Metallica: Some Kind of Monster

source: Metallica: Some Kind of Monster

Well, reality TV has taken over every aspect of television, so it is a natural assumption to think it will now start to branch out. However, the idea that people will pay $10 to see what they could see for free on regular and basic cable is hard to believe. In the end though, that is what we get. This is a standard, perform for the camera, mockumentary. We are to believe that we are experiencing natural events transpire, but like on MTV, we are seeing people play for the camera. Each actor/character hamming it up in some way. Be it the "fly off the handle" guy, the "too cool" guy, etc. There is no sincerity anywhere to be seen, just like in real "reality" television. Moreover, we must endure two hours of Lars, the most irritating human on earth. Look, if you are a fan of the band, you will like it. If you don't care for the band or have never hear them, what would be the point of seeing this, you can watch 'Big Brother" on CBS.

We live in a world where terrorism, unemployment, poverty, corrupt politicians, and various other problems loom over us everyday. So it was very hard for me to feel any bit of remorse or sorrow for some pitiful, rich, rock stars who just sit around and talk about their "problems". Do they think people should really care? How am I supposed to relate to Lars and his million dollar art collection, and then have to listen to him bitch about everything. James whines about missing his sons first birthday...well duh, maybe he should've thought about that before he went out drinking and hunting bears, or whatever it was. I used to absolutey worship Metallica. I met them when I was sixteen and thought that I would die a happy man after that. That was many years ago, and my oh my have times changed. It was painful to watch this film, and even more painful to think that Metallica was actually the band I was watching. They have lost it, in every sense of the word.

I use to LOVE Metallica, in 7th grade I read a 250 page biography about the band and did a book report on it. So I really "knew" the band, as in, I knew their history, I read just about every statement made by any members, I knew all their albums etc. Yeah, I was a little obsessive (now it's The Residents) anyway, I didn't care too much for the Black Album when that came out and disliked the whole "Load" thing so much that I lost total interest. Then S$M. Then Napster. Yeah, I've come to truly hate this band. (now for the movie) This movie is documentation that Metallica ('cept maybe Jason) are all such ego maniacs that they can't even talk to each other (without hiring a shrink for $44,000 a month) yet alone communicate well enough to collectively write music together. The only way I could see someone liking Metallica after this, is if they are the kind of person who just likes "stars" and sees no problem with big money bull and giant egos. I know a lot of these people exist, otherwise we wouldn't have shows like Hard Copy or Celebrity Justice, and that sucks, because that means that Metallica still has a fan base, and that means Metallica will continue to disgrace the public buy putting out more (in Lars' own words) stock material! 1/10

This documentary explicitly details how Metallica went from being one of the greatest bands of all time, to a hollow parody of itself. Having a 50-something therapist constantly with the band, helping them explore their feelings, all on a documentary for all to see, showed how much of a slave these guys have become to their mortgage payments. I used to have tons of respect for James Hetfield, only to hear him whine for two hours about separation anxiety, fear of abandonment, and getting his feelings hurt by his band mates. That is not metal my friend, nor is any of your recent music. The scene with Lars and Dave Mustaine made me want to cut my wrists. I was just waiting for them to burst into tears and start making out. This documentary perfectly exhibits why we idolize people and bands like Led Zepplin, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, etc, who stopped producing material for public consumption long before they became completely IRRELAVENT. As far as the film itself, it does a great job of detailing where the band members are in their lives, and what they went through in making such a horrible album, but is about as useful and entertaining to watch as those surgery shows on TV Now, I'm going to go listen to Kill 'Em All a few times to try and get my soul back.

Well what a big disappointment. I really love Metallica. A LOT. I just thought the movie was extremely boring and moved FAR too slow. Also, the content sucked. If watching millionaires whine is your thing, then GO SEE THIS MOVIE. If you are like the other 99.9% of the average American, you don't need to pay money to watch someone else work through their own problems with life. I admit, watching them put together a new album was pretty cool, but between all the whining, arguing, and griping, there was only a fraction of the movie spent on the actual album. I've read in another review that it was basically reality TV on the big screen and the truth is, IT IS.

I bought this movie at the same time as U2's Rattle and Hum. I had thought they were more or less the same type of "concert-film". Unfortunately, that is not the case. Rattle and Hum is one of the best concert movies I own, but I doubt I will ever watch "Some Kind of Monster" again. It is a documentary on Metallica's creation of their latest album, "St. Anger". And what is very surprising, it shows over and over again how puerile the members of the band are. Lars is nothing more than a baby, constantly whining about things which would only concern kindergarten kids. It is absolutely no surprise that he so vigorously pursued Napster after seeing how he is in "real life", it was completely in line with his character. James Hetfield is not much better, although he would equate to a primary schooler rather than an out-and-out baby. He would pick fights for the smallest slight, and he and Lars would argue like pre-schoolers. There is not a single complete song heard in the movie despite many concert clips. Every song is cut-off about 30 seconds into it just to show some additional petty little fight the band is once again trying to work out. It is almost like Lars was only willing to give movie-goers a "free sample" of his music rather than the full song. I guess you also need to purchase St. Anger to hear the complete songs. It's the only "album-making-of" movie I have ever seen where you don't even get to listen to the songs! I am a fan of Metallica and have been since the days of "Kill Em All". I am also the opposite of most Metallica fans in that I think the Black Album is a great album. Metallica fans divide themselves along the Black Album / Bob Rock line; purists believe that only albums made before the Black album are any good, mainstream fans believe that ever since the arrival of Bob Rock has the band been any good. Personally, I like all of their music, from "Seek and Destroy", to "For Whom the Bells Toll", to "Master of Puppets". But I have to say that no album works as a whole as well as the Black Album, one of the finest pure rock and roll albums ever released. And if that makes me a Metallica "bandwagon heathen", then so be it. (For that matter, I also couldn't care less if Greedo shot first). I don't think Metallica should have made this movie. It just made me think they were a bunch of spoiled children. I would have preferred to continue to think of them as rock and roll superstars. I understand perfectly why Jason left the band, it would have driven me insane after 14 years of putting up with all of that garbage. There is a particularly funny scene where Lars is selling some of his art collection "to let others share the artwork" as he states. He then goes on about how it is not about the money, but it is much higher than that. Of course he doesn't donate his newfound riches to an art museum or anything like that, but when he sees some of the paintings selling for millions, he is laughing like a spoiled little rich kid. All in all, a waste of time. I expected a concert-movie, and instead got a documentary about a bunch of whiny children pretending to be adults.

First of all I used to be a big Metallica fan, that is until they started making really, I mean REALLY bad music. This film follows Metallica through a period in time when they had already became what they used to be against, I mean making crappy music and all, and fighting all their inner demons, entities which I must add provided fuel to most of the great music that put them on the map early on their career. The deal is this, bassist Jason Newsted notices that Metallica is day by day closer getting to a bad imitation of Spinal Tap so he bails, after all why would he stay in a band he does not like, and even worse a band where restrains are placed all around. Anyway, he bails, singer James Hetfield says he is now after a zillion years of drinking suddenly become an alcoholic goes to rehab and Metallica is on the brink of a break up, I mean why not after all they had put out a couple of godawful albums (Load and the smartly titled ReLoad), so the only option they see is to hire a guy and pay him a buckload of money so that he can make them feel special and take a look at what they are really worth. The documentary is good, throughout the film we see how these guys are filthy rich, and well guitar player Hammett is sort of the puppet of the band having no say whatsoever in the band and also sporting some really crappy hairplugs. The two leaders Hetfield and Ulrich just get on each other's nerves and at some point during the film you are even praying for them to just come to blows and end it all, unfortunately Metallica succeeds, and they make that crapperpiece that is now calles St Anger, during the making of this album we hear them arguing about lyrics, and Hetfield, says :"some kind of monster, that monster lives yyeeeeeaaahh""" the other members are just in awe at how incredibly brilliant and prolific this guy is, I mean i just wanted to laugh out loud, let's just say that Bob Dylan this guy is not, but the theater was so full of Metallica fans I was a bit afraid one might beat me up. In the end, metallica makes an album that gets trashed by the critics, hired Rob Trujillo to fill the bassist slot, and well, I guess the fans are to thank their idols because once again this once mighty band has managed to fool the world, I guess it is all a matter of taste, all I gotta say is that if you look at these guys objectively you will see a lot more than you expected in this film, the movie is good, but Metallica is just an average band.

First of all, let me say I'm a Metallica fan so this review is unevitably biased. But then again, what review isn't? We all know Metallica are great business men, so the first question that arises is: is this movie a marketing tool? Even though I'm sure the movie will be a commercial success, my answer to the question is no. Metallica's record company wanted the movie to accompany Metallica's 2003 release St. Anger as a weekly series of 30 minute reality TV to get the word out about the album. Metallica not only rejected that idea, but even decided to buy out the record company and release this a year later as a movie instead. We can only thank them for it. This movie is certainly not a commercial for Metallica. We get to see the ugly side of Metallica. And it's ugly alright. We see Lars calling James a dick, shouting '*' right in his face and getting drunk while selling his millions of dollars art collection. We see James yelling at Lars, slamming the door, checking in for rehab and after that demanding everyone to only work from 12 to 4. We see Kirk being a sissy the entire movie. The title of the movie refers to James; he explains how Metallica has been a beast to him over the years. But Metallica has undoubtedly been a beast to others as well. Dave Mustaine is one of the most successful musicians in heavy metal with his band Megadeth, but apparently is still haunted by him being fired from Metallica. Nevertheless, the movie is ultimately about James' 'coming of age', changing from an angry alcoholic to a man who has managed to balance his personal life with the life in Metallica. I have one beef with the movie. Around the end Lars says Metallica have proved that it's possible to make an angry record through positive energy. While I believe him when he says that, I do have to say I hardly saw any of that energy in the movie. In fact, it's a small miracle they managed to finish the album at all. Even though not everyone is a fan of Metallica, I can recommend everyone to see this movie. See, this movie is not about the music. It's about people. People who struggle with themselves, with each other and with the outside world. It's also a unique look inside the workings (and non-workings) of a world class band and into the lifestyles of the rich and famous. This documentary is a landmark that upstages the album which creation it was originally supposed to document.

As a lifelong Metallica fan, this film was to me very sad to watch. A band that once gave the finger to MTV, Rolling Stone and any other mainstream media outlet now lets a camera crew film them for three years, a la Ozzy. Yes I know they did their "Year and a Half" doc. in 1991, but that was strictly for their fans. This movie just confirmed my suspicions that Lars Ulrich is the biggest jerk off in music today. He is a greedy egomaniac who only cares about one thing: making more money. When James decides to put his years of drinking behind him and go to rehab, Lars is only worried about how this will affect the recording sessions. James returns and is clearly taking his recovery very seriously. Instead of being a supportive friend, Lars just bitches that they can only work for four hours a day. As a recovering alcoholic myself, I can tell you that in your first year of sobriety, you are not supposed to make any life changing decisions. You focus on staying sober, and that is just what James is trying to do, to Lar's dismay. Besides my disgust with Lars, the music is terrible. Didn't Bob Rock or Kirk Hamment bother to tell these guys that these songs were not going to make it onto the radio? It was also sad to see how they treated Jason Newstead. He was always the most level headed guy in the band, the one who cared what the fans thought. Perhaps he could see that Metallica's best days were behind them, and he wanted no part of St. Anger. Can't say I blame him.