SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Candida It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

GENTRY2 This is a really good DVD despite the fact Metallica is on the fringe of non existance. You go through the whole process of Metallica making their self titled Metallica cd a.k.a. "The Black Album" ! And then time to hit the road as Metallica brutalises the world with a bombastic blast of songs from both the black album and classic hits from And Justice For All and earlier hits from the days when Cliff Burton was alive. This dvd actually makes a perfect companion piece to The Metallica Box Set: Live Shit Binge and Purge.

res0owwh A real-life look at what these spectacular artists and human spirits are all about.The movie illustrates facts about each member of Metallica's group, their honesty, straightforwardness, tell-it-like-it-is-ness, beauty, heart and soul, intelligence, human-ness, more-than-human-ness, creativity, above excellent talent, and, last but definitely not least, the messages they deliver to humanity and the truths contained in those messages.You will laugh and you will cry. You will feel every human emotion, especially the frustration, anger, rage, love, hate, resentment at being human and all that entails; the extremes of every sensation of waking up to find out that you are a human.Excellent movie about more than excellent people.

Pelagia The two segments involved in the documentary feature Metallica, both the black-clad public leaders of metal madness and the laid-back, long hair goofballs from down the hall playing electric guitar at 3 in the morning.The direction was awful shaky. In terms of a documentary, director Adam Dubin chose to involve the presence of the film crew as much as possible in the privacy and business of the bandmembers to the point of where much of the material is essentially them playing to the camera. This is an effect that can alter the realism of the documentary and put the subjects into a position to where they feel compelled to "act" for the camera instead of being their true selves. There were also many baffling cuts into the middle of a joke or editing techniques that involved blending and blurring of conversations that at times some of the meaning and humor is lost. The effect is similar to walking abruptly into a roomful of laughing people, and not getting the joke.The documentary does work best as an insight into the workings of major studio album. For example, in the first half, we get to witness the real brains behind the band in action as drummer Lars Ulrich and lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist James Hetfield butt heads and raise all hell and putting their ambitious new project titled "The Black Album" into tape. The album displayed a new mainstream style with emphasis on shorter, slicker songs. Metallica, a band that has *forever* been called "sellouts", seem to know what they were getting themselves into, and the hard work and determination evident in the documentary dispels any doubts of their merit.Interesting to note is the minimal input lead guitarist Kirk Hammet and bassist Jason Newstead (this being only his second album with the band) contribute to the production process. They more or less are nowhere to be seen for most of the first half of the documentary. Also, note the lack of reference (reasons unknown) to Michael Kamen, the composer of the string section on the track "Nothing Else Matters", who Metallica later worked with on the "S&M" project.Metallica nonetheless has a very drawing power, and the documentary, peppered with some awesome filming of the band doing what they do best in concert and the well-done music videos, is a must have for anyone.

fixxxer1013 I've seen all four hours of this thing at least 15 times. For Metallica fans, it doesn't get much better than this; you get to really know who these guys are and get to witness their particularly keen senses of humor.Best bits: the constant ribbing of producer Bob Rock, watching James record the bridge solo for "Wherever I May Roam," the backstage visit from Spinal Tap, and James' session of Axl Rose ridicule.Metallica fans MUST see this film; it is an indispensable document of the making of one of the greatest albums of all time and of the 3-year long tour that followed. Good stuff.