Hired Gun (2017)

Fantastic interviews, freaking amazing people being interviewed and an excellent focus on the subject matter.I knew a lot of those names going in to this, but there were more that I didn't know. I thought that was great, getting to "meet" new people. I found out a lot about some people I had heard of, too, for instance: I knew who Jason Hook was because I've been listening to 5FDP since they started; but I didn't know his history, so it was cool seeing how he's a regular blue-collar guy at heart.In fact, that was the coolest takeaway for me, I think, was seeing how all these guys, despite their incredible and somewhat arcane skills, really are blue-collar-"working for a living" folks just like me.My favorite takeaway tho, is that Liberty Devitto is clearly one of the coolest mofoss on the planet in addition to being a kick-ass drummer. I wanna hang out with him, buy him a beer or something. If I thought he'd get any money from it, I'd go buy Billy Joel's entire catalog right now (relax; I know he wouldn't).Truly worthwhile, IMO, if you are a musician or just love music. Again, 10/10 rating from me.

1/11/18. What a cool bunch of professionals. This is a great documentary to watch in which session musicians get to share their love of playing for the sake of playing. Though many have gone nameless, playing in the shadow of big personalities, they are so grateful for the chance just to play in that kind of environment. These are the true artists in the music world! Worth catching.

I wanted to watch this documentary after I read that Steve Vai was in the credited cast because I'm a huge fan of his unique style and of his work throughout the years. In my opinion, he is the ultimate hired gun ever, being "used" by "gunslingers" like Frank Zappa (who used to call him "Stunt Guitarist" and "Little Italian Virtuoso"), Graham Bonnet, David Lee Roth and David Coverdale. And guess what? He barely talks in this documentary. I think that in total he has less than thirty seconds on screen saying a few thoughts of his about the business. It' so disappointing watching all the other musicians in this video talking about their adventures and misadventures in their lives while waiting for something that never takes place: Steve Vai's stories of his amazing career. Not to mention that exceptional hired guns like Joe Satriani and Steve Morse in Deep Purple or Yngwie Malmsteen in Alcatrazz are not even mentioned. The documentary is okay, but gets boring after a while. They aimed too low and missed a lots of great "shots".

Absolutely incredible! if you are a fan of music you MUST see this film. Ideally on the big screen! I have seen the film 3 times, at SXSW, in the theater, and on DVD, and I well up every time. The "Hired Guns" featured are the most talented musicians in the world and each of their stories are incredible. Highly recommended.