Let's start this off with a bit of history. I've always liked Metallica. I remember hearing Enter Sandman on the radio a lot when I was younger, even though the song came out 4 years before I was born. However, I didn't really get into them until their 2008 album, Death Magnetic came out. When I got that album, I was hooked. A lot of fans will say that it's one of their worst albums, and now that I've heard almost all of their stuff, yeah, I agree with that. But that's another story. When I got Death Magnetic, I instantly went out and bought some of Metallica's other albums, including Ride The Lightning, which I consider to be one of my all-time favorite albums and their best album overall. From that point on, I was headbanging to James Hetfield's wailing, yet scratchy voice, Kirk Hammett's blazing guitar solos, Cliff Burton/Rob Trujillo (I pretend Jason Newsted didn't happen)'s booming bass riffs, and Lars Ulrich's amazing-in-the-studio-but-sloppy-on-stage drum beats. Needless to say, Metallica is one of my all-time favorite bands, so when I heard that they were making a huge movie around their music, complete with live concert footage, I couldn't wait. But I did wait. I waited 8 long months until it came out on Netflix because unfortunately, the movie only played in IMAX theaters and where I live, the closest IMAX theater is 50 miles away. However, when I did see it a few nights ago, I absolutely loved it. Allow me to elaborate.
Dane DeHaan: Also known for playing The Green Goblin in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Yes, really.
This movie is 75% footage from a huge Metallica concert, and 25% side plot involving a young roadie who is tasked with travelling across town to get a duffel bag that the band needs ASAP from a broken down van, all while facing some sort of apocalyptic riot that the townspeople are staging against the local police. Now, with a name like Metallica plastered onto the title, you'd expect this sub plot to be big, epic, and full of violence. And while it is full of violence, it also isn't very grandiose. The roadie never speaks a single line, aside from the occasional grunt when he's being assaulted by a group of thugs or a war cry when he's facing off against the movie's main antagonist.
"Hetfield said they're the ones behind St. Anger! GET 'EM, BOYS!"
Speaking of the film's main antagonist, that's where the small element of horror is found in this movie. The main antagonist is a gasmask-sporting rebel on a black horse who goes around the riot scenes hanging people in creative ways. This guy seems to pop up at the strangest times, when you don't expect him to show up, and multiple times in the movie, he's seen and then disappears for a while, leaving you in suspense until the next time he decides to come after the roadie again. The roadie's name is Trip, but that's never said in the movie, just the credits, and it really doesn't matter at all, since we never hear him speak. Did I mention why the crazy horse man is after Trip? No? Oh, you're gonna love this. When Trip first sees the horse man, he gets angry for no reason whatsoever and chucks a brick at his head. That's it. Trip hit him in the head with a brick. That's this film's excuse for the main antagonist being the main antagonist. Whatever, I'll forgive them since he looks badass.
My Bloody Valentine, eat your heart out.
Okay, now that I've talked about the subplot, let's move on to the REAL crowd-pleaser in this movie: THE CONCERT. I've never been to a Metallica concert myself, but I'm absolutely certain that this is as close to the real thing as I'm ever gonna get (especially if those ticket prices keep going up like they are). The concert is amazing. The band plays on a huge stage that transforms around them and brings out huge props for every song they play. Cross tombstones came out of the ground during Master Of Puppets, a giant chair and 4 Tesla coils came down from the ceiling during Ride The Lightning, and laser lights simulated a helicopter shooting it's machine gun down onto the stage at the beginning of One. It was truly a spectacle to watch. Of course, the band members knew that they were filming a movie, so they tried extra hard to make it seem like they were enjoying themselves and giving the crowd a good time. I know for a fact that Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett are sick and tired of playing so many shows and they don't usually look so happy and energetic on stage.
"If any of you illegally download this movie, I will personally come to your house and shoot you!"
There was one small moment near the end of the movie where a fake "accident" happens on stage and the entire stage collapses. It's so obviously fake, but it didn't really bother me that much. Just a minor grievance. All it did was act as a segue into the band bringing out generic amps and playing with one light on stage like they were in a garage. It did set the stage nicely for Hit The Lights, the most famous song off their first album.
They didn't invite me to play a song that I helped write....
Everything else about this movie was fantastic. The concert was incredible, the sub plot was pretty original and nicely directed, and the guys in Metallica can still shred their hearts out, despite being in their 50's. The only complaint I have is that they never showed what was in that duffle bag that Trip has to bring back. A couple of fan theories say that it's the new Metallica album, others think that it's the soul of Metallica's late bassist Cliff Burton, since the movie was released on the same date as when he died in a bus crash. Personally, I think that the bag was full of cheeseburgers. Those guys have gotta be hungry after playing a huge show like that! Overall, Metallica: Through The Never is one of the best concert movies I've ever seen, and even though there's almost no horror in it, I'm still gonna publish this blog post to Synester Light's Monster Masquerade and there's nothing you can do about it. I give Metallica: Through The Never 9 Metallica fans chanting "die" during the bridge of Creeping Death out of a possible 10. Go check this out if you're a fan of the band, and even if you're not a fan, the sub plot is still pretty enjoyable.
They didn't play Leper Messiah and that is unacceptable. 0/10. Worst movie ever.
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