Dio: Dreamers Never Die

Merely for the headstuck diofans and all their offspring that have had to grow up in the musical sphere, a realm of mystique and immortal balanced and executed vocals, all from crib to death. I got the news of ronnie james dios death at an ironmaiden gig, and that sent shivers through the crowd.

I remember the allmost fearsome intros to the ''holy diver'' and ''dont talk to strangers'' cause they were only there to do YOU harm, they are just sensational those songs, the rest got drown for my part in all the other 80's music, but i still get the sting each tme i hear dios voice.

So if you like heavy metal music with loads of riff raff repetition then this documentary is for you, the grumpy old man recommends highly.

I loved this documentary and loved Ronnie very much. He treated me so well over the years and always treated me like family.

There was nobody like him and there will never be anyone who can replace him. He was truly magical and was a master at his craft.

I was saddened to see Scott Warren, Ronnie's keyboard player, was not included in the documentary. Scott should have been included! He was a part of Ronnie's band and family just like all the other band members were.

I'm not sure who's decision it was to cut him or not include him, but it was a poor choice, and I'm sure, very hurtful to Scott.

As you may have guessed by my tagline, I am a huge Ronnie James Dio fan and have been since my early teens and it was so great to FINALLY see a documentary on this great singer and icon.

I was only able to see it for the first time today. I missed the initial limited theatrical run as the person I was going with got sick with Covid only days before we were due to go and out of solidarity with him, I decided not to go either knowing his disappointment about not being able to go.

It was then released on Showtime in America, a streaming service not available here in the UK. Thankfully, I was able to catch it this morning and I found it a really good retrospective of his life and music.

So, why have I not rated this a 10? This is because I felt that it breezed through too many Iconic periods in his life much too fast. They actually spent more time talking about his cameo in Tenacious D's - Pick of Destiny movie, than they did about his entire time in Rainbow and his first stint in Black Sabbath.

They also completely glossed over the period from 1986-2006. Sure, the 90's were a dark time for Ronnie as it was for most Hard Rock and Metal artists that made their bones in the 70's and 80's, but the period was not without its merits. Some great albums came out during this uncovered period. Maybe not Strange Highways or Angry Machines, as they were just a bit too industrial for my European neo-classical rock tastes, but certainly Dream Evil, Lock Up the Wolves, Magica, Killing the Dragon and Master of the Moon and of course the brief Black Sabbath reunion album from 1992 Dehumanizer all could have been talked about more as these are albums although maybe not as iconic as Rainbow Rising, Long Live Rock N Roll, Heaven and Hell, Mob Rules, Holy Diver and The Last in Line, they're certainly nothing to sniff at and all of them are really worthy of the Dio name and should have been given the respect that they deserved too.

However, one part really struck a personal chord with me and that was when they were talking about the relationship Ronnie had with his fans and how he would always remember you. I had the absolute privilege of seeing Ronnie 16 times over the years and from the late 90's onwards, and through the kindness and generosity of Wendy Dio, (Ronnie's wife and manager), my best friend and I were always able to procure after show passes whenever he played the English Midlands so I got to meet him about 7 or 8 times in all. The last time I saw him was following a Dio concert in Birmingham in 2008 and when Ronnie saw me and my friend he walked over to us, smiling broadly and gave us both a hug and said "I knew you two would be here tonight, you've always been here for me". The guy was just pure magic as an artist, and human being.

I was thoroughly moved by the final 10 minutes of this documentary that detailed his declining health and sad passing from cancer in 2010 and my thoughts went straight back to that day and the emotions I felt then and I still feel whenever I think about a world without Ronnie James Dio.

I'm glad I've finally seen this now and I enjoyed it immensely, but I just wish it could have been a lot more thorough as a career spanning retrospective of such a great talent.

He was the best and he still IS the best as his music will always live on.

Enjoy!

This is an excellent documentary and a must watch for any Dio fan or fan of heavy rock from a certain era. Dio , to coin a cheesy term, was a rock god . He was musically everywhere in my youth and his voice remains a firm.favourote . This program manages to tell that story without going OTT or smarmy . It is peppered with stories and testimony from more famous names than we're used to seeing in a single program . It also manages to show that whilst not a saint Dio was also a good nice guy. The fact that a benificiary of his last ever recording is a cancer charity and the engineer who produced it with him cannot , all these years on, contain his tears says it in one. He climbed that silver mountain and anyone who watches the last 10 minutes without a lump in their throat or a tear in their eye has a heart of stone .

The background music throughout is of course fantastic .

The program has lots of standout moments and quotes . No spoilers , watch it yourself .

Like a lot of people my age (57) I've always known he was pretty great. But man... this is such a good documentary of him (I'd say rockumentary but that seems too limiting) and his inspiring life. I watched it on a whim. But I'll tell you if you ever liked any heavy metal at all and only watch one documentary about a "rock star" (again seems too limiting) watch this one. I never knew what a truly great person he was in addition to his increfible music skills. If this movie doesn't touch you in some way and also make you relive and feel good about your heavy metal days (then and/or now) nothing will.