Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (2004)

Directors:

Joe Berlinger
Bruce Sinofsky

Release Date:

30 July 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Music

Tagline:

The film that redefines group therapy.

Plot:

A documentary crew followed Metallica for the better part of 2001-2003, a time of tension and release for the rock band, as they recorded their album St. Anger, fought bitterly, and sought the counsel of their on-call shrink.

Plot Keywords:

Rock Band | Recording Studio | Therapy | Art Auction | Record Label

Awards:

3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

James Hetfield	...	Himself
Lars Ulrich	...	Himself
Kirk Hammett	...	Himself
Robert Trujillo	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eric Avery Weiss	...	Himself (as Eric Avery)
Cliff Burnstein	...	Himself
Cliff Burton	...	Himself (archive footage)
Crazy Cabbie	...	Himself
Stefan Chirazi	...	Himself
Dylan Donkin	...	Himself
Erica Forstadt	...	Herself
Gio Gasparetti	...	Himself
Mike Gillies	...	Himself
Lani Hammett	...	Herself
Zach Harmon	...	Himself
Eric Helmkamp	...	Himself
Cali Tee Hetfield	...	Herself
Castor Virgil Hetfield	...	Himself
Francesca Hetfield	...	Herself
Pepper Keenan	...	Himself
Danny Lohner	...	Himself
Peter Mensch	...	Himself
Dave Mustaine	...	Himself
Jason Newsted	...	Himself
Peter Paterno	...	Himself
Scott Reeder	...	Himself
Marc Reiter	...	Himself
Bob Rock	...	Himself
Brian Sagrafena	...	Himself
Skylar Satenstein	...	Herself
Niclas Swanlund	...	Himself
Phil Towle	...	Himself
Myles Ulrich	...	Himself
Torben Ulrich	...	Himself
Jeordie White	...	Himself (as Twiggy Ramirez)
Steven Wiig	...	Himself
Chris Wyse	...	Himself

Runtime:

141 min | USA:135 min (Nashville Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Finland:K-3 | Australia:M | Czech Republic:12 | Ireland:12 | Norway:A | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Christie's Auction House, Rockefeller Plaza, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Radical Media

Trivia:

According to 'James Hetfield' Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (2004) was originally to be a 6 part mini-series for VH1 inspired by the success of MTV's "The Osbournes" (2002). However, after seeing much of the footage the band felt this was not a direction they wanted to take their careers and bought out VH1's rights to the material and made the film as you see it today.

Quotes:

Kirk Hammett: So what's Jason's role in all this?
James Hetfield: What? Who?
Marc Reiter: OK, fine, I mean... But I don't think Jason has any role.
Cliff Burnstein: He lost his icon status when he left Metallica.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 20th IFP Independent Spirit Awards (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Sweet Amber

Definitely a must see for anyone with only a casual interest in Rock music

I don't know how they do it, but although Metallica lost me as a fan many years ago (sometime in the mid 90's), they still manage to release DVDs that are totally intriguing. "Cunning Stunts" was an intense concert movie that let you feel the energy of a Metallica gig, where even songs from "Load" and "ReLoad" sounded good. Now, "Some Kind Of Monster" is something even more special. Really special. As far as rock films go, this one is right up there with "The Kids Are Alright" and "The Last Waltz".

Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky are always there in time to catch the most important facial expressions, quotes and actions. The movie almost runs too perfectly, as if the whole thing had been scripted. The emotions of the band members and those around them seem so genuine, though, that it's hard to have any doubts about the movie's authenticity. It must have been a terrible stressing for the band - especially in a situation like this - to have cameras around them all the time. Throughout the whole movie you feel like you're in the room with one of the biggest rock bands on the planet and the cool thing is, that you really get a look behind the image, behind that Rock 'N' Roll dream. What you find are three guys that are just as unsure about themselves, their friendship and their career as everybody else is. Hetfield, Hammett and Ulrich try to be honest throughout the whole documentary and everybody comes across as a more or less normal person (Ulrich and his ego are more than just a bit annoying, though, and it's sad to see that the band still doesn't seem to have the tiniest bit of respect for their former bandmate Jason Newstedt, who had to put up with a lot of crap for almost 15 years). A whiny appearance by former band member/Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine sticks out as the most moving/funniest moment. It really must suck to feel like he does, regretting everyday that you've been kicked out of one of the biggest bands on earth. Respect for such an honest statement in front of the cameras, though.

"Some Kind Of Monster" entertains for more than 120 minutes (and there's more on the DVD) without ever getting boring. The weird thing about this documentary is, that it's never about the music, but more about the process of a band recording itself. Whoever said that this one is a must see for Metallica fans, documentary fans and anyone in between got it right. It's more than your usual VH1 special. This one REALLY takes a look "behind the music" and a very exciting one at that.