It Might Get Loud
by Davis Guggenheim
List Price:
Our Price: $10.44
You Save: $9.55 (48%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $10.43 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bono, Jack White, Jimmy Page, Link Wray, The EdgeDirector: Davis Guggenheim
Brand: Sony
Producer: Jimmy Page
Producer: Davis Guggenheim
Producer: Alba Tull
Producer: Bert Ellis
Producer: Diana Derycz-Kessler
Producer: Erica Beaney
Producer: Lesley Chilcott
Producer: Michael Birtel
Producer: Michael J. Mailis
Producer: Peter Afterman
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 1.85:1
Running Time: 98 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-12-22
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Model: 40-31512
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Product features:
- Duration: 98 minutes
Movie Reviews of It Might Get Loud
Movie Review: Rarity among music documentaries
Summary: 5 Stars
"It Might Get Loud" does the work of several documentaries. On its surface it's a staged meeting between three iconic guitarists from three distinct eras. But it's also three biographies in miniature of three individuals who were shaped by, and helped to shape, the music that we know as rock and roll. For purists there are tantalizing glimpses of musical inspiration, obscure and otherwise, and for those who simply love the look and sound of rock, there's enough detail about the guitar to delight anyone who's ever picked up a six string.
The match-up between Jimmy Page, the Edge and Jack White is by no means an even one, nor is it meant to be. Page, with his legendary status as session man, Yardbird, and mystical guitarist of Led Zeppelin, comes across as the most enviable of the three. He's got the riffs, the money, the fame and the aura of infallibility. Even in his advancing years his English gentleman's demeanor is still suffused with a youthful spirit. So when Page launches into his signature phrase from "Whole Lotta Love," you can see how incredibly simple the structure is -- and how only Page can pull it off with the right feeling. But the film's brilliance lies in the way it shifts from one musician to the next. The Edge and White are clearly checking out Page's moves even as they betray their admiration (the look on their faces says it all). But soon the focus is on the Edge's restless, chiming sound from "Sunday Bloody Sunday," or "Where the Streets Have No Name," and you remember that in an era younger than Page's, another set of hands was shaping the sound of emotion and lyricism. The film goes beyond a potentially dry rendition of "let's jam together for the camera" to explore the places these three musicians came from. I liked that fact that, for the most part, the reminiscences are vivid and short. There's just enough historical detail to make it interesting, and just enough music (both archival and performed for the film) to keep you riveted.
As comparisons go, some may question why Jack White was included with the geniuses behind Led Zeppelin and U2. White's biographical sequences are contrivances (like his trek through rural Tennessee, speaking to his nine-year-old self in the back seat of a car) but they perhaps sum up what is both fantastical and challenging about becoming a guitar hero: the allure of playing to audiences, writing songs, and devoting oneself to music squared with the possibility of failure, hardship and a life of uncertainty and obscurity. Looking backwards at the success of these men, it's interesting to note where opportunity could have been missed: if Page had gone on with his session playing for another month, if the Edge hadn't met up with his future bandmates, if White hadn't heard his first blues song. So, whether one is a White Stripes fan or not, his contribution to the film must be seen as the work-in-progress, the young man with something to prove (and something to learn from the older guys). For all of White's private truculence, he clearly appreciates his time with the other men, and it's evident that all three share a love of the guitar.
The look of the film is gorgeous in many ways. The opening credits promise a ballsy, no-nonsense look at rock and roll's glitter and cool. The instruments paraded and played will make amateurs smile. The ordinary places where things "happened" (Headley Grange, where Zeppelin recorded several albums; the lonely scenery of Dublin where the Edge rehearsed with a fledgling U2; the Detroit streets where Jack White pounded out his first tunes) are to fans of rock what the Pyramids and the deserts of Africa are to archaeologists. This is where it all began. (See also Abbey Road in London...)
film, it's the truncated three-man jam of "The Weight," the Band number that the guitarists feel their way through. The closing credits roll on early in the song, stealing some of the musical connection that was building. "It Might Get Loud" has no real discernible peaks -- it's not a concert film, or even a dramatic story -- but it does have a pace and a logic that makes sense given the three men who star in it. Viewers may engage in musical criticisms about who should have been included (Why not Clapton, or Gilmour, Townshend or either Beck? Why not Mark Knopfler versus Dickey Betts?) but that is part of the fun of it all, like baseball fantasy picks. This is a rare and very worthwhile look at music history.
Summary of It Might Get Loud
The Sony DVD It Might Get Loud is an epic, exhilarating backstage pass into the world of rock stars. There are guitar players, and then there are rock stars. Over the course of one day, three generations of electric guitar phenoms come together, crank up their amps, and let it roll.Documentarian Davis Guggenheim gives us so much more than an all-star jam session (that alone would make even the gnarliest of rock geeks giddy). He leads us to the artists' inner sanctums and illuminates the paths each one traveled to forge a sound of his own. We begin to understand how a one-time furniture upholsterer from Detroit, a London studio musician, and a Dublin schoolboy redefined the horizons of guitar playing. Meanwhile, Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), the Edge (U2), and Jack White (The White Stripes) seem to genuinely enjoy each other's company while sharing riffs, swapping stories, and divulging their distinct philosophies of craft. This soulful DVD is at once a portrait of each artist and also a captivating examination of the creative process. It Might Get Loud does get loud, and in the process, opens up our minds and hearts to a whole new way of listening to and enjoying what it means to rock.Similar DVD Movies
![John Mayer: Where the Light Is - Live in Los Angeles [Blu-ray] Image](/images/John-Mayer-Where-the-Light-Is-Live-in-Los-Angeles-Blu-ray-B0019HQIFE-X.jpg)
John Mayer: Where the Light Is - Live in Los Angeles [Blu-ray]Sony; Release date: 2008-07-01; Blu-ray
Best price: $18.04
Price in other shops:
Black Keys Live at the Crystal BallroomWEA DES Moines Video; Release date: 2008-11-18; DVD
Best price: $6.97
Price in other shops:
![Rush - Beyond the Lighted Stage [2 DVD] Image](/images/Rush-Beyond-the-Lighted-Stage-2-DVD-B003J27WFW-X.jpg)
Rush - Beyond the Lighted Stage [2 DVD]Alfred Publishing; Release date: 2010-06-29; DVD
Best price: $8.06
Price in other shops:
Pearl Jam TwentySony; Release date: 2011-10-24; Published: 2011-10-25; DVD
Best price: $10.61
Price in other shops:
White Stripes - The White Stripes - Under Blackpool LightsRelease date: 2004-12-07; DVD
Best price: $45.98
The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern LightsWEA DES Moines Video; Release date: 2010-03-16; DVD
Best price: $12.34
Price in other shops:
Led ZeppelinWEA DES Moines Video; Release date: 2003-05-27; Published: 2003-06-03; DVD
Best price: $14.02
Price in other shops:
No Quarter - Jimmy Page & Robert Plant UnleddedWEA DES Moines Video; Release date: 2004-10-26; DVD
Best price: $10.76
Price in other shops:
Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains the Same (Two-Disc Special Edition)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2008-02-26; DVD
Best price: $3.25
Price in other shops:
U2: From The Sky DownRelease date: 2012-01-24; Published: 2011-12-13; DVD
Best price: $13.04
Price in other shops: