Examiner.com has published a review of IRON MAIDEN’s Flight 666 movie. The following is courtesy of Mark Morton:

“As many metal fans around the globe know, last night (April 21st, 2009), the brand new Iron Maiden film documentary Flight 666 debuted in select theaters. Historically known as a band that fiercely enjoyed its privacy, I was compelled to see how this played out. The movie was directed by Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen, the anthropology team who brought us the mildly informative and wholly indulgent Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey and the lesser known but incredibly fascinating Global Metal.

As you may have already surmised, I was not a fan of Dunn’s first film, as it came across as some sort of two-hour gloating session, using the film as an excuse to go to metal concerts around the globe and asking run-of-the-mill questions to his metal heroes. Sure, it helped open the metal underground to the public consciousness, but there was always something about Dunn’s narration that got under my skin. I’m sure it was partially out of jealousy, but who wouldn’t be jealous of a dude who got to globetrot and see legendary concerts on someone else’s bill? Honestly, I think what he was trying to do with metal was actually perfected by Rick Ernst and Rat Skates in Get Thrashed, which was a brutally honest account of the underground’s triumphs and tragedies.

As stated in the official press release, “Flight 666 documents the first leg of Maiden's legendary Somewhere Back In Time World Tour which took them 50,000 miles round the planet, playing 23 concerts on five continents in just 45 days. One of the stars of the movie is the band's customized Boeing 757, Ed Force One, which carried the band, all their crew and 12 tons of stage equipment and was piloted by Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson, a fully qualified and active Airline Captain with Astraeus Airlines.”

The showing I attended was held in the relatively conservative-looking Clearview Parsippany Cinema 12 in Parsippany, NJ. The theater was tucked in the rear of a shopping center, with a massive parking lot that was full when I arrived. I was immediately worried that I wouldn’t get a seat, as these premieres are typically first-come, first served, regardless of when you obtained your tickets.

The local contingents were out in force, with WDHA parking a van out front and a tent where they were hosting a poster giveaway contest. Inside, FYE had a booth attempting to lure fans to pre-order the Flight 666 Blu-ray, DVD & CD, all of which arrive in stores on June 9.

Of course, the lobby was littered with people wearing Iron Maiden t-shirts. It reminded me of the opening nights for the Star Wars prequels, where fans would come dressed as their favorite characters. Most of the Maiden shirts in attendance were purchased on the Somewhere Back In Time tour, with a few A Matter Of Life And Death tour shirts scattered among them. I found this to be terribly humorous, because these people were going to be in the same theater anyway, thereby making it obvious that they were all Iron Maiden fans. I guess it was a case of diehards showing their support, like those masses of music fans who wear shirts of bands at their own concerts. It is just a concert-going tradition I’ll never understand. I will say this, though; those guys in the t-shirts actually did help amplify the excitement for the evening.”

Read the full article here.