Metallica - Some Kind Of Monster [DVD] [2004]

The emotion that James acquires since rehab is amazing, it's like he is a completely different character. Kirk also starts to stick up for himself which I never thought he would.

The Dave Mustaine interview was also very interesting and I do feel more sympathy for Dave and think highly of him for agreeing for the interview to be included.

The movie is over 2 hours long, the bonus features are also quite extensive, they really know how to stick stuff together.

Overall, definitely far better than what I ever imagined.

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Not knowing much about Metallica, I can't decide how bright the guys are. In discussion in the movie, they often spoke eloquently about themselves and the problems of working together. (Maybe this was just the result of being surrounded by Californian psycho-babble all their lives.) But then when they're trying to come up with lyrics to their tunes, they all seem to write entirely in uppercase, which is normally used to hide poor punctuation.

The lyric-writing scenes were revealing, making it abundantly clear that the band records the riff and the music first. They then sit around on sofas listening to the music track, and sketch out their ideas on notepads. One or two of them just doodle, much to the frustration of the others. (That was a wonderfully funny scene, introduing an angle that neither Spinal Tap nor Bad News had thought of.)

My favourite scenes are the ones involving Lars's Dad, a Gandalf figure with a long white beard and a walking stick but a penchant for yoga and a good knowledge of 1970s rock music. The psychotherapist gets Lars to talk about his Dad in a field -- while his Dad is hunched over his stick and doing knee-stretching exercises. Everyone wants their Dad to be impressed by their achievements, but maybe you shouldn't ask your Dad's opinion on the heavy metal tracks you've been laying down. Lars really has to bite his lip as his Dad struggles not to tell him that he really thought the track was rubbish.

Although Metallica might be Lars's band, it is nothing without James. When he goes off for six months' rehab, all the other two members can do is sit around and dredge up old mates. when he then returns and demands that the band only work for four hours a day -- without even being able to listen to tracks outside those hours -- Lars flips, and expresses his dislike for the arrangement in the best speech of the film.

Though you see much, there's a lot you don't see. Despite the Napster lawsuit going on at the time, you don't see any discussions with Metallica's attorneys, for example.

I have to say that, despite all the hilarity, the band-rebuilding process actually seems to work. The track excerpts we hear sound decent. Maybe some of the other middle-aged bands I follow should take note.

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Despite the fact that I am not a fan of Metallica, I must say that I enjoyed watching this film. It has plenty of things to interest spectators, as it gives them the opportunity to witness the making of “St Anger” (Metallica´s new album) and the dynamics of a strangely dysfunctional band. Of course, I must also mention Metallica´s sessions with Phil Towle, a "performance enhancement coach", as one of the highlights of this dvd :)

In my opinion, fans will love this dvd, and people who have barely heard about Metallica will like it too. “Metallica: Some kind of monster” is a very good documentary worth watching, even if it is not the kind of dvd you generally rent.

Belen Alcat

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