It Might Get Loud (2008) User Reviews

Despite being about the electric guitar, this film end up talking about the love for music and the desire to share this passion with the world.

[elisachristophe · 7/10 · 6 October 2009]

I suppose I'm a little biased when it comes to talking about documentaries about music, more so when it comes to documentaries about rock. I am just a complete sucker for them. I love rock + I love cinema = I love "rockumentaries" – even when is not a masterpiece. So it was pretty obvious that I was going to love It Might Get Loud (Davis Guggenheim, 2008). And I did. I did even though the way the film is put together –divided in chapters – doesn't really work for me and despite the fact that I think it doesn't go deep in the subjects that matter the most nor shows the relationship built between the three characters right until the end and very briefly.

Anyway, I did love it and here is why: The official synopsis is "A documentary on the electric guitar from the point of view of three significant rock musicians: the Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White". I know, I KNOW. The choice of the characters is controversial. Besides Jimmy Page, who is unanimity, The Edge and Jack White are not the guitarist that come to mind when most people think about the greatest of their kind - which you sort of expect and want when you think about a documentary about the electric guitar. But I liked the choices, they are bold and you have to bear in mind that Jimmy Page is the executive producer, so they were pretty much his choices. Then, like the synopsis points out, this is more about different perspectives and it is not about great guitarist, but about the guitar. So, the Edge and Jack White end up being perfect. Their approach to the guitar couldn't be more different.

Jack White is more of a purist. He likes the basic sounds of the guitars, he doesn't mess with it that much. He doesn't even really care if the guitar is broken or out of tune. Right at the other corner, creating an opposition, there is The Edge. He loooves the special effects, distortions, pedals and everything else that technology can do to the sound of a guitar. Finally, in the middle, balancing things out, you find one of the Gods: Jimmy Page (who I don't think needs any sort of introduction even to people who don't like rock). And it all works. It works not only because the script is neatly put together, weighing and balancing the differences, but because somewhere around the beginning of the film something becomes very clear: despite being about the guitar and despite being very different men from different times of the rock history, they share their love for music and their desire to change the world through it. So, the film becomes much more about music and passion and there is no way you can be immune and dislike it.

Rock Documentary Classic

[mannyrsox24 · 9/10 · 27 May 2009]

In this film, three of the most prolific guitarists of their times, Jack White, The Edge, and Jimmy Page, are brought together to talk about rock. Although this is the premise of the documentary very little footage of the actual meeting are shown. Instead, the movie is driven by the juxtaposition of interviews and footage of each of the individual artist. The director, Davis Guggeheim (who also directed An Inconvenient Truth) chose the perfect three artists for the movie because they are so distinct from each other not only in their music but in their philosophies.

Jack White is the most open of all the artists in the movie because he was able to genuinely express his approach. To Jack, music is a struggle, "You have to pick a fight with the guitar," he says. His view was artistically expressed in a scene where Jack is talking about the history of the blues and on the screen footage of Jack playing "Blue Viens" in concert so hard his hands are bleeding all over the guitar is contrasted with pictures of historical blues musicians. This modern day blues artist addresses everything from his past to his influences throughout the movie.

The Edge, in stark contradiction to Jack White's minimalistic style and plastic Airline guitar, is shown through out the movie playing with effects modules and techonologic pedals to produce his U2 stadium rock style. He explains in the movie how it is possible to completely change the sound of the guitar just by utilizing these innovations. He also talked about U2's past and how they started off by playing after school in their elementary school and their early struggles.

To Jimmy Page, rock is sex. "The curves of the guitar are like a woman's," he says at one point and later on when talking about Stairway to Heaven, "it just builds and builds like an orgasm." It was obvious throughout the movie that Jimmy Page was not accostumed to interviews because it seemed that he struggled with being open. But, this prolific Led Zeppelin guitarist was a key dynamic in the movie because he was able to address his development as an artist in the dawn of rock.

These three artists were able to capture the history and the essence of rock and ultimately the film is not just about music, but ultimately it is a statement about culture and how music is statement the times and the experiences of each artist.

Total commitment It Might Get Loud

[jaredmobarak · 8/10 · 29 September 2009]

It Might Get Loud, a documentary about the beginnings of three prolific guitarists and how they use their instrument—Jimmy Page, The Edge, and Jack White—won me over and finally showed me that attraction people have to rock 'n roll. These dudes are badass. Directed by Davis Guggenheim, he of The Inconvenient Truth as well as a slew of great television show credits, the story not only uses historical footage and interviews with the trio separately, but also puts them in the same room, with a plethora of their own axes, to converse, both verbally and rhythmically. Watching them play a song together is a real treat, seeing the pure joy they have of making music, catching a glimpse at the boyish wonder they have for each other, constantly looking to see what the others are doing, and comparing their styles. Page has not lost a step as he grooves and moves the entire time he is playing, lips pursing and expanding, the music taking control of his body; The Edge is the consummate professional, stoic concentration, standing straight and playing with determination; and White sits or stands casually and at ease, the guitar high and close, showing a bluegrass feel just like his voice and chords.

You may be wondering—as I did before going in too—what White is doing in this mix. Page produced the film, he got the group together to play, and so he must have seen something in the youngster. Maybe he needed juxtaposition with The Edge, a stripped down raw sound against the U2 man's heavy use of effects and computers, (when you hear the actual chords he plays without the digital enhancements, you won't believe it). Either way, it does not take long to see that the driving force of The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, and The Dead Weather belongs. The film does open up to him making a guitar out of a Coke bottle, plank of wood, and a single string after all. Who needs to buy a guitar? And his knowledge of the craft is extensive, with a childhood story that goes against odds to have gotten to the point he is at today. The youngest of ten children, never wanting to play the guitar, apprenticing at an upholstery shop, and having to force his sister to go on stage with him for their first gig, it all began with the exposure to a song by Son House, his favorite piece of music still to this day.

We know about Page and his days in the Yardbirds before Led Zeppelin. Heck, some may even know he was a session guitarist before that, playing on anything that came his way before finally needing to get out and create his own sound, to use a loud crescendo without recourse. However, did you know that The Edge would never have met Bono and company, U2 may never have been, if not for a flyer on his school's cork board looking to start a band? The foursome from Ireland were, admittedly, not that good at the start, but they continued on, finding their voice and politics as the years went. Only when Bono told him to take some time off and experiment by himself did he discover he could write. One may think these superpowers of rock music just got together and the rest was history, but no, they all had their "breastfeeding" moments, as captioned in the movie, instances where they had to work and keep going. It's a world based on hard work, no matter what your occupation, to resonate and reach the masses means earning it.

No matter how enthralling the background stories and early footage of the three—through video, stills, whatever they had available to share—it is the electricity seeing the trio together that caught my attention. I'd love to see the unedited reels of just that meeting in January of 2008. What is shown is wonderful, but too brief. Sure, the moments of jamming are wonderful, but the conversations are always cut short. I wanted to see them pick each other's brains. You get a little of that with Page asking The Edge if he was sure the one note was supposed to be a C, or when The Edge relays to the others during the credits that he had been playing the wrong note the whole time they covered a song, but that's just correcting each other and having fun. There had to have been questions like, "how did you do that?" or "how was it doing that?" or even "how high were you when you wrote that?" Maybe the DVD culls some of those moments; it would be well worth the purchase I'm sure.

It's a rare thing to see artists interviewing artists, or just being in close proximity and watching what occurs. The more straightforward documentary parts are even narrated by them alone; only a few instances bring in an outside source, presumably Guggenheim, to pass on a query. One of the most memorable scenes is just Page in his home library full of vinyl, wall to wall. He takes a 7" out of its sleeve and puts in on the player so he can show us the power of "Rumble," a rock instrumental by Link Wray. The legend just stands in front of the camera giggling like a little boy, face full of unadulterated joy. He starts to mimic the hand movements, playing air guitar to the song, as he explains the distortion progression as the song continues on. We are experiencing a piece of history filmed live, watching one of the greatest guitarists on the planet show his cards and lift the curtain to what inspired him. And that is what these three men are: inspirations. They touch people young and old, hit them emotionally and create change, either large or small. They are living the dream and looking cool doing it.

Required viewing. No bones about it.

[tibieryo · 9/10 · 22 August 2010]

It's hypnotic. It's incredible. I don't think this can properly be called a movie; it's so close to a rock album in sheer street cred.

The first thing you see after production logos is Jack White, one of the most interesting men in rock and roll, puffing away, building a one string guitar on his porch on a farm from scratch. After playing a few short riffs, he unplugs the jack and turns the amp off. "Who says you need to buy a guitar?"

What follows after the credits is an exploration of a vast variety of subjects, unified by the instrument that best represents the 20th century in music: the electric guitar. From six strings, a few electronics and a lot of wood and varnish, we branch out to rock'n'roll, the blues, alternative rock, songwriting, the nature of performance, endless discussions about effects and how they affect songwriting--or in some cases effect it. Jimmy Page, Edge and Jack White are three of the most fascinating guitarists on Earth and form a generational cross-section of guitar society. Page plays guitar because it's what he's done since he was seven; Edge plays because Larry posted a Musicians Wanted ad; Jack never wanted to play guitar in the first place.

As a documentary, it's entirely unique. There are no dates or place names. As Roger Ebert said of 45365, this isn't that kind of documentary. Guggenheim assumes your familiarity with Led Zeppelin, U2 and The White Stripes. You aren't here to learn about how the bands formed from the perspectives of the guitarists. You're here to learn how the guitarists formed your perspective of the band.

You don't watch this movie for some profound insight on the nature of the guitar; you watch it for the privilege of seeing three men who've re-invented the electric guitar for a generation discussing music. Profound insight happens along the way, but that's not as important as the little things.

Page cursing a bum chord in their final jam. White reacting with astonishment to a Son House song he's heard 1000 times. Edge searching for a sound, warning the camera crew "it might get loud".

Such small moments make up the bulk of what's to like in It Might Get Loud. It's not about the guitar or the guitarists, or music for that matter. It recreates the experience of all three while never directly reproducing them. It's unique unto itself and should be part of the new required viewing for music-, documentary- or film-lovers everywhere.

A Must-See for Rock Fans

[nyshrink · 9/10 · 28 August 2009]

If you love rock music you must see this film. I cannot describe how much I enjoyed it. It chronicles how each of the artists first discovered the music they loved (blues, rock and/or punk, depending on the era), began playing the guitar, and developed their own styles. Page strove to explore as many musical possibilities with his guitar as he could, White searches for authenticity, and the Edge can't stop tinkering to find the perfect sound.

The filmmaker, discreetly off camera, interviews them individually in the places where they made music and found inspiration. Then he films their encounter and jam session. Seeing these great artists improvising together is priceless. Clips from classic footage of Led Zeppelin and U2 concerts, footage from White's various performances, and footage of other performances from the guitarists' early years and also of the artists who influenced them, are interspersed. The artists also discuss some of the sources of their inspiration and their creative process. There are a few really funny and telling moments. Don't miss it.

It Might Get.... odd?

[rumbleinthejungle · 7/10 · 21 July 2009]

As intriuged as I was with the idea of this film, the trio of guitar players cast together looked a little odd.... at least on paper anyways. One is a classic rock legend, the other is a very individualistic (and highly influential) sonic craftsmen and the last is a white kid from Detroit heavily influenced by black blues and the archaic recording techniques of yesteryear. On one hand, it makes sense to represent the very different approaches that all 3 have become synonymous with, but on the other hand it feels slightly unfair to team up two blues influenced guys with another player whose style relies on his manipulating and processing of sound to come up with what is essentially a 'less is more' approach. That contrast may have just been what the director was seeking, but it didn't stop me feeling sorry for The Edge when Jack and Jimmy are playing dirty slide on Zep's 'In My Time Of Dying' while The Edge stands there looking a bit lost. But then, Jimmy Page probably feels the same way when Jack and Edge are trying to get him to sing a harmony part in 'The Weight' and he protests that he "Cant sing, sorry!". Jack White, while not being directly humbled on camera, must nevertheless be aware of the immense legacies that the other two guitar players have left behind them while he is still very much carving a name for himself. He comes across well though - cocky and self-assured without being arrogant. His preference for the bare-bone expressionism of what rock n roll has been, and should still be, was clearly very heartfelt and honest. There are lots of great moments to behold in this film, even if it does feel ready to finish about 20 minutes before it actually does. Jimmy Page going giddy with excitement whilst listening to Link Wray's 'Rumble' in his front room or the looks on Jack and Edge's faces when he launches into the seminal 'Whole Lotta Love' riff are just two great moments. In truth, Jimmy Page steals the show - he's just such a strong personality when compared to the politely spoken Edge or eager to impress White. Also, seeing as both Page and White are coming at the guitar from the same kind of school of black roots music, perhaps instead of having White fly the flag for the contemporary guitar player, someone like Thurston Moore would've been a more daring and interesting choice? It's a tough call.

Highly recommended for fans of rock music and the electric guitar.

And now do "Stairway to Heaven"!

[Karl Self · 8/10 · 1 September 2009]

Despite his deeply silly stage name, I've always been a fan of The Edge, and spent what felt like a good part of my youth trying to figure out his riffs. So it was a revelation to me to see him switch off his effects and make fun of how banal his "original" (un-enhanced) riffs really are. In another scene he points to a concrete platform on his former school where he and what was to become U2 first performed; he casually remarks "I was standing on that side" and then it dawns upon him "... and that's been my side ever since." There are a lot of quiet but magic moments like that in this documentary, that make it so captivating.

I also found the segments on Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page fascinating. When he started out, people didn't yet make a living as rock stars (I remember a BBC session when Led Zeppelin's members were asked what they were "really" doing). Wild boy Jimmy Page got his first guitar by accident, because somebody'd left it behind in the house his family was moving into, and later he had a pretty mundane career as a session musician, where he was playing stuff nobody'd dream of associating with him today.

To me, the odd one out was Jack White. Certainly a good musician, a great specimen of a still relatively young guitarist, but he seemed to me rather grandiose, egocentric and attention-grabbing, his self-stylisation as a white bluesman with tie and pork-pie hat was just plain silly, and his attitude "I don't play big-name guitars but cheap junk and it's still great music" started to grate after a while.

The movie was best when it was just following and listening to the guitarreros. The segments when they are supposed to intimately discuss guitarish matters and "just forget that the camera's even there" don't work so well. There are lots of cute design ideas which liven up the movie and keep it together. The movie works less well when it tries to summarise and explain; a particular gaffe was when The Edge complains about the self-indulgent guitar solos of the 1970ies, and the movie ignores the blatant fact that self-indulgent soloist #1 at the time was none other than Jimmy Page.

You know who was really missing from this movie? The late, great Les Paul. I would have loved to be able listen to his side of the story.

Finally, I took a lot of heart from the final scene when all three musical heavies play The Band's "The Weight" together -- and it doesn't sound that convincing. Just like when I was jamming with my mates!

Good, but a bit disappointing

[grantss · 7/10 · 9 March 2020]

Good, but a bit disappointing. I am a massive fan of Jimmy Page and Jack White - Led Zeppelin is my favourite band, and the White Stripes would be amongst my favourites, plus I liked U2 when they made good music, i.e. until about 1989. So what was the problem?

It just felt a bit empty in the end. Like, so what? Maybe it is that I have seen just about every rock documentary ever made that made the guitarists' revelations seem a bit empty.

Also, the mutual back-slapping got a bit tiresome.

This all said, there was a lot of great stuff in here. Hearing Jimmy Page talk about how he got into playing guitar, his early bands, showing us the spot where John Bonham played the amazing drum-intro on When The Levee Breaks (which explained the unique sound to that track), seeing some of Jack White's pyrotechnics, The Edge talking us through the technology he uses in producing his sound, and hearing the sound.

Just play the guitar, no narrative needed!

[bettycjung · 15 January 2018]

1/15/18. I love electric guitar music but this rockumentary comes off being uneven in its approach. I loved when they played their guitars, but the narratives were not that enlightening. Oh well.

FIlm as living breathing entity. If you like the participants this is glorious exploration of what is music

[dbborroughs · 9/10 · 15 August 2009]

Rephrase the title-It WILL get loud.

Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White sit down and talk about music guitars and guitar playing. Inter-cut with this are talks with the three away from the summit.

The easiest way to say this is :GO SEE THIS AT THE THEATER WITH THE LOUDEST SOUND SYSTEM.

It may not be one of the best films ever made (it is one of the best of the year) but it is one of the most alive ones I've ever seen. Songs you know spring to life in ways you never expected. The talk of what music is and how to make it and how it doesn't matter if you get it right today because you might tomorrow is magical. I felt alive an energized after the screening because these three creative forces made it look so easy and so vital that we get music out...

Forgive me I'm beyond words but if you give me a guitar I might play you how I feel.

There are all these magical moments best summed up when the noodling Edge and Jack White stop what they are doing and turn smiling like idiots as Jimmy Page starts playing Whole Lotta Love. No one is beyond being a wide eyed fan boy. Its sums up why we love music because it makes us go gaga.

Just see this movie. If you like any of the men its about you'll love the film.

I can't wait to see it in a theater again- and I can't wait to see the extras on the DVD.

It's really a featurette of Page, Edge, White 's early steps on composing music

[stefanosk27 · 6/10 · 7 October 2012]

I'm a guitar player and music fan, as most of the people who are interested in this film are, I guess. I found the film interesting and enjoyable from beginning till end, but I do have some objections.

For starters, the very choice if the three guitar players themselves is not only a matter of personal taste, but a matter of general acceptance as well. Jimmy Page is undeniably a great guitar player, songwriter and one of the most important musicians in rock music. He is the most obvious choice to represent the birth of rock music on late 60's.

I have mixed feelings about The Edge and Jack White though. I have to say, I never really liked U2, and I never considered them a group focused on guitar, let alone The Edge as a "guitar hero". Concerning Jack White, I really like him as a guitar player and a musician, he definitely has his own style but I don't really believe that he's braking any new guitar-sound grounds. He's good at what he's doing, but not really a game changer.

That's why I find the choice of the guitar players a 2/3 failure, but that's just me.

As for the film itself, well... It doesn't really explore the birth and evolution of the electric guitar, but really the history of these three musicians and how they got into music, what inspired them etc.

This film was good (I consider 6/10 a good grade) but it didn't really delivered what I was hoping for.

A terrific profile of two guitar legends (and one in the future?)

[PureedMonkeyBrains · 8/10 · 16 January 2009]

An incredible doc featuring The Edge, Jimmy Page, and Jack White. The film is very, very well done. The opening credits are pretty cool. The thing is, at many times this film seems to work best for Edge and Page. It really is amazing to watch Edge go over the technicalities involved in creating his trademark style. Page is incredible; it's especially funny in one scene, where the other two are singing, and he flatly declares, "I can't sing!" - hilarious. Jack White seems to be a little out of his element here. He's the young gun of course, and over time perhaps he'll be thought of in a similar light to his legendary predecessors. But really, there is nothing to complain about. There is some classic footage of U2 (dressed in new wave clothes??) that may leave you laughing! The vintage reels of Page and U2 still give me the chills. Guggenheim has done a fantastic job. I look forward to seeing it again.

Better than Haircut One-Hundred

[fablesofthereconstru-1 · 7/10 · 7 October 2009]

A rock critic once described the ringing guitar line on U2's most unforgettable song "Pride(in the Name of Love)" as The Edge's "imitation of God". Accompanying Bono's usual bombastic, but heartfelt vocals, "God" humbles man, and stands firm against the latter's fiery petition to release slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King from the kingdom of Heaven. In other words, it's the Edge's song, despite Bono's sterling vocal performance, in which the U2 front-man transforms the famed "Unforgettable Fire(The)" track into an occasion for a seance during Phil Jonoau's documentary "Rattle and Hum", when to a enraptured sold-out audience, he implores, "In the name of Martin Luther King: Sing!" As it turns out, however, there is no God. Through the metaphor of technological wizardry, The Edge unintentionally demonstrates how God is man-made. The Irish ax-man shows us how effects pedals transform ordinary guitar-playing from something pedestrian to something grand. Although this demystifying revelation takes nothing away from The Edge's incendiary riffs on "Pride", his musical voice seems more earthbound, dishonest, as if the chords were on steroids. In revealing his trade secrets, this exceedingly humble man(he performs an acoustic version of "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" that sounds more sincere than Bono's), he messes around with his legend of being among the pantheon of great musicians. According to him, "an effects unit pushes music forward," which dispels the whole notion of a guitar god, since a god needs no improvement. When he says, "That is my voice coming out of the speaker," it's with all the humility of a mortal.

Tell a Led Zeppelin fan that there are no gods, and you're liable to start a fistfight. They believe in Jimmy Page. "It Might Be Loud" does nothing to dispel this myth. In front of his English manor, Robert Plant's legendary sidekick tears up the mandolin on an acoustic version of "The Battle of Evermore". A god doesn't have to plug in, but Page doesn't act like a god; he smiles too much, you would think this former wild-man was the Buddha. Inside the music room of his palatial estate, in the film's best scene, Page selects Link Wray's 45 "Rumble" from his collection of vinyl albums and singles for the camera. Of all the people to be playing air-guitar, Page, the former-Yardbird, who along with Jimi Hendrix, rewrote the rules for this once relatively new instrument(which had famously annoyed Bob Dylan fans at the Newport Folk Festival), commands those shriveled but functional fingers through the invisible axe on cue with a look of pleasure across his face that demonstrates the seductive power of good rock and roll. It can even seduce a god. While punk-era Edge, and Jack White as an Upholster(pre-White Stripes), shock us with their youth, as all before-they-were-stars incarnations of famous people usually do, hands down, the best archival footage belongs to Page, impossibly young on a local television program, performing with a skiffle band.

Since Jack White is considerably younger than Page and The Edge, and his status an an all-time-great, still an ongoing case being mounted in his favor with each successive album, the filmmaker has fun with this Detroit-born neo-traditionalist by building his myth through scenes that shows White as a mentor for his nine-year-old self, a pale-faced boy dressed in the same black and red ensemble of coat, tie, and hat. In spite of his relative youth, the moviegoer can see that White is instantly relatable to his elders. Unlike most young people, this old soul knows his history. When White joins the two older musicians in a low-key, but nevertheless, rousing version of The Band song "The Weight", he carries his weight with aplomb.

Boring treatment of interesting subject

[rbnn · 1/10 · 4 September 2009]

The filmmakers succeeded here in a difficult task: making playing guitar in a top band boring. Very, very, very boring.

The most absurd feature of this terrible movie is probably that although it is supposed to focus on playing the electric guitar, it never describes how one works. There are numerous shots as well of musicians in front of racks of components, and it's clear that the precise function of each of the components is critical to the musician, without any description of what any of them do.

Much of the rest of the movie comprises narration by the musicians describing, in the most trite and clichéd possible way, what it is like to "feel" the guitar or such like. One actually was asked the ridiculous cliché "how do you write" and answered something like "I don't know. The creative spark". Imagine an hour of that kind of dialog.

How U2 can be made boring, I don't know. Give kudos to the director for finding a way, however.

A Night Of 1,001 Guitar Strings (give or take a few)

[druid333-2 · 10/10 · 6 September 2009]

After directing Al Gore in the pro ecological eye opener,'An Inconvienent Truth',Davis Gugenheim next undertook his next project, a summit of three guitar players, Jimmy Page (Led Zepplin,The Yardbirds, etc.),The Edge (U2),and Jack White (The White Stripes)to see what would happen to three generations of musicians if you put them together in a room with their guitars,records,etc. The results turn out as 'It Might Get Loud',an exploration of the evolution of the electric guitar (and sometimes the acoustic guitar,too). Gugenheim lovingly turns his camera on not just that summit,where the three conversed,as well as played their collective hearts out,but a brief time line on the three men who made the guitar their lives. Scores of film & video clips of performances of all three grace this very well produced love letter to the guitar. We see Jimmy Page on stage with Zepplin,the Yardbirds,and even some rare early pre Yardbirds photographs & films of Page in his days as a session musician (the footage of a teenaged Page playing in a Skiffle band in the late 1950's are a genuine hoot). We see some very early photos of The Edge with U2,as well as a clip of U2 on Irish television,in their "New Wave" clothes that will have you laughing (it sure did for the audience in attendance I was with---including yours truly),and video footage of White with The White Stripes,as well as his side project,the Racountours. Even if you are not a musician,but love the guitar,this is a "must see" film for all those who care. Rated PG by the MPAA,this film contains a rude word,or two,some on screen smoking, and some distressing photos & video footage of the aftermath of the bombing of Northern Ireland.

Almost Perfect

[ndipaolo · 10/10 · 25 August 2010]

I hate when people get defensive over their heroes. Jimmy (the outgoing person he is) conscious of this clearly tried to take it down a notch but The Edge was truly interested in picking his brain for the most part and that's great. I saw some edited scenes and for the life of me cannot understand why they were cut. As documentaries go it is too short. It is not supposed to be entertaining (for me it was anyway because I am a guitar fan) but educational. It scored high on every aspect and like I said, my only complaint was it was too short. They definitely could have gotten into Jimmy and the Edge more only because they have done so much in so long a time that while allotted time was perfect for Jack White, it barely scrapes the surface of JP & TE.

Davis really needs to think about putting out an unedited version. Marty Scorsese's documentary on Dillan ran 2x as long for one man with a limited body of all be it groundbreaking work, but still, here we had 3 and 2 out of the 3 each deserved close to an hour. It was sad to see the Kashmir bit completely on the cutting room floor. It was the best bit. the Whole Lotta Love, while a nice sight was clearly pandering to the public. Lastly, The Edge played a terrific lead over In My time of Dying and showed how much of a guitarist he truly is.

Saner and more beautiful

[JohnDeSando · 23 September 2009]

"The man that hath no music in himself, Nor is not mov'd with concord of sweet sounds, Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils." Lorenzo in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice

It's not classical music though I've seen variations of the guitar since the Middle Ages. What I do know from watching the entertaining doc It Might Get Loud is the electric guitar has iconic status rivaling that of three well-known players: Jimmy Page, The Edge, and Jack White. The film is larded with music that favors the instrument but mostly serves as background for these engaging stars.

While director David Guggenheim had it easy with message and star Al Gore in An Inconvenient Truth, here he takes a discursive tack by establishing barely a thematic thread with titles for each segment. The documentary still devolves into a kind of celebratory jam session with comments about guitars and little about the creative process.

As always when I see an artist's life or a portion of one, I crave being in on the creative process but rarely get the insights. Here is no different and even less about U2, White Stripes, or Led Zeppelin, hardly minor players in these artists' lives.

Although I didn't gain much insight into how the inspirations for writing and playing come to these stars, I am just as skeptical about music criticism as well, given how abstract music is and challenging to describe. But the film is about the electric guitar after all and the gods who play it.

And these superstars are as musical as their instrumenst, each different and engaging. Page is the happy patriarch still excited about the possibilities of doing new things; Edge is a methodical practitioner with a romantic flair as he plays to the seashore regularly; White is the young upstart, who yet seeks to learn from his elders.

For a classical music appreciator like me, just being with these rock legends is explanation enough of a world that seems saner to me now, and more beautiful.

Three Different Approaches

[photomanvince · 7/10 · 4 January 2010]

This is a very entertaining essay on the backgrounds of two rock legends and one aspiring rock legend. Thoughtfully woven together, the segments on each of the three were informative and maintained interest.

My main criticism is that the mixing of the audio leaves something to be desired. I have a sound system that likes to play loud and I was looking forward to cranking the audio during playback. The problem is that when I cranked the volume to achieve the level I wanted, (I WANT music to get loud!) when the audio switched to dialogue it was way TOO loud.

There were also a few scenes that seemed a bit long. The guitar pieces that were included seemed kind of chopped up into snippets instead of being played to conclusion. Yet on the other hand, I felt as though a couple of the deleted scenes could have been included.

All in all, I suggest that anyone interested in rock-n-roll see this film. You won't regret it!

An Oscar-winning Rocktastic Documentary! *WARNING, SPOILERS*

[nextmalcomyoung · 9/10 · 25 September 2009]

I f*cking loved this movie when I went to see it in Boston! Jack White and The White Stripes should definitely get more buzz after the guitar geeks see this. He was amazing in this movie. My favorite scene is near the end where Edge, Page, and White jam out in the studio where the documentary is filmed. The documentary is basically about these 3 very talented guitarists coming together to talk about the electric guitar and about their lives and how they ended up where they are today. I never knew how screwed up Jack White was though. In one scene during the credits, and I think this happened cause I wasn't looking, but it showed him putting his "Mini-me like" son in a suitcase and then driving off with him in the trunk....uh.... anyway I really enjoyed it so try your best to see it! 9 Stars, and should win best documentary!

It might get the wrong guitarists

[tom-schmidt13 · 7/10 · 4 March 2011]

I did enjoy watching the movie because I love Jimmy Page and pretty much any rock guitar player. I found myself not caring about the "Edge" and Jack White as much and was just waiting to get to the parts about Jimmy Page. About 25 minutes into it I thought to myself that this is definitely the wrong line-up. I was thinking more along the lines of Jimmy Page (late 60's & owned the 70's) Eddie Van Halen (late 70's & owned the 80'S and Slash (late 80's & owned the 90's) plus they are all known as guitar rock gods all with a unique sound. I do like the "Edge" and his unique sound but do not consider him a guitar legend. Page & Edge did create their own sounds that touched their generations but Jack White really doesn't fit the same mold. He's really not original just digging up an old sound from yest-year. Zeppelin was colossal and U2 was enormous they filled stadiums, had powerhouse vocal front-men and sold millions upon millions of records, so adding the guitar player from the White Stripes to this trio was strange, seemed like that's all they could get! with that being said I did like him in the movie though and have a little more respect for him. White reminded me of high school kid I worked with in the 90's that tried very hard to be different and unique (the clothes, the hair, the strangeness.) Page always is cool & Edge is a pretty a reserved guy who comes off as a genius and White is off the wall weird in a good way. overall it was interesting but left me longing for a line up consisting of Page, Eddie V. & Slash! You can tell if I like something, if I watch it twice looking for things I may have missed and I did watch this one twice.

not just for hardcore music fans

[grumpy-3 · 10/10 · 4 August 2009]

obviously guitar fans and fans of good classic rock will love this, but i think even the casual music lover will get enjoyment from this warm and heartfelt film. taking three very different guitar players from three generations, putting them together to talk about their lives, influences and the guitar. a simple idea and a risky one, but it turns out great as the three in question, jimmy page, the edge and jack white, seem to hit it off and have due respect and admiration for what each of them has done and indeed still do. intercut with that is great archive footage of them, and most importantly seeing hearing and being with them as they talk of their inspirations and motivations. there is great humility and humour and awe, the scene of page putting on link wray's rumble and playing air guitar to it, with such a joyous face, he becomes a boy again with all the fervour of a fan just having a great time, his articulate speech over the record is one of the best descriptions of what music can do i have ever come across, see this in a theatre with an audience and played loud, you will not regret it

Good Music

[billcr12 · 7/10 · 12 June 2012]

If you are a fan of loud rock and roll, as I am, you will find this documentary interesting. Jimmy Page, famous for his guitar work with Led Zeppelin, talks about leaving art school to play music instead. He was with the Yardbirds, as was Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. Stairway to Heaven is his best known work.

The Edge is the guitarist for the Irish band, U2. He talks about building the instrument with his brother and learning to play it. He explains how he creates the unique sound associated with U2.

The third and least well known is Jack White of the White Stripes, a bluesy player from Detroit. He also formed The Raconteurs, who had the hit single Steady as She Goes.

The three have very interesting life stories to go along with their guitar playing abilities. The final part has them in a studio discussing technique and playing each others songs. The final song has the trio performing The Band's, The Weight, acoustically. My only complaint is that the jam session should have been longer, but it it is still a good film.

the spirituality

[eu514 · 9/10 · 15 December 2009]

nutty as it seems, with all the jumping around on stage, the horrendous volume levels and the often, outright banality of rock and roll, at some levels, depending on the artists and their creativity and convictions, there is a profound spirituality involved.

of course, relatively few musicians reach this level. even in the ranks of world class talent it is normal to fall short or to be blissfully oblivious of the higher possibilities of the art. it takes a very rare gift, to be able to see further than the established limits of what is acceptable in pop music. it is relatively easy to detect when a poetic songwriter is working in a spiritual realm - maybe not so simple to understand when a guitarist has broken through to that place.

but, some guitar players are capable of breaking the shackles, again and again, and if you resonate with them, you can feel something inside yourself soar. it was that, more than anything, which attracted me to this kind of music when i was a kid, and when James Page was an emerging star.

all three of these men have that gift, in their own unique way, and share a vision that there is more to it all than just disposable, popular entertainment. this movie states that theme, rather eloquently.

"Who says you need to buy a guitar?"

[TheFunkyBass · 7/10 · 16 May 2015]

The way Jack White opens up this rockumentary by demonstrating how to create your own guitar out of household objects is perfect. One of the many things why I love this rockumentary is how musicians with such a different influences and styles get together to discuss their love for the guitar.

For example, Jack White and The Edge are so different. Jack prefers a raw sound for his guitar like the Big Muff pedal, and The Edge prefer a more technical approach of the guitar using audio settings and pedals.

Curiosly, they were both influenced by punk rock, but in different directions. U2's sound was post-punk and The White Stripes' was more of a garage punk and punk blues sound. This is were they realized they both shared an admiration for The Jam, also known as "The Godfathers of Punk".

The bad thing about the movie is that it didn't show enough footage of them playing together, which was pretty much the best parts of the rockumentary.

good idea, imperfectly implemented

[moonbus-982-519398 · 5/10 · 27 August 2012]

This was a good idea for a film, but I found the editing poor; it lacks continuity, the film jumps around incoherently. I would have preferred three separate complete interviews with each of the guitarists, punctuated by their meeting and jamming together at the end of the film. I found it annoying that there was not a single song played through to the end, just snippets and riffs. I found it annoying that not single thought during the interview sections was pursued-- again, just bits and pieces chopped apart and juxtaposed between bits and snippets from the other interviewees. There are some wonderful moments though; for example, the opening sequence in which Jack White constructs a functional e-guitar from bits of wire and a soda pop bottle. The final jam session is great--I wish it were longer than a mere three minutes. The overall impression of the film is that of a confused jumble of tantalizing adumbrations, with nothing done thoroughly. The Edge looks like the odd man out in this trio; a strange choice of musicians--one can't even call it a tribute to guitar heroes ("Jack who??"). Page- Beck-Clapton would have made more sense. Or just Page alone-- he is certainly an interesting enough person, and a creative and innovative enough musician, to have deserved a documentary to himself, if done thoroughly.