Blu-Ray Review: I Am Thor

By Tim Murr

There is no good reason Thor weren’t bigger than KISS. Oh, sure, there were reasons, but not good ones. Starting out in the body building world before moving on to rock and roll, Jon Mikl Thor made a name for himself with feats of strength and great stage presence. His first serious foray into rock as Thor was a glam classic (Keep The Dogs Away, 1977). It should have been huge. It was not.

A few years later Thor resurfaces with a harder, metal version of the band and released the excellent Unchained (1983). It should have cemented Thor as at least as big as Ratt or Quiet Riot. It did not. The band ended and Jon tried to break into the movies. He had a great look and lots of energy. He should have gone far, even if it was just in B-movies. He didn’t.

Why? And why after so many failed attempts to make it did Jon Mikl Thor keep coming back?

I Am Thor answers those question. It’s not the downer I just made it sound like. This is a fantastic documentary about a really nice guy with lots of positive energy that’s just infectious. If you caught my two Thor reviews last year, you know I really enjoyed the re-release of Unchained and the new album Metal Avenger. At the heart of I Am Thor are the songs. And the songs are the redemption of Thor. Even when he retired from music, the fans remembered, so when Jon came out of retirement the fans were waiting, even if there weren’t enough to propel him to the top.

There were times in the film when I was reminded of some of the older pro-wrestlers who keep crossing the country year after year, selling their T-shirts and their old finishing moves to small crowds of devoted fans. There was a determinedness in those wrestlers that was kept alive by the crowds that remembered, even if they barely filled a high school gym. You see that in Thor as he replaces band member after band member and plays his heart out whether its in front of six people or a thousand. How he sets up and packs up his own merch table. How he does everything on his own. And despite one setback after another, he puts on a smile and throws his shoulder into another day and presses on.

Jon Mikl Thor is a likable person. If the film does anything exceedingly well it’s that portrays what a big heart this guy has. You never stop rooting for him to win. The other people in Thor’s life, particularly long-time band mates from the 1980s who return for European shows–Mike Favata and Steve Price–are great in the interviews. As are Thor’s ex-wife and early collaborator Rusty Hamilton and hardcore Thor fan, Thundergeek.

Even if Thor never topped the charts, with I Am Thor, Jon still won in the end. This film is a testament to hard work and determination, as well as a vindication of the fact that he never had the success of KISS even though he had better songs. I Am Thor is an essential rock document.

I Am Thor was released January 19 on Blu-Ray, DVD, and VOD from Dark Sky Films.