush job. MacMahon, writer and producer Allison McGourty, and their team spent years searching for rare film footage, unseen photographs, recordings, and other surviving material. They also restored much of what they found so that decades-old images and performances could hold up on an IMAX screen. The effort paid off. The result isn’t just a documentary. It’s a resurrection.

The film wastes no time lingering in nostalgia. It moves quickly into the band members’ early years and the musical paths that eventually brought them together. Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones had already built careers as sought-after session musicians, while Robert Plant and John Bonham had developed a close friendship and musical partnership before Led Zeppelin existed.

Then came 1968. The Yardbirds had reached the end of the line, and Page was looking to build something new. He was directed toward Robert Plant, who in turn brought John Bonham into the picture, while John Paul Jones contacted Page about joining the new group. When the four finally played together, Jones recalls in the film that “The room just exploded.” When John says those words, you feel chills because you know what happens next.

It’s the moment Becoming Led Zeppelin captures so well, the instant four musicians walked into a room and discovered something extraordinary together. It may sound like a Hollywood story, but it happened. This film is a time machine for those who lived through the era. For those who didn’t, it’s an invitation to witness the birth of one of the greatest rock bands ever to walk the earth.

Either way, you don’t just watch this film. You feel it. It brings you back to wishing you were 16 years old again. Even more importantly for people who are 16 now, it’s the definitive statement showing why this band mattered so much to us, how it helped us fall in love with rock and roll, and how nothing on this Earth can make us feel quite like music this powerful.