Randy Rhoads: Reflections of a Guitar Icon

Very little actually about Randy. Too much time spent on Riot. Very disappointing since it should've been about Randy Rhoads instead of them. The editing and footages are not good either. I'm not saying, "don't watch it", but just be prepared to learn more about Quie Riot than Randy Roads, and perhaps how not to do a music documentary with so little footages. Ando also, I'm not sure why it's taking such long time for rock fans to see a real tribute on film about one of the greatest rock musicians ever on this planet. Hope the Ozzy series that's coming from Sony does more justice than this, cause in a way, I felt tricked by the title. Riot fans should enjoy it though.

This was a surprisingly polished film, overdue and deserving for such an important and somewhat overlooked artist of the hard rock era. It focuses mostly on his pre-Ozzy days in LA, struggling with Quiet Riot. It's a story that's never been told this comprehensively before - the filmmakers did a kind of miraculous thing by interweaving found audio against many rarely seen images of that time, along with thoughtful commentary by contemporaries. It really elevates Rhoades as an artist worthy of this kind of consideration, and hearing people reminisce about what it was like to watch a young Randy Rhoads mesmerize the crowd in those LA clubs is a highlight. Missing here is any in-depth analysis of the actual music, especially the two masterful Ozzy albums - we can assume they couldn't secure the rights - so you never hear any of those great recordings, but it almost doesn't matter, this thing is eminently watchable. If you grew up in the 80s in awe of the music, and before our social media age where we know everything about everyone, you will love this. It really captures the humble and endearing quality of this young guy before his brief moment of superstardom and heartbreaking end, which is still hard to believe. Rock forever, RR.

It was well done and long overdue! Had to be a challenge finding old footage and photos, interviews and such - but they really did a good job piecing all this together. Randy was a phenomenal player - his loss is a tragedy. I enjoyed the show and respective thoroughly! Again - long overdue!

Randy Rhoads was a hurricane force of talent who was lost way too soon. Musicians like this are poster children for folks that are born to do what they are known for. Although he's known very well in the musician and music appreciation scholar circles he never got his recognition in society's general knowledge of him due to a short career unlike EVH, SRV, etc who had extended public exposure and influence to be included in daily reminders of his existence. Like every other fan out there I wish RR was still with us because who knows what he'd be giving us from his guitar but thankful they did this documentary right to give RR the recognition he rightfully deserves. If you are music fan this is a must see. You are missed, Randy!

Way too much focus on Quiet Riot rather than Randy Rhoads. Also, massive gaps on how he contributed to the success of Ozzy, specifically on writing songs for Blizzard and Diary. It was very uninteresting to watch, and I've been a huge Randy Rhoads fan since '86. The good...hearing Randy's voice and lots of good photos and videos of him, just completely lacked focus on Randy himself. Worth watching if you're a fan for sure, but it gets very distracted and unfocused very early on. The silver lining, having at least some sort of documentation visually of his life, as mundane and lacking as it is.

This movie is different from other attempts at documentaries, and the few books about Randy's life, in that it goes into much more detail about the early days of his musical journey as well as his time in Quiet Riot. The history revealed in the interviews and narration were very insightful. The only drawback was that music from his time with Ozzy wasn't permitted for use in the film, which was unfortunate. I'd consider this a must see film for diehard fans of Randy as well as anyone with an interest in the history of the LA rock music scene.

It seems Sharon and Ozzy own all of Randy's work on the two albums they recorded. There is concert footage, yet not a note of guitar. Interviewees rightly talk about Randy's iconic riffs, yet we never hear them until the end, when random guitarists (most are very good) play his stuff. I've played guitar for over 30 years. I own a Jackson V because of Randy. How can this be the "definitive" film if we can't hear the stuff that made him famous?!? With that said, I learned so much about his Quiet Riot days. Great footage and a great band. I was born in '76, so I only knew of the "Mental Health" QR (which I loved). The filmmakers did the best they could with what they had; worth a look, but be prepared to have "Blizzard of Oz" cued up to scratch the itch the movie leaves us with.

It's a good documentary about Quiet Riot, Randy Rhoads and Ozzy Osbourne. Nothing more. It could be way more better. There is just too much focus on Quiet Riot era and its members, completely unnecessarily. It's a documentary about Randy Rhoads and the focus must be on him. Footage could be better. They must include some interviews with Zakk Wylde and Yngwie Malmsteen, at least! I was hungry to here some studio music with better production but it was almost all live footage. Demonstration parts at the end was a good idea but the demonstrations weren't the best ones, at all. 7.3/10.