Jimmy Page has thanked fans for their “humbling and inspiring” reaction to the new IMAX documentary Becoming Led Zeppelin.
- READ MORE: ‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ review: the definitive origin story for Britain’s most explosive band
The film, which is in cinemas now, is the first authorised account of the band’s history ever to come to the big screen, and has been in production since first being announced back in 2019.
Since hitting IMAX screens on February 5 and receiving a general cinema release two days later, Led Zeppelin fans have been flocking to see the film, which features new interviews with Page, frontman Robert Plant and bassist John Paul Jones, as well as rare archival interviews with the late drummer John Bonham, who died in 1980.
Page took to Instagram on Monday (February 17) to send his personal thanks for the film’s reception. “In light of your incredible responses and the demand for the Becoming Led Zeppelin film from those of you that have either viewed it at the IMAX or during its general cinema release, I must say that feedback from fans is just humbling and inspiring,” he wrote.
“Thanks to everyone for your enthusiasm,” he added, sharing the film’s trailer alongside the post.
Director Bernard MacMahon has said of the film: “The cinematic power of IMAX paired with the film’s authentic sound creates an immersive and transportive viewing experience letting audiences feel like they are there, in the venues with the band.”
Writer and producer Allison McGourty added: “We spent five years flying back and forth across the Atlantic scouring attics and basements in pursuit of rare and unseen film footage, photographs and music recordings. Then we transferred each piece of media with custom techniques, so that in IMAX, these 55-year-old clips and music would look and sound like they came out of the lab yesterday.”
In a four-star review of the film, NME wrote: “For those who never saw Led Zeppelin live, the early concert footage alone is worth coming to see. No fast cuts here; MacMahon lets songs like ‘Dazed And Confused’ and ‘Communication Breakdown’ unfold on screen in their entirety. Less successful are the attempts to contextualise the late ’60s – archival clips of the Vietnam War, a Barbarella poster and Black Power protests don’t particularly add a great deal. But it’s a small gripe in a film that does a bang-up job in planting you back in the era.”
In other Led Zeppelin news, John Bonham’s son Jason joined Billy Joel during his New Year’s Eve show in New York for a version of ‘Whole Lotta Love’.
Page, meanwhile, has unveiled a new EDS-1275 Doubleneck VOS custom guitar as part of his ongoing partnership with Gibson.
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