You might not know Jon Mikl Thor by name, but after you see “I Am Thor”, a documentary to be released on November 20th, I can guarantee you that you will see that Rock runs thru his veins just as hard, if not harder than any other legends in the music world , and his story, presented in this documentary directed by Ryan Wise, is one of the best examples about never giving up, and that you are never too old to do a comeback to the things you are passionate about.
Just to give you an idea in case you don’t know who he is (Like I was until 2 weeks ago, I have to admit) Jon Mikl Thor, or as he is best known, “Thor”, is a former Canadian bodybuilding champion from the early 70’s, that after winning several competitions, started to pursue a career in music, his second passion.
After several projects that didn’t work too well, Jon Mikl Thor decided to launch another band more oriented into the Heavy Metal genre, bringing also a whole performance concept, adopting the “Thor” persona, (Although going more for the Norse legend version than the Marvel character) The act included monster-fighting stage acts , bending steels bars with his teeth, inflate hot-water plastic bags until they blow up (Not a easy feat) and even sporting Mexican wrestler masks. Around those years Thor also had some roles in films, although they were more in the «Z» genre.
The band, as you might imagine, had some ups and downs, and although it had a modest success, Thor stared to fade little by little from the public eye, until it was forgotten. The documentary give us a very fast recap of John Milk Thor’s career, and then takes us to the time when around being 44-45 years old, Jon Mikl Thor decides to make a comeback, returning to record music and live shows , and how later, after a decade of dealing with health problems, aging and the cynicism in the music business, Thor keeps fighting an uphill battle, but still won’t stop until he gets the recognition he deserves.
While I can imagine this documentary is for the fans of Thor, or at least for those who at some time were in contact with his music (Which by the way I ended liking a lot and is now on my Spotify playlist) I believe that “I Am Thor” manages to be approachable for all kind of audience, and even delivers a very strong message about «Making it or Die trying» not only from Jon Mikl, but also from the friends that keep playing with him, giving everything they got every time they hit the stage, making us wonder about the excuses we use to stop pursuing our own dreams and goals.
You can catch “I Am Thor” on selected theaters and VOD on November 20th.
Great write up. A friend turned me onto this guy about a year and a half ago. I can’t say I dig the music, but having grown up in the 80s it definitely serves to evoke a certain time in my life, even though I missed Thor at the time he was in his prime. Despite not digging the music so much I’m keen to see the doc after this write up, as I’m always interested in examples that show us how to stop making excuses and go for our dreams.
Same Here!! I never heard from this guy, and I grew up on the border, So I listenes to american Radio Stations and therefore (I thought) was aware of what was being popular on the radio and Mtv. Still, I dug a couple of songs, although not totally my thing, great lesson to be learn! Thank you for stopping by! Have a great Week!