Iron Maiden ‘The Final Frontier’ — Video

Just five shows shy of completing the North American leg of their tour for their upcoming album 'The Final Frontier,' Iron Maiden have posted the video for the album's title track. The band didn't work too hard on the video, since none of the members are depicted, but someone sure hauled ass to make the clip as exciting and energizing as the song it promotes.

In the video, which pays homage to 'Star Wars,' 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' and 'Alien,' a hotshot fighter pilot maneuvers his ship through an asteroid belt, blows up some enemy ships, lands on barren cruiser and absconds with a precious artifact. Suddenly a lone alien that's half Eddie and half H.R. Giger confronts him and the two engage in a heated confrontation with bombs, lasers and other space paraphernalia. Unable to slay the beast, the pilot makes a run for his ship and blasts off again to safety -- or so he thinks.

The video, which is filled with special effects, was produced by the Darkside Animation Films, which features animators who have worked on such feature films as 'Lost in Space,' 'Gladiator' and 'Black Hawk Down.' The script was written by the director of BBC Radio's 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,' and the live action was coordinated and directed by Nick Scott Studios.

The video team worked around the clock for eight weeks to create the footage, and they developed an entirely new technology to bring the band's mascot Eddie to life in his new alien incarnation. For the five-minute video, Darkside used 141 shots that combined live action with integrated CGI as well as full 3D animation. In total, the team created more than 7,000 frames, each of which took up to 30 minutes to create.

Some of the footage in the video was shot at Rendlesham Forest in southern England, the location of 'The Rendlesham Forest Incident' -- a series of reported sightings of unexplained lights and alleged landing of a craft of unknown origin.

The song used on the video is an edit of opening track from 'The Final Frontier' entitled 'Satellite 15...The Final Frontier.' The album is due for release on Aug. 17.