Hired Gun (2016) User Reviews (20)

Some Great & Inspiring Individual Stories

[larrys3 · 8/10 · 5 September 2017]

This documentary focuses on what's called "hired guns", especially in the rock and heavy metal genre. Basically a "hired gun" is a super talented musician who can, at a moment's notice, play as a studio musician or actually join a band and tour with them. However, in the often cold and brutal musical world, they will have no tenure, receive low pay, and often get no credit for their contributions.

As one sees in the film, some of the "hired guns" will emerge and prosper from their stints while others will not and even eventually experience tragic consequences. The film, directed by Fran Strine, jumps from one interviewee to another, and initially seemed disjointed, since I really wasn't familiar with most of the musicians and record execs. However, the power of the individual stories overrode all else, in my opinion, and I certainly not only was inspired by these tales but also learned a lot about a genre I knew little about.

As I've read in some reviews this documentary can certainly fall into the category of such other movies as "20 Feet From Stardom", "The Wrecking Crew", and "Standing in the Shadows of Motown", except this doc centers on rock and heavy metal bands and players.

I will always listen to music in a different way now.

[deloudelouvain · 8/10 · 6 June 2018]

I have to admit that it took me fifty years to understand that some band players are just 'hired guns', never knew about that, I always thought they just played in different bands as full members. So for that only this documentary was an eye opener for me, and a good reason to watch it. It was very interesting to see the view of those artists on the bands they played with, and how some of those 'celebrities' are just a bunch of egoistic egocentric bastards, like Billy Joel in this documentary. He's a heartless very self-centered egoistic prick that doesn't deserve anybody buying his music. On the other hand you can witness what a wonderful guy his drummer Liberty DeVitto is, still forgiving everything and playing for peanuts. But there are also others than Billy Joel that are just wannabe good people and I guess that once you got a bit of success you just look at other people like they are your possession. In this documentary you also discover nice celebrities, with a golden heart, like Alice Cooper, Ozzy and Pink, not directly people that I would have thought being nice persons in daily life. So never judge a book by it's cover. The documentary is very well made, with tons of relevant interviews of great side artists, guitar and drum virtuoses that made the name of some big bands without ever being recognized. Interviews with hired guns, producers, artists and so on, it all passes the revue and it's very interesting and pleasant to listen to. If you are a music fan you should definitely watch Hired Gun. I will always listen to music in a different way now.

A depressing exposé

[Tin_ear · 8/10 · 29 April 2022]

You'll never look at Billy Joel the same way again, that's for damn sure.

The fact that millionaires regularly treat session musicians so poorly goes to show that the music industry is even sleazier than we ever thought possible.

Amazing rock doc!!!

[sisicronin · 4 August 2017]

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.

Interesting documentary on rock music's unsung heroes

[grantss · 7/10 · 18 October 2018]

A documentary on the nameless musicians behind the stars - the people in the touring and/or studio bands of major stars. Shows the highs and lows, the pros and cons, how some of them got where they are and their lives as hired guns.

An interesting documentary on rock music's unsung heroes. For every famous, successful artist there's dozens of musicians who played on studio albums or performed in the bands of the famous artist, with little to no recognition. This documentary does a good job of empathising with and highlighting the skills, trials and tribulations of the sideman.

Wasn't always that promising though: started off pretty dully, with a heap of (largely metal) musicians trying to out cheerlead each other. The first bit focuses mostly on how they got their big break and while there are some really interesting, even historic moments (e.g. the guitar solo on Steely Dan's 'Peg" and the drum fill on John Cougar Mellencamp's 'Jack and Diane'), involved it just seems pretty conventional. Moreover, you feel like you've seen this before - '20 Feet From Stardom' and 'Standing In The Shadows Of Motown' already covered the life and influence of backing musicians.

However, in the second half it gets really interesting and engaging. Now we see what touring life is like and how expendable these musicians are. It's quite sad how they are treated and how things turn out for some of them.

The latter half also shows why, despite the insecurity and treatment, these guys still do what they do - the love of music. This leaves the ultimate note a positive one.

Simply a must if you love music

[panchovaldovinos · 9/10 · 28 September 2017]

Everything in this movie appears to be something unknown to the regular music lover like me. The hired guns were something I didn't even considered in the music industry.

Really good featured musicians, fun stories. Really great job. You must see it, trust me!

Enlightening and heartfelt

[wgfaej · 7/10 · 20 November 2017]

Really enjoyed watching this and learned a lot about the lives these guys had.

What struck me in the end was nobody was overly bitter (at least in this film) or resentful other than the lack of communication when their time was up.

They seemed to know the precarious edge that chose to live on and what that meant in job security.But happy to have been part of something big and creative.

Great Documentary!

[newmountainmusic · 9/10 · 4 December 2017]

Forget about the guy who bitched about Steve Vai and wrote a whiny review. This documentary doesn't look at the most famous session players (Like Vai), it follows people you may have never heard of (but whose talents you may have heard). The depth and honesty of the documentary is palpable. The players it does focus on show just how high the highs and how low the lows are when you dedicate your life to playing someone else's music. A couple superstar artists come out looking like douche bags for the way they treat their side men, but for the most part, the documentary steers clear of drama.

Worth a watch but missing

[alternapop · 6/10 · 17 December 2017]

I was excited to see this documentary after a friend told me about it. I've followed music pretty heavily for the last 30+ years and have appreciated its history and the 'behind the scenes' stories. A similar documentary, The Wrecking Crew, is a must see!

I enjoyed Hired Guns but was left wanting more. I felt they could've spent more time showing how a 'hired gun'/A-List player is different, or better, than the guy who is just not making it versus only talking about it.

I would've liked to have seen how an A-List player can quickly learn a tune. Show a couple examples of them knowing nothing about a song and picking it up quickly, a Randy Rhoads solo for example, and tell how that compares to a non A-Lister. Show what makes them different. (Seeing Jay Graydon play the Steely Dan solo was pretty cool. )

I found it a little ironic for Phil X to talk about not selling out for $200-300 but then this documentary has them all playing a couple of rather bland tunes together for a reason that I didn't really understand.

Maybe I missed it but also seeing some guys who were originally in successful bands and then went on to be session musicians would've been interesting too. Jeff Pilson for example.

I was very impressed. Like, 10/10 impressed.

[BomageMinimart · 10/10 · 3 March 2018]

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.

Incredibly Interesting

[nitro72 · 7/10 · 17 March 2019]

Competently made (but light) doc showcasing the highs and lows of being a working musician in a touring band; filled with many personal stories - some sad, some funny, some surprising - but all incredibly interesting & compelling.

This is a "must see" for anyone who enjoys music.

[wright0990 · 10/10 · 11 August 2017]

Hired Gun is a backstage look at some of the most prolific and popular musicians, bands, singers, and songwriters. There are so many wonderful and interesting stories here. From Billy Joel to Kiss, Metallica, Bon Jovi, and Pink. There is literally something for everyone. Learning about the band members lives and hearing how and why they are where they are was a blast. I saw this in the theater twice and loved it both times. I highly recommend it.

Interesting

[simonefon · 7/10 · 16 June 2022]

What did I learn from watching this movie? Billy Joel is an idiot.

A part from this, nice movie, interesting to give voice also to those who did not make and are dubbing commercials on tv.

Not real world

[hfhifi · 5/10 · 21 January 2022]

The movie does a pretty good job explaining the role of a hired gun. Unfortunately, the film maker completely ignored anything outside of the US. Most great rock has and still comes out of the UK and not a single British musician is in the film. It also ignores almost all American genres except for hair bands and heavy metal.

The true artists of the music world!

[bettycjung · 14 January 2018]

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.

A must for music lovers

[jc1305us · 10/10 · 12 December 2017]

What a wonderful, engaging, funny, sometimes sad look at the life of a session musician, the guys who are hired to play on another musicians recordings. I consider this the companion piece to the excellent "Wrecking Crew" documentary.Often anonymous, these guys and girls are the backbone to many of your favorite artists. As someone who played drums for many years and dreamt of being in a traveling band, I realized years ago what a grind touring could be. Many artists are interviewed and they are all candid about the business side of music, and what it takes to make it. Rob zombie puts it thus: You have to be the best musician, but also willing to put the spotlight on the main artist. Most importantly though, you need to be someone that can live on the road 24/7 with others and not be annoying! Toiling away, night after night, for little pay can drain anyone, and it does take a toll. Even those that were very successful can be dumped for no reason, sending the artist out looking for work. Liberty Devitto, the drummer for Billy Joel for many years, was dumped by Joel along with his bandmates, one of whom later killed himself. It's a hell of a way to make a living, and the heights are high, but the pitfalls are always around the corner. A must watch for any music fan!

Are you a rock fan? You have to see this!

[lelani38 · 10/10 · 12 January 2019]

I very shocking production that goes in depth telling the story of your favorite artists behind the hit songs we all love. Don't miss this brilliantly done documentary!

Missed shots!

[phfsr · 4/10 · 13 October 2017]

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 music and musicianship. 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's so disappointing watching ordinary session musicians in this video talking about their adventures and misadventures while waiting for something that never takes place: Steve Vai's stories of his amazing career. Not to mention that exceptional hired guns of the highest caliber as well like Joe Satriani and Steve Morse in Deep Purple, Yngwie Malmsteen in Alcatrazz or Jennifer Batten in Michael Jackson's tours and in Jeff Beck's band are not even mentioned.

Expanding a little bit about what another user wrote, it would have been great to see or hear real video and audio recordings from the rehearsal sessions in order to show how a hired gun learns and discusses the stuff they have to play before going on tour or making a record. The documentary is okay, but it gets boring after a while. I say point-blank that it misfires big time: they aimed too low and missed a lots of great "shots".

Session Musicians have no Soul

[arfdawg-1 · 2/10 · 30 October 2019]

Here's the part this movie leaves out -- if you were REALLY that good, you'd have your own band and sell a gazillion recordings.

Session musicians are technically and consistently good players BUT they have no soul. They are not unique. They are Campbell's soup. They play the note but are not interesting.

This flick is self serving. All these dumb session musicians try to take credit for the hits. What a bore.

There's plenty of room at the bottom, the hard part is staying at the top.

[TxMike · 3 April 2024]

And thus it is with session musicians, or hired guns who join a famous musician or music group. As Vincent Damon Furnier explained, "I only hire A-list musicians, I don't have time for the B-listers." (That is Alice Cooper, for anyone who doesn't know his birth name.)

This documentary is a series of interviews with the musicians, interspersed with film clips of the times, snippets of performances. It is a 2016 documentary so it was put together somewhat before that. It features the late 1970s and the 1980s, so those interviewed were mostly in their 50s and 60s. It mostly features drummers and guitarists, and man can they still play!

They are the guys and ladies most of us never heard about but they in fact are responsible for the sound we love. Their common trait is their love of making music. But not being a headliner their employment is always tenuous. One mentioned making $400 a week in the 1980s, that is about $20,000 if you work 50 weeks a year. With the inflation rate since then it would be equivalent to about $60,000 yearly now. Hardly a way to get wealthy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film which I found streaming on Amazon Prime. I am a musician, definitely a B-lister, I am in awe of how accomplished these A-list musicians are.