‘Randy Rhoads: Reflections Of A Guitar Icon’ Blu-Ray Review – A Portrait Of A Musical Genius Gone Too Soon

In the 70s, Randy Rhoads’ guitar riffs reshaped rock’n’roll and raised the stakes for guitarists everywhere. As the lead guitarist for Quiet Riot and Ozzy Osbourne, Randy made a name for himself at a very young age. You can still hear his hair-raising guitar solos on the albums Blizzard of Oz & Diary of a Madman. Tragically, Randy died at the young age of 25 in a plane crash. Known as the James Dean of rock’n’roll, he left this world too soon, but his soul and music live on forever.

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[youtube https://youtu.be/K3T1XmtSqXo?t=1967]

Video Quality

Randy Rhoads: Reflections Of A Guitar Icon comes to Blu-Ray from VMI Releasing and MVD Entertainment with a pretty great high definition source that translates the film exactly as desired. In what is a familiar documentary structure, the film delivers a variety of different types of material in a range of different quality depending on its origin. The archival material used is not always the most crisp experience, but it appears to be in the best shape possible given the age and inconsistent nature of the source material. This includes amateur footage and vintage clips captured from this time period. The newer interview segments look pretty great with some detailed facial features and natural skin tones. There are a lot of personal details such as clothing which provides some nice texture to the screen. The colors featured in the footage have a decent saturation which is presented well. You will not find much in the way of compression artifacts or digital nuisances. This disc has been given a very good presentation that should please anyone who checks it out. 

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray disc comes with a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio and a LPCM 2.0 track that translates this material well. Dialogue is perfectly clear up front in the center channel as you get memorable anecdotes filmed in fairly ideal environments. Archival clips have moments of inconsistency when it comes to the source, but for the most part you are not saddled  with much in the way of age-related wear. The surround sound presentation makes the tunes come alive in a way that honors the music. Interviews dominate the runtime with a consistent showing of talking heads, but the sound quality of the songs they include is never in question as it permeates the room in a terrific manner. This is a great presentation. There are no subtitles provided. 

Special Features

• Interviews: An assortment of unused footage is provided here which provided fun moments with the interview subjects from the newly filmed material. 

• • Drew Forsythe – Making The Quiet Riot Album (1:35)

• • Drew Forsythe – Quiet Riot 2 (1:35)

• • Ron Sobol – Kellie vs. Kevin (1:18)

• • Ron Sobol – Quiet Riot Bass Player (0:53)

• • Ron Sobol – Randy Leaving The Band (0:32)

• • Ron Sobol – Wrote Quiet Riot Lyrics (0:47)

• • Rudy Sarzo – LA Rock 1970s (2:56)

• • Rudy Sarzo – Quiet Riot and Ozzy (3:17)

• Vintage Footage: There is more additional footage from the archive that was not used in the movie but can be found here. 

• • Chili Festival (1:55)

• • Pasadena Center Quiet Riot Performance (2:22)

• • Quiet Riot Behind The Scenes (2:01)

• • Randy Rhoads Flute (0:22)

• • Sound CIty Recording With Quiet Riot (1:33)

• Trailer: The two-and-a-half minute trailer is provided here. 

Final Thoughts

Randy Rhoads: Reflections Of A Guitar Icon is a perfectly enjoyable documentary which captures a musical genius who was lost too soon. The film does a fine job of both introducing newcomers to the man while also giving some great exclusive interviews from those who shared formidable experiences with him. While the film is not groundbreaking in its construction, it works very effectively in giving a broad overview of this man in an impactful manner. VMI Releasing and MVD Entertainment have released a Blu-Ray featuring a strong A/V presentation and a nice selection of additional footage. If you are a music documentary fan, don’t miss out. Recommended 

Randy Rhoads: Reflections Of A Guitar Icon is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD. 

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: VMI Releasing and MVD Entertainment have supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.