Iron Maiden is especially popular on the European continent, and that is exactly why this film was shot before a huge, adoring crowd in Dortmund, Germany. These metal vets know what their fans want, and they don't have to couch their show in pyrotechnics or theatrics – they just let it rock.

Shots of the crowd show that they know every word of every song, even for (at the time, 2003) new songs like “Paschendale,” “Rainmaker” and the show opener “Wildest Dreams,” all cuts from the Dance of Death album.

With three guitarists in the band, Maiden has always been able to play highly melodic metal, and this film shows the band at their polished best. Singer Bruce Dickinson leads the group through about a third of Dance of Death , including an ominous reading of the title song where he dons a mask and a cape for a little medieval-flavored metal.

The rest of the material is mostly classic Maiden from the early days: “Iron Maiden,” “Wrathchild,” “Run to the Hills” and of course “Number of the Beast” which features the obligatory appearance of the band's animatronics monster mascot, Eddie. If you think the band has any ideas about calling it quits, take a listen to what Dickinson says when he introduces “Journeyman.”

“This is a song about the process of writing songs and being musicians; we've finished the song but we haven't finished the journey.”

A bonus disc is packed with almost three hours of documentary footage and other goodies.

Grade: A