Becoming Led Zeppelin arrives as the first official, band-sanctioned documentary on the legendary group’s origins, and it certainly delivers moments that will make any Zeppelin fan’s heart race.
Directed by Bernard MacMahon with full cooperation from Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones, the film is packed with performance footage, personal photos, and new interviews with the surviving members recounting their early days. Its authorized status grants it unparalleled access to the band’s music and memories, resulting in some revelatory insights – yet that same authorized nature also means Becoming Led Zeppelin paints a selective, sanitized portrait. The documentary offers a thrilling journey through Led Zeppelin’s formation and meteoric 1968–69 rise, but by avoiding controversy and omitting key chapters of the story, it winds up feeling incomplete.
From the outset, Becoming Led Zeppelin was hyped for its trove of rare archival material – including “never-before-seen” concert footage and even “never-before-heard” audio interviews with late drummer John Bonham. The movie does showcase some genuine gems, like freshly remastered clips of early gigs and vibrant snippets of the band members’ pre-fame musical exploits. These archival treasures are a highlight: vintage performances roar to life with improved sound, and candid scenes (from home movies to backstage glimpses) give a taste of Zeppelin’s world in the late ’60s. It’s enough to make hardcore fans grin at seeing previously unreleased or long-lost footage finally projected on the big screen. The sheer volume of archival content is indeed impressive – this is a documentary as much about seeing the music as hearing it.
However, not all that glitters is gold. On closer inspection, some of these so-called unearthed archives are alledgedly not quite as authentic as advertised. A prime example is the much-touted Bonham interview audio. In reality, the audio was lifted and cleverly edited from a 1972 radio interview Bonham gave in Australia (alongside Plant) that has circulated among collectors for years .
Video footage, too, faces a similar authenticity problem in at least one instance. Becoming Led Zeppelin boasts of “unseen Led Zeppelin performance footage, including The Fillmore West (January 1969)” in its publicity materials . For Zeppelin diehards, the idea of seeing film from the band’s famous early San Francisco shows is tantalizing. Indeed, the documentary includes black-and-white shots of excited crowds in the trailer, implying the viewer is witnessing fans at a Zeppelin gig at the Fillmore. But eagle-eyed researchers uncovered that this crowd footage is not what it seems. It turns out to be a clip from a January 28, 1969 local news report (KPIX Eyewitness News) filmed a week after Zeppelin’s Fillmore stand – originally documenting a different concert entirely . The filmmakers alledgely digitally altered that news reel to serve their story: one concert-goer’s ticket stub in the shot has been superimposed with a Led Zeppelin ticket, and a poster in the background was replaced with a Zeppelin show advertisement . While the alledgedly edited scene is only a small portion of the movie, it blurs the line between archival truth and creative license, undermining the documentary’s archival credibility, and is a reminder that we’re watching a story crafted by filmmakers, not a time-traveling fly on the wall. It’s a fascinating, at times revelatory story – but not an unfiltered one.
It should surprise no one that Becoming Led Zeppelin, being fully authorized by the band, plays out very much on Jimmy Page and Robert Plant’s terms. This is a glowing tribute assembled with their cooperation – which brings the benefit of candid firsthand reminiscences, but also the drawback of self-censorship. The filmmakers (MacMahon and producer Allison McGourty) understandably steered clear of anything that might ruffle their legendary subjects. The result is a clean, polished narrative of the band’s rise, focused almost exclusively on the music, the inspiration behind it, and the whirlwind success of 1968–1969. Any controversial or unflattering aspects of Led Zeppelin’s saga are either softly diffused or omitted entirely. If you’re looking for sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll, you’ll only reliably find the rock ’n’ roll in this movie .
By design, Becoming Led Zeppelin largely sidesteps the darker or more debauched chapters of the band’s history. The documentary’s timeline ends in 1969 with the release of Led Zeppelin II, thereby avoiding the 1970s entirely – no hotel trashing, no private jet named “The Starship,” no Stories of Excess Untold. This early cutoff feels strategic: by stopping at the cusp of the ’70s, the film doesn’t have to grapple with the era when Zeppelin truly became larger-than-life and, in many ways, out of control. But even within the 1968–69 period it covers, the film stays firmly in feel-good territory. Tales of wild groupie escapades, aggressive tour antics, or the band’s flirtation with occult imagery (all well-documented parts of Zeppelin lore) are nowhere in sight. This is Led Zeppelin’s version of their own origin story, and it advances a proud, controlled narrative. Manager Richard Cole’s perspective on crazy road stories? Absent. Accounts from music journalists or biographers who might probe uncomfortable topics? Not here. The surviving members’ voices dominate, which makes for an intimate story – but also a one-sided one. The absence of controversy comes at the cost of depth. Led Zeppelin were not saints – they were rock gods, with all the messiness that label implies. By polishing the narrative to a shine, the film misses the opportunity to truly humanize these legends in a complex way. We get to admire their musical genius (which the film does admirably highlight), but we rarely confront their flaws or mistakes. The history feels airbrushed. Becoming Led Zeppelin chooses to celebrate what made the band great, rather than examine what might have made them infamous. Page, Plant, and Jones come off as passionate, talented young men driven by music and chemistry, rather than the jaded superstars they would become.
Strangely, even as it omits scandal, Becoming Led Zeppelin also skips over some crucial musical events from the band’s early history – moments you’d assume an origin story would include. Despite a 137-minute runtime, the documentary glosses over or ignores a few formative episodes that were pivotal in Led Zeppelin’s genesis and early legend. These aren’t sensational controversies, but rather fan-essential chapters that would have added depth and context. Two notable among the missing pieces are:
"Beck’s Bolero” (1966) – This explosive instrumental track, recorded by Jeff Beck and featuring a young Jimmy Page on second guitar (along with John Paul Jones on bass and Keith Moon on drums), is often cited as the spark that led Page to envision a new supergroup. In fact, the famous joke that gave Led Zeppelin its name (“it would go over like a lead balloon”) was reportedly quipped during the Beck’s Bolero session. It’s perhaps the quintessential pre-Zeppelin moment, planting the seeds of what would become the band . Page’s Yardbirds tenure is touched on, but this important collaboration – which shows how early the Led Zep chemistry began brewing – is left on the cutting-room floor.
The Boston Tea Party Shows (January 1969) – Led Zeppelin’s multi-night stand at the Boston Tea Party club is the stuff of rock legend. Just weeks after their debut album release, the band played marathon sets in a small Boston venue that became mythic among fans. Those shows (where Zeppelin famously played extended encores, even repeating songs like “Communication Breakdown” because they’d run out of material) are often pointed to as a turning point – proof that in early ’69, this unknown British band could conquer an audience and then some. Many credit the Boston Tea Party gigs with helping break Led Zeppelin in America, igniting word-of-mouth buzz about their unbelievable live act.
These omissions are puzzling. By leaving out “Beck’s Bolero” and the Boston Tea Party triumphs – along with other missing tidbits like Page acquiring his signature Les Paul guitar from Joe Walsh, or the band’s pivotal early Paris Olympia show – the film misses chances to enrich its narrative. Including such episodes would have further illustrated how Led Zeppelin came together and why they caught fire so quickly. Their exclusion might be due to time constraints or lack of available footage, but it nonetheless creates gaps in the story. For a documentary aiming to chronicle the band’s birth and ascent, skipping these well-known building blocks is an odd choice.
For those who simply want to bask in Zeppelin’s glory and music, the documentary is a veritable feast. The live footage, from scrappy club gigs to early TV appearances, and the reminiscences from Page, Plant, and Jones, offer an emotional hit of nostalgia and discovery. Indeed, there is a sentimental power in seeing rock legends of this caliber reflect on their humble beginnings – and in witnessing the youthful Zeppelin tearing through songs like “Dazed and Confused” on grainy film with the knowledge of what came next. In short, if you’re the kind of fan who can watch Zeppelin’s Royal Albert Hall 1970 performance for the hundredth time and still get chills, this film offers plenty to love.
While packed with performances, the film is essentially linear and uninterrupted by outside commentary, which can make it feel long or even repetitive if you’re not utterly riveted by each blues jam. The final act of the film – which culminates around the band’s breakthrough at the end of the ’60s – has been described is anticlimactic and abrupt, since it stops before the era of Led Zeppelin IV and Stairway to Heaven. Viewers who aren’t already invested in the minutiae of early Led Zep have found portions of the film slow-going, and lacking the human drama to sustain a general excitement . The concert clips sometimes overstay their welcome, functioning more as full-length music videos than narrative devices. In the absence of a narrator or any critical voices, the film leans heavily on concert footage – which is a treat for enthusiasts, but perhaps an indulgence that tests others’ patience.
The documentary missed chances to delve into interesting context – like more on how the British blues explosion and bands like Cream or The Who paved the way for Zeppelin (something only briefly hinted at). The lack of any voice outside the Zeppelin camp results in a film that feels hermetically sealed within the band’s perspective, for better and worse. When the most dramatic tension in your documentary is whether “Whole Lotta Love” will hit #1 (spoiler: it doesn’t, but it doesn’t matter because Zeppelin were selling out anyway), you’re not exactly delivering a riveting conflict.
Faithful fans and those simply craving an immersive Zeppelin love-fest will mostly enjoy the ride – it’s hard not to head-bang along, when the film blasts through a live “How Many More Times” or shows a young Robert Plant wailing away with unmatched charisma . The nostalgia factor and sheer power of the music carry a lot of weight. In contrast, movie-goers who want a more incisive or complete documentary will find it entertaining but shallow – a film that scratches the surface of a much larger story. Becoming Led Zeppelin excels as a fan service piece and as a glossy celebration of an iconic rock band’s naissance. But as an objective history or a critical examination, it leaves something to be desired.
In the end, Becoming Led Zeppelin lives up to its title in both flattering and frustrating ways. It superbly captures the “becoming” – the rush of inspiration, talent, and circumstance that forged one of rock’s greatest bands. As a viewer, you do come away with a renewed appreciation for just how swiftly Led Zeppelin went from an idea in Jimmy Page’s mind to a roaring, paradigm-shifting force in music. The film is revelatory in the sense that it offers an intimate peek at the band’s mindset and music during those formative months, augmented by vivid footage and anecdotes that can thrill even a seasoned fan. But as a “portrait of rock legends,” it is decidedly incomplete. By carefully choosing which truths to tell and which to gloss over, the documentary ultimately reflects only part of Led Zeppelin’s full picture – essentially, the part the band is comfortable showing. Important beats in the story are missing, and the legend’s rough edges are buffed smooth.
For an authorized documentary, perhaps that’s to be expected. Becoming Led Zeppelin is first and foremost a celebration – a film made with love for and by the band and its inner circle. It succeeds in honoring the music and the chemistry that launched Zeppelin into the stratosphere. Yet, much like a Zeppelin concert where you might leave exhilarated but still clamoring for an encore, this film leaves us with a sense of unfinished business. There are shadows left unexplored and stories left untold – the kinds of things a more daring, unauthorized doc might dive into headlong. As a result, Becoming Led Zeppelin will likely delight fans who want to relive the glory days, but it won’t fully satisfy those seeking the complete, unvarnished truth behind the myth. It’s a thrilling first chapter of the Led Zeppelin saga, told on the band’s own terms. Perhaps someday we’ll get the second chapter – a film unafraid to venture “Over the Hills and Far Away,” into the turbulent, dark and raucous era that this one politely avoids. Until then, Becoming Led Zeppelin stands as a compelling and richly entertaining document, one that stirs our passion for the band’s greatness even as it gently reminds us that some legends like to keep a bit of mystery intact. And perhaps, when it comes to rock royalty as larger-than-life as Led Zeppelin, a little mystery isn’t such a bad thing after all.
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