Overrated

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

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.

I got this for my 11th birthday on VHS and i was so excited. I wasnt really happy with the black album but like i didnt care i was excited to have it. I watched that movie 14 times in 3 days and i was in total awe.........unfortunatly my VCR ate and destroyed the first tape. Then last summer i bought the DVD and i was so happy again......it was like i was a kid again. this movie is for all and i mean all metallica fans.....from new ones that will be created when the new album comes out next summer to the oldest fansfrom the kill em all/ride the lightning days. this movie is worth a 10.....but if i had my way it would be worth a 100000000000000 payce

This is a really good DVD despite the fact Metallica is on the fringe of non existance. You go through the whole process of Metallica making their self titled Metallica cd a.k.a. "The Black Album" ! And then time to hit the road as Metallica brutalises the world with a bombastic blast of songs from both the black album and classic hits from And Justice For All and earlier hits from the days when Cliff Burton was alive. This dvd actually makes a perfect companion piece to The Metallica Box Set: Live Shit Binge and Purge.

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.