Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Iron Maiden: Flight 666 Blu-ray Movie Review

Iron Maiden: Flight 666 chronicles a historic event. In 2008, the legendary British heavy metal band played twenty three concerts in only forty five days. Flying around the world on their private Boeing 757, fittingly named Ed Force One, the Iron Maiden managed to perform on five different continents where thousands of excited fans flocked to see them.

This Blu-ray disc allows one to experience the tour in two different ways. One could choose to see footage from the band’s performances at a number of different venues - from Mumbai, India to Toronto, Canada - and experience the type of excitement the band created amongst its fans. One could also see these performances enhanced with plenty of documentary footage, where Bruce, Janick, Nicko, Dave, Steve, and Adrian as well as members of the tech crew share their thoughts on the preparation and execution of the actual tour.

While informative, the documentary footage is hardly as enticing as the concert footage. The majority of it shows Ed Force One landing at different airports and then taking off, the local media covering the event, and fans sharing their excitement before and after the show. There are also a few goofy scenes with members of the tech crew.

The concert footage is what Iron Maiden fans will enjoy the most. Seeing Bruce, Janick, Nicko, Dave, Steve, and Adrian perform some of their greatest hits again – “The Number Of The Beast”, “Run To The Hills”, “Aces High”, “Powerslave”, etc – should warm the hearts of those fans who remember them from Donington, Reading, and Dynamo.

Technically, Iron Maiden: Flight 666 is an impressive achievement. Multiple cameras have been used to capture Iron Maiden on and off the stage, as well as the reactions of the thousands of excited fans who were lucky enough to see their idols perform live.

Welcome back Eddie!

Iron Maiden: Flight 666 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Iron Maiden Flight 666 arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Music.

The film offers footage from a number of different shows. Therefore, there are some mild fluctuations in terms of contrast, clarity and detail. Generally speaking, the color-scheme is convincing. Reds, blues, yellows, greens, blacks and whites are well saturated. There are no distracting shadow issues. There aren't any macroblocking patterns that I could detect either. Occasionally, mild digital noise is noticeable (the Mexican show for example reveals quite a bit), but this isn't something that would affect negatively your viewing experience. Serious image deteriorations are not present. Overall, the Blu-ray transfer is quite pleasing and I do believe that many of you would enjoy it tremendously. (Note: Even though there were some early reports that this Blu-ray release is Region-A "locked", I can confirm that it is in fact Region-Free. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location).

Iron Maiden: Flight 666 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English LPCM 5.1, and English Dolby Digital 2.0. I opted for the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and later on did a few random comparisons with the other two tracks for the purpose of this review.

Once again, one must consider the fact that there is footage from a number of different shows when one evaluates the audio treatment Iron Maiden: Flight 666 has received. Generally speaking, the bass is potent, but there are a number of songs where it also feels somewhat weak. The high-frequencies are not overdone but, again, I also find them to be somewhat inconsistent. The rear channels are used intelligently. There are times, however, when the noise produced by the crowds becomes far too prominent for my taste. This being said, don't be discouraged by my comments above. What I've noted is always an issue of concern with live recordings of big rock concerts. With other words, considering the fact that in Iron Maiden: Flight 666 there is footage from a number of different shows, the dynamic fluctuations are more or less normal. With other words, the English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is not to be faulted.

The English LPCM 5.1 track conveys the same dynamic qualities the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track has. I went through a number of different shows and, as far as I am concerned, there are no sizeable differences to report in this review. I did not encounter any mastering issues.

The English Dolby Digital 2.0 track is notably inferior. There are a number of songs that sound flat with it. I did not encounter any mastering issues here either.

For the record, Universal Music have supplied a number of different subtitles for the main feature: English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, German, Dutch, Swedish and Bengali.

Iron Maiden: Flight 666 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this Blu-ray release.

Iron Maiden: Flight 666 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Iron Maiden: Flight 666 will not create legions of new Iron Maiden fans. It will, however, warm the hearts of those who never stopped listening to the British rockers' records. Simply put, Iron Maiden: Flight 666 is for the fans! The excellent price tag makes this one very easy to recommend.