Watch A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica For Free

Sadly Over-hyped

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

This set is a definite must for anyone who calls themself a Metallica fan. Though the Black Album isn't my favorite Metallica album, Master of Puppets holds that slot, this set shows you all the great behind the scenes action of when a band records an album then tours on it. Part I is obviously the making of the album. You get to see some cool outtakes and hear the songs in the production process. You also get a peak at the real Metallica outside of studio and stage. You almost feel like you know them. Part II is the best though. Almost 2 1/2 hours of live Metallica. There are a bunch of live performances spanning the first leg of the tour as well as award shows and tribute concerts. Again you get to see more of Metallica being themselves offstage as on. Also on both parts you get to see the music videos from the album including 'Enter Sandman', 'Sad But True' and 'The Unforgiven.' When I first bought this set years ago on tape I wore them out. I could watch these over and over. Thanks to DVD they will last a long time. Definetly check this out.

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.

See my nickname? That will probably let you know how my review is going to go. The video store I rented this from only had part two available, but I am damn sure gonna see part one sometime in the future. Great behind-the-scenes look at one of the last bastions of hard-rock/heavy metal. Metallica's longevity is due to the fact that their music actually creates pictures in your mind other than homies popping each other with their nines and beach bums stealing each other's sunshine. Long may they roam...

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.