Metallica: Some Kind of Monster

Cast & Crew

Kirk Hammett

Self

James Hetfield

Self

Dave Mustaine

Self

Jason Newsted

Self

Bob Rock

Self

Phil Towle

Self

Robert Trujillo

Self

Torben Ulrich

Self

Lars Ulrich

Self

Cliff Burton

Self

Joe Berlinger

Director

Bruce Sinofsky

Director

Joe Berlinger

Executive Producer

Jon Kamen

Executive Producer

Frank Scherma

Executive Producer

Bruce Sinofsky

Producer

Joe Berlinger

Producer

Michael Bonfiglio

Associate Producer

Rachel Dawson

Associate Producer

Kirk Hammett

Original Music

Wolfgang Held

Cinematographer

Doug Abel

Film Editing

David Zieff

Film Editor

David Richman

Cinematographer

Doug Abel

Film Editor

M. Watanabe Milmore

Film Editor

Michael Emery

Sound Recordist

Cheryll Stone

Production Manager

Show all Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews for Metallica: Some Kind of Monster

Audience Reviews for Metallica: Some Kind of Monster

• Jun 11, 2012

  "Don't you know that she's... she's some kind of monster!" Seriously though, getting back to the opposite side of music, in terms of manliness, let us discuss this tell-all tale of a band of brothers who nearly destroyed each other, and in the process, just killed music instead. Oh wait, that's Nirvana; Metallica wasn't really all that bad, though they had so many fall-flat songs, it's unreal. Hey at the end of the day, they remain hit-or-miss, but mostly, well, not miss, more like horrible, and by extension, about as good as heavy metal is gonna get. So yeah, in case you can't tell, I'm more of an old school rocker (Don't worry, I'm before that lame "She's Some Kind of Wonderful" song), though I know music talent when I see it, and it's been on the decline since the '80s. Still, there were still plenty of people who showed up in the '80s who were still kicking things right, and among that crowd of talent was... well, certainly not Metallica. No, they had their high points, yet on plenty of occasions that grew more and more prevalent over the years (Wow, even metal was decent at a time; that's how bad music got), their music, much like the band's relationship and this uninspired opener (Clearly not a big enough fan of Metallica to care), got pretty bumpy, and in that regard, alone, this documentary stays pretty faithful, as it too is bumpy. The central focus of this documentary is a study on how the band's lives and work have changed over the years, and how that serves detrimental to their relationship and career, and for long periods throughout this film, that is hardly palpable. The film's focus isn't all over the place, yet it does get to be unenven, with so much time spent on pure filler at points - from the band members' personal lives to their working on music -, with little focus on the more human aspects within it, leaving a sense of intrigue to momentarily fall limp, and when conflict does fall back into play, it's often rather jarring. A big culprit behind these missteps appears to be the meditation limiting, spawned from, not necessarily hurried, but frenetic storytelling. The docuemtnary still has plenty of points of slow-down and meditation, yet even at its almost two-and-a-half hour runtime, it often dives fairly swiftly into its next point, or at least not when it's getting repetitive, with an almost inhumanly urgent tone, exacerbated by the relentlessness of the music, and something as intense as heavy metal music, at that. While the film does calm itself down here and there, much of it moves at such a constant and often repetitious tone, leaving it to lose steam and, on occasion, become disengaging. I was with the film for quite a while, but after that while, it all fell from grace and the position of upstanding, never to fully recover. However, as things stand, the film remains worth the sit, as the high points that it does hit are pretty high, thus creating a generally enjoyable documentary, and a competently-produced one, at that. This film could be trimmed down ever so easily to maybe, say, a little over an hour-and-a-half, and it would be better for it, and I'm not just saying that because I was begging for the terrible music to just stop by the one hour mark, so that's a glaring fault in the editing. Other than that, the editing on the film is pretty clever, with smooth trimmings and transitions throughout to give the film a kind of gripping cinematic feel. This, of course, ameliorates the resonance and intrigue that Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky fail to keep consistent, yet deliver on enough for the film to engage more than it falls flat. The film's runtime is much too lengthy and its focus is much too uneven, yet completely falling out of the film is hard to do, for one the film gets a hold of you, while its grip loosens, it doesn't fully release you. As overlong as the scenes of comradery are, they are assembled and emphasized cleverly enough to where you do get a genuine sense of the band's friendship, and when things begin to unravel into tension among the bandmates, I found myself genuinely invested in these people whose craft I never even cared for. It's all so very interesting, seeing the humanity within these very brutal people, and seeing that vulnerability is quite engaging, even if it is an aspect that we've seen in many documentaries of this type. This documentary is neither terribly original nor terribly rewarding, yet is cleverly produced and directed, with a general sense of depth within these musicians, as humans, making it consistently fascinating. Overall, this study is overlong and uneven, spending too much time focusing on other aspects outside of the central point, diluting the intrigue of conflict, something made worse by the film's unrelenting pacing and extreme repetition that leaves it to lose steam, little by little, yet never to where it fully releases you, as the film remains competently edited to where it gives the film a cinematic feel to intensify the general resonance and intrigue formed from the mostly insightful, fascinating storytelling that ultimately leave "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster" to stand as a somewhat conventional, yet ultimately engaging study on the more recent struggles in the lives, careers and relationships within one of the most recognizable bands in the heavy metal industry. 2.5/5 - Fair
  

  Super Reviewer
• Aug 26, 2011

  Some Kind of Monster is a wonderful look into a band that is gradually falling apart. To be quite honest though, it was nowhere near as bad as I had been led to believe. Sure there are some spats between band mates, but it never got to violent excess. In fact, all it did show was their passion as each one believed in what was right for the music. At one point Lars even agrees, when discussing the naming of the album, as he didn't see Frantic as having any negative connotations. This shows a band where a member has just left and another is battling addiction. Of course there are going to be some arguments. I felt that above all this showed a band of 20 years continuing to mature. There are some very emotional moments, such as the scene with Dave Mustaine, as he talks about feeling betrayed and number 2 for all these years. The chemistry between Hetfield and Ulrich is that of a married couple prone to arguing, but you can still feel the love. As for Hammett, he is their awkward child stuck in the middle hoping it's all gonna be alright. A great film about music, business, passion, and ego.
  

  Super Reviewer
• Aug 24, 2011

  When I was in my early teens, I was a diehard Metallica fan. In fact their 1984 album 'Ride The Lightning" is responsible for my love of Heavy Metal music. Unfortunately came many events such as the infamous Napster lawsuit and the like. For years we Metallica fans wanted a new record, and we got "St Anger" a raw, gritty stripped album of Metallica's famous sound, this film shows how that album came to be. The film takes a rather unorthodox look at how a Metal band is trying to pull through by having a group therapist session so they can discuss their issues as a band. This is a stunning portrait of one of Heavy Metal's most beloved bands as they hit rock bottom. For us, the fans, it's interesting, but it's also painful to watch. Seeing Lars Ulrich whine like a baby constantly was a joke and all. I thought the documentary was good, but it was just two guys not Seeing Eye to eye for two hours. I mean you'd never see this type of crap from Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and other Metal Icons. It's sad to see one of Metal's toughest bands go into this downward spiral, but at the same it's cool. However, I would've loved to see a documentary on the band sort of like Sam Dunn's Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage. Maybe one day Metallica fans will get that. Until then, we have a brutally honest documentary that has its great moments, but it's definitely not an iconic documentary.
  

  Super Reviewer
• Oct 14, 2010

  As a comedy, this rates 4.5. As a documentary, what a pathetic bunch. Proof positive that Lars Ulrich is the biggest douche in America, not that we needed extra evidence.
  

  Super Reviewer