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:

Metallica | Rock Band | Record Label | Recording Industry | Rock Music

Awards:

5 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
Joe Berlinger	...	Himself (uncredited)
Dan Braun	...	Himself (uncredited)
Bruce Sinofsky	...	Himself (uncredited)

Directed by
Joe Berlinger
Bruce Sinofsky

Produced by
Joe Berlinger	....	executive producer
Joe Berlinger	....	producer
Michael Bonfiglio	....	associate producer
Rachel Dawson	....	associate producer
Robert Fernandez	....	consulting producer
Julie Fischer	....	post-production producer
Jon Kamen	....	executive producer
Frank Scherma	....	executive producer
Bruce Sinofsky	....	producer

Cinematography by
Robert Richman		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Doug Abel
M. Watanabe Milmore
David Zieff

Production Management
Michael Balabuch	....	post-production supervisor
Cheryll Stone	....	production manager

Sound Department
Michael Emery	....	sound recordist
Jeremy Frindel	....	assistant sound editor
James Jack	....	sound recordist
Mark Kenna	....	consultant: dolby film sound
Andrew Kris	....	supervising sound editor
Eddie O'Connor	....	sound recordist

Visual Effects by
Mitch Paulson	....	digital preview colorist

Camera and Electrical Department
Eli Adler	....	camera operator: second unit
John Behrens	....	camera operator: second unit
Joe Berlinger	....	additional camera operator
Michael Bonfiglio	....	camera operator: second unit
Mike Booth	....	additional gaffer
John Chater	....	additional camera operator
Annamaria DiSanto	....	still photographer
Andrew Eckmann	....	additional gaffer (as Drew Eckmann)
Robert Elfstrom	....	additional camera operator (as Bob Elfstrom)
Ned Hallick	....	additional gaffer
Wolfgang Held	....	additional cinematographer
Brian Heller	....	aerial photographer
Don Lenzer	....	additional camera operator
Robin McLeod	....	camera operator: second unit
Nancy Morita	....	camera operator: second unit
Allan Palmer	....	camera operator: second unit
John R. Priebe	....	additional gaffer (as John Priebe)
Ben Schneider	....	additional camera operator: European crew
Tom Schnitzler	....	gaffer (as Thomas Schnitzler)
Nancy Schreiber	....	additional camera operator
Bruce Sinofsky	....	additional camera operator
Bruce Smith	....	camera operator: second unit
Niclas Swanlund	....	additional camera operator
Kerry Sweeney	....	additional gaffer (as Kieran Sweeney)
Mike Van Dine	....	additional gaffer
Bill Winters	....	camera operator: second unit

Editorial Department
Jennifer Brooks	....	assistant editor
Dave Gargani	....	on-line editor
Joe Gawler	....	digital intermediate colorist
Leslie King	....	assistant editor
Zachary MacDonald	....	post-production
Richie Roefaro	....	post-production
Kristine Smith	....	associate editor
David Zieff	....	supervising editor

Music Department
Chris Robertson	....	additional music clearance

Other crew
Ray Aparicio	....	production assistant
Randall Balsmeyer	....	title designer
Marc Frydman	....	technical consultant
Agnes Gardette	....	production coordinator: @radical.media, Paris (as Agnès Gardette)
Ian Kennedy	....	production assistant
Debra MacCulloch	....	rights and clearances
David Marchetti	....	production assistant
Mads Marstrand Nørfeldt	....	production coordinator: Locomotion, Denmark (as Mads Nørfelt Marstrand)
Sabrina Padwa	....	general counsel: @radical.media
Evan Schechtman	....	technical advisor
Ben Schneider	....	production coordinator: @radical.media, Berlin
Nadine Sklodowski	....	runner
Gino Tomac	....	production assistant
Nick Vuchnich	....	marketing assistant
Christian Zak	....	technical director

Thanks
Ray Aparicio	....	special thanks
Guy Pechard	....	special thanks
Steven Wiig	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Radical Media
• Third Eye Motion Picture Company

Distributors

• IFC Films (2004) (USA) (theatrical)
• Paramount Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Bio Rex Distribution (2004) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2005) (Japan) (theatrical)
• U Talkin 2 Me (2005) (France) (theatrical)
• CinemArt (Czech Republic)
• Films Transit International (2004) (TV) (non-USA)
• Palisades Tartan (2009) (UK) (all media)
• Paramount Filmes do Brasil (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Paramount Filmes do Brasil (2005) (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Diamond Time  music clearances
• DitlevFilms  end title sequence
• Donna Daniels Public Relations  publicity
• Elektra Records  soundtrack

Also Known As:

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:

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 | USA:R | Finland:K-3

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Radical Media

Trivia:

All the footage for the film was comprised of 1600 hours of footage and was cut down to 2 Hours and 20 minutes.

Quotes:

[Lars records a yell and falls to the ground, exhausted]
Lars Ulrich:[shouts] Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!
Bob Rock:I want four of them. Do it again.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Electric Apricot (2006)

Soundtrack:

Dirty Window

Great documentary - but it hurts

This is probably the first documentary about Metallica that didn't make you feel good. All of the older documentaries show a band that was personable and fun-loving, rocking like no one else can. They showed us the Metallica we were proud to call ourselves fans of. But with Some Kind of Monster , we see a band full of weather-beaten rock stars, burned out (an understatement), tired, desperate, and aggravated. It broke my heart to watch this, but it was a damn fine documentary.

Frankly, I'm glad this was released. Because the average semi-informed fan of Metallica (like myself), has only seen the headlines over the past ten years - which served to make the band look like they were becoming complete pricks. I love Metallica. But the wall of negative stuff that was thrown at us in the past decade has tainted our view of the band. This documentary straightens some of it out. While I don't believe that was the goal of the film, it is a fortunate side-effect.

I know the Metallica of the 80's is gone - beer flying, 9-minute epic metal songs, and the long hair - but hopefully, our favorite rockers still have the fire within to bring us a few more great albums. Metallica showed the world that heavy metal (and I mean *heavy*) didn't have to use gimmicks and make-up to be mainstream. All it needed was the right attitude and talented musicians to play it. I've seen them live nearly 20 times. Nobody can do it like Metallica. Nobody.