Review by Kris Peters
Universal Pictures
Release date: May 7
Music documentaries are generally designed as promotion for a band and therefore highlight the good and gloss over the bad. It is an understandable approach, but also one that has left me a touch reticant to sit down to watch a full documentary because, lets face it, every person wants to at least hear a little bit about how life in a band is not as glamourous and carefree as many think.
If only to make us feel better about our everyday existence.
So it was with a sense of familiarity that I approached Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition. Here was a band who have had a decorated career that justifiably earned them massive global adulation, but we already know how good they are so why sit through a couple more hours to have other people reiterate that point?
But from the outset Burning Ambition immediately put me on the back foot and aroused my inner thirst for knowledge, opening by paying homage first and foremost to the unsung heroes of any band – the fans. And it wasn’t an over-dramatised attempt at convincing the masses that the fans genuinely mean something to Iron Maiden. It was told from the viewpoint and through edited conversations with actual fans. They told of the reasons behind their enduring love for Iron Maiden, personal highlights and influences, and tales of adulation that were made all the more special by the twinkle in each of their eyes and the passion of their delivery.
Essentially a documentary about the life and career of Iron Maiden, Burning Ambition succeeds where many others fall flat due to an overwhelming sense of honesty and sincerity, broaching subjects, thoughts and opinions from various stages of the bands career with an unusual truthfullness and vulnerability that emphasises the human aspect of being in a band.
Moving quickly onto Iron Maiden’s eternally beloved mascot Eddie – who one fan described by saying “Eddie is so cute” – we learn the genesis and subsequent birth of the iconic mascot, as told from varying viewpoints including the person who created the “monster“.
We wade through the early days of Iron Maiden and their initial hunger that has never waivered, joining the tale in London in 1970 as music videos, images, and narrative explain the formation of the band and offer early reasons for their success. Original vocalist Paul Di’Anno is given due respect, his words and feelings the centrepiece of discussions. Even his eventual departure and the reasons behind are aired publically and honesty, with no thought given to ironing out any rough edges or watering down the associated problems.
Practically every stage of Iron Maiden‘s growth through the years is covered, from Bruce Dickinson joining the band to a confrontation between Bruce and founding member and bass player Steve Harris that threatened to derail the dream partnership before it had barely left the station.
The whole debacle created by a minority of people accusing the band and heavy metal in general of worshipping the Devil and having Satanic undertones is revealed – again with brutal honesty – with the band offering their rebuttals to the accusations concisely and respectfully. Much more respectfully than it deserves in my humble opinion.
We visit Poland in 1984, Lebanon in 1992, Kosovo in 1998 and New York for 9/11, hearing from fans and music lovers about their personal connections with Iron Maiden and their music, and how both steered them through dark passages of their life.
The more turbulent moments of Iron Maiden are also covered with unflinching honesty, including Bruce‘s decision to leave the band, along with guitarist Adrian Smith, with what is dubbed ‘The Blaze Years’ receiving due coverage along with the problems and highlights that came with it. We run through Bruce and Adrian rejoining the band, the “treadmill of touring” that made them become disillusioned in the first place, and Bruce‘s diagnosis with throat cancer and his comeback from that potentially career and life threatening period of his life.
The whole story is told using interviews, voice overs, music and narrative, with established musicians such as Scott Ian, Lars Ulrich, Gene Simmons and Chuck D amongst the stars offering their experiences with Iron Maiden and their music. We learn how Bruce came to get his pilots licence and the emotional retirement of drummer Nicko McBrain, with the story coming to a close at Simon Dawson‘s first gig as drummer at Papp László Sportaréna in Budapest, Hungary on June 28, 2025.
Not once does the movie become bogged down in it’s own sense of importance, giving credibility and accountability where it would have been easier and more politically friendly to sugarcoat the outcome. And this is the main strength of Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition. The whole movie feels real, despite being a documentary, with the band inviting you into their inner sanctum amid a chorus of tales of hope, tragedy and success. The moments of humour are genuinely funny, the offerings of emotional upheaval both confronting and touching.
This is a movie for people who love heavy metal – who love music in general – as told through the eyes, experience, and footage of one of the greatest metal bands who have ever been and ever will be. It’s more than a run of the mill documentary. Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition is a triumph of the spirit; a tale of determination, drive and passion that is as inspirational as it is informative.
And, full disclosure, I’m not even a massive fan of Iron Maiden. Correction, I wasn’t a massive fan of Iron Maiden...
