It Might Get Loud (2009)

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General		Extras
Category	Music	Main Menu Audio Audio Commentary Deleted Scenes Featurette-Press Conference Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2009
Running Time	93:57
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Davis Guggenheim
Studio Distributor	Sony Pictures Home Entertain	Starring	Jimmy Page The Edge Jack White Bono Michael McKean Larry Mullen Jr. Robert Plant Meg White
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English English for the Hearing Impaired Arabic English Audio Commentary	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes

    Rock guitarists are a strange breed, flashy but generally less out front and communicative as their singers. They tend to be more the quieter genius who speaks through their guitar rather than the showman leading the discussion and creating the headlines. This documentary made in 2008 brings three very different rock guitarists together from three different generations and allows them to interact in an unstructured and artistic way. The three guitarists are Jimmy Page, the legendary lead guitarist of Led Zeppelin, The Edge from U2 and Jack White of The White Stripes and The Raconteurs. My initial reaction was that they would not have a lot in common although there is a lot more in common here than you might think. They all acknowledge the blues as an influence and despite being from very different backgrounds, age groups and musical styles they find a lot to like about each other as players and people.

    The film runs for 90 minutes and includes a mixture of material specific to each of the players covering their careers, childhood, how they developed their guitar style and some interesting live footage from all of them in their famous bands. Also, there is material recorded during their meeting in early 2008 where they share riffs, jam together and discuss the guitar and how they play it. Some will find it disappointing that there are no full songs or proper performances here unless you count the jam on The Band's The Weight during the credits. Certainly, I had hoped for more of this than was included considering the names involved.

    The film was directed by Davis Guggenheim whose last major project was An Inconvenient Truth. Technically, the film includes some quality cinematography which adds to the viewing experience. To be honest, this is really for guitar geeks and other guitar players rather than the general rock'n'roll audience. Guitar fans will certainly find it interesting and others with wide musical tastes and an interest in how music is created will certainly get something out of it. In some ways, this film is a little indulgent and sometimes lacks focus.

    Overall, I would describe this documentary as interesting but not essential although it probably is essential for guitar nuts.

Video

    The feature is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. It is 16x9 enhanced widescreen. This is the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout with some MPEG artefacts to be seen and quite a bit of grain such as at 2:40 and 61:40.

    The colour was very good with no major issues to report.

    The only other artefact was some pretty obvious edge enhancement.

    There are subtitles in English, English for the Hearing Impaired, Arabic and for the commentary. They are clear and easy to read.

    There is no layer change.
    

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is excellent.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack encoded at 448Kb/s and an English commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 192Kb/s.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand throughout.

    The music sounds great with lots of surround presence both in live performances and solo guitar pieces. The playing was clear and filled the soundstage.

    The surround speakers provided an immersive experience during the music sections of the show.

    The subwoofer added bass to the music as required.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The menu is still and includes music. It allows for subtitle and chapter selection.

Commentary - Director Davis Guggenhein and Producers Lesley Chilcott & Thomas Tull 

    This commentary is a little dry however there is some worthwhile information although it tends to be quite focused on the onscreen action. There is discussion around the development of the idea, the personalities involved and some anecdotes.

Deleted Scenes (24:01) 

    There is some great stuff here especially for fans of Jimmy Page. It includes some extra performance stuff and also discussion around the Kashmir riff and the guys playing with a Theremin. Better than some stuff in the feature.

Toronto Film Festival Press Conference (38:27) 

    An excellent press conference where interesting questions are asked and mostly answered. All three of the guitarists are in attendance and they are quite focused and interesting in their responses. Again this material is in some ways more interesting than the feature for fans of the guitarists.

Theatrical Trailer (2:22) 

    The Region 1 version seems to be the same. A Blu-ray version is also available in the US but not locally.

    The video quality is good.

    The audio quality is excellent.

    A good selection of quality extras are included.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall