Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition Review
My journey with metal icons Iron Maiden doesn’t quite start 50 years ago, as it does for some of the true die‑hard fans out there. Mine begins around 2004 or 2005, when a much younger version of myself — four or five years old — was headbanging to a copy of Journeyman from the Dance of Death album on my PSP. My very first concert was Iron Maiden during the controversial A Matter of Life and Death tour, where they played the entire album front to back. At the time, six‑year‑old me was none the wiser about the controversy; I was just happy to be there among all the other metalheads in attendance.
For Maiden fans, we all have that moment when we realise we’ve truly fallen in love with the band. Whether it’s the raw power of the first two Paul Di’Anno–led albums, the golden age of the ’80s with Bruce Dickinson, or even the turbulent ’90s and their resurgence in the 2000s, beginning with the album Brave New World, which also marked the return of Bruce and guitarist Adrian Smith. All of this and more is explored in the latest documentary, Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition.
This documentary covers nearly 50 years of the ups and downs of the band’s career. Naturally, not everything can be explored in great depth. For example, one moment Bruce is leaving the band, and the next Blaze Bayley is stepping in as frontman. However, as a brief glimpse into their treasured history, it’s nothing short of masterfully handled. The documentary feels like an honest portrait of the events that unfolded — especially when covering Paul and Bruce’s departures. When drummer Nicko McBrain goes into detail about how angry he was at Bruce for telling him on tour that he was leaving, it’s clear the moment left a lasting impact on him.
Even then, the film delves into the slight tension between Bruce and bassist‑founder Steve Harris regarding stage presence, specifically Bruce’s frustration with Steve standing front and centre while he was singing. For Maiden fans, these are moments of pure levity, especially when a fan discusses with Bruce about using synthesisers in metal, and he insists they don’t belong in the genre, which feels like cruel foreshadowing to the albums Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. Yet these lighter moments also give you room to laugh before the documentary shifts into some of the more serious chapters of the band’s history.
Iron Maiden was one of the first major rock bands to perform beyond the Iron Curtain, playing in Communist Poland under the intense watch of military police and potentially being spied on throughout that leg of the tour. Throughout the film, we see just how deeply the band has impacted its fans, including the Polish audiences who, despite living under tyranny, found hope and joy in their music. Music is what brings people together; even though all of Maiden’s songs are in English, like all forms of art, it has no borders and can unite people under a common banner. The film also dives into the meaning of their art as Nicko believes their music to be apolitical, but a fan who discovered their music during the Lebanese civil war found that every aspect of Fear of the Dark represented their life.
In a bold, creative choice for Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition, the key members of the band and their management do not appear on camera, instead contributing only through voiceovers. The interviewees who do appear are either fans or famous rock and metal icons such as Lars Ulrich of Metallica, Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, and Gene Simmons of Kiss. Surprisingly, one of the standout interviewees is Javier Bardem, who —despite being a major actor — comes across as a genuinely passionate fan. Bruce captures the importance of the fans perfectly in the reused En Vivo! concert footage: “It doesn’t matter if you’re male, female, Muslim, Christian, Catholic, Jewish, it doesn’t matter. If you’re a Maiden fan, you’re an Iron Maiden fan. You are part of one world and one family.” The film embodies this sentiment beautifully, and even I, as a fan, found it difficult not to get emotional.
Iron Maiden, as a band, has done more for me than any other musical artist or even any piece of art. Without them, I genuinely don’t think I’d be here today. The live version of Fear of the Dark from Rock in Rio (2001) is probably my most‑played song ever, and it helped carry me through hardship and loss. So, when the fans in the documentary talk about how Maiden’s art made them feel seen, it truly resonated with me. I felt like I was one of the fans they honour in the opening credits. For those unfamiliar with the band, these moments in the film may not land with the same impact, but for die‑hard fans, they offer a deeper sense of appreciation.
On a technical level, the film is bold and adventurous, taking massive swings and never playing it safe. Whether it’s the use of isolated bass tracks from iconic songs like The Number of the Beast (featured recently in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple) and For the Greater Good of God to score certain scenes, or the inclusion of animated sequences — not the most visually impressive, but creatively effective — that weave in album artwork and the band’s signature mascot, Eddie (who even gets a section dedicated to his impact), the film constantly experiments. It’s also brilliantly paced throughout, never slowing down or becoming long in the tooth.
Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition is a magnum opus documentary, even though their previous film, Flight 666 (which is indirectly acknowledged here), was already one of the strongest metal documentaries of its time. This new film is a true love letter to the highs and lows of a legendary metal band, and, just as importantly, to the fans. While hardcore fans will get the most out of it, even casual viewers may find the lyrics of “Iron Maiden” ringing true: “Oh well, wherever, wherever you are, Iron Maiden’s gonna get you, no matter how far.” This is a truly incredible experience.
★★★★ 1/2
In UK cinemas 7th May / Steve Harris, Bruce Dickinson, Adrian Smith, Dave Murray, Nicko McBrain / Dir: Malcolm Venville / Universal Pictures / TBC
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