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Metallica: Some Kind of Monster

EMAILPRINTIFC Films

Metallica: Some Kind of Monster reviews
74
8.5 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 32 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 32 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Documentary  |  Musical

Written by:

Directed by: Joe Berlinger
Bruce Sinofsky

Release Date:
Theatrical: July 9, 2004
DVD: January 25, 2005

Running Time: 130 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield, Dave Mustaine, Jason Newsted, Bob Rock, Phil Towle, Robert Trujillo, Lars Ulrich, and Torben Ulrich

Three years in the making, this documentary provides a fascinating, in-depth portrait of the most successful heavy metal band of all time, as they faced monumental personal and professional challenges while recording their first studio album of original songs in five years. (IFC Films)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

One of the most revelatory rock portraits ever made.

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100

Slate David Edelstein

The band's implosion and reassembly makes for one of the most marvelous rock documentaries of all time.

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100

Portland Oregonian Karen Karbo

The miracle of Some Kind of Monster is Berlinger and Sinofsky's ability to make us root for these self-absorbed man-children.

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90

Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky

That he (Hetfield), and his band, still lives is astonishing enough; that you get to see how and why in a movie so painfully intimate is nothing short of extraordinary.

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90

The New York Times Dana Stevens

You realize you are witnessing a psychodrama of novelistic intricacy and epic scope.

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90

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

It's a measure of the film's brilliance that it strips away the trappings of superstardom and allows audiences to see these men as flawed human beings first, musicians second, and rock gods a distant third.

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88

Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder

A counterintuitive, riveting documentary so honest that it will either become a rock movie classic or a severe embarrassment for the heavy metal band.

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88

Boston Globe Ty Burr

If you've seen the Beatles documentary "Let It Be," you know what four men who are heartily sick of one another look like, and in 2001, Metallica had been recording twice as long as the Fab Four.

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80

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

Absorbing, funny, exhilaratingly entertaining ride through two years in the life of the most successful heavy metal band in history.

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80

Empire Danny Graydon

An excruciating watch at times, the unflinching bluntness is captivating and somehow, despite their flaws, the group’s rock godhood is maintained.

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80

Film Threat Tim Merrill

The result will stand as one of the most intense, in-depth, warts-and-all rockumentaries ever made.

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80

The Hollywood Reporter Sura Wood

These are rich, aging men in a young man's game, and the discrepancy between image and reality, captured by the filmmakers, makes for engrossing material.

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80

Time Josh Tyrangiel

What's most captivating about Monster is that the camera never looks away and Metallica never hides.

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80

Variety Dennis Harvey

Pic itself is a long haul, at nearly 2½ hours; yet one needn't be a fan of Metallica or heavy metal to be engrossed throughout.

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78

Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman

Monster is, at its best, simply a chronicle of people trying to get along, which makes it compelling viewing indeed.

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75

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Doesn't require you to know anything about the band Metallica or heavy metal music, but it supplies a lot of information about various kinds of monsters.

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75

Baltimore Sun Rashod D. Ollison

You don't have to be a Metallica junkie to get this film.

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75

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Don't let anyone spoil the surprises of this thrashing, thrilling chunk of cinematic gold. It's one for the time capsule.

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75

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White

Berlinger and Sinofsky, with their knack for penetrating the diabolical pretensions of weak and disaffected human beings, have brought Metallica to its knees.

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75

San Francisco Chronicle Neva Chonin

Isn't about rock music or even the people who make it; it's about people, period, and the myriad ways they mangle themselves and each other.

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75

USA Today Claudia Puig

A revelation: funny, fascinating and insightful.

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75

New York Post Megan Lehmann

Metallica brought back the rights and funded the project, and it's their honesty and willingness to front the cameras, warts and all, that makes this well-edited, often very funny, documentary so compelling.

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70

LA Weekly Greg Burk

Uncomfortable fun.

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70

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

Veers unpredictably between wrenching psychodrama and "Spinal Tap"-style mockumentary.

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70

Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis

By turns exasperating, appalling and surprisingly empathetic -- sometimes all in the same moment -- the three members of Metallica quickly emerge as the main attractions in Some Kind of Monster, but not for the reasons you might expect.

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70

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Documentary about rock history's biggest heavy metal band is -- variously -- serious, funny, frustrating and touching.

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63

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

I'm no psychologist, but it took about half this film's overlong running time to figure out that Metallica's problem is that Ulrich is a major pain in the butt.

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60

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

No matter how you spin Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky's chronicle of headbangers on the couch, it sounds like a pitch-perfect parody in "Beyond Spinal Tap" mode. If anything, knowing it's no joke makes it harder not to giggle.

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60

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Snippets of the band's brutally percussive music punctuate the endless encounter sessions, which expose the musicians' boundless self-absorption (the 9-11 attacks come and go without so much as a mention) and cowed obedience to their psychological guru.

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50

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The quartet appears to be mightily lacking in the brains and judgment departments, but at least it tries to do something about its failings, employing a traveling psychotherapist whose interventions and ruminations provide some of the film's most unwittingly amusing moments.

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40

Village Voice Chuck Eddy

Much of Monster is just a two-and-a-half-hour puff piece about how "important" Metallica are and, worse, how much "integrity" they have.

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20

Film Threat Jim Agnew

Simply put this is a TWO HOUR AND 20 MINUTE long documentary that consists of nothing more than millionaire rock stars bitching, whining and complaining about their problems.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 32 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Splatter Matter gave it a0:
Some Kind of Monster is a re-re-reloaded pile of steaming crap. Come on! Get in touch with your inner f***ing feelings? How about a band who just f***ing rocks? Pathetic, just pathetic. What next? Dr. Phil on tour with Megadeth? Here is a metal movie idea for you... BASH BASH BASH the f***ing universe. After this film, Metallica now OFFICIALLY deserves to loose metal music awards to Jethro Tull. Pathetic.

Satan L. gave it a10:
Revealing and very funny.

Paulo F. gave it a10:
This film show's all the problems that metallica had. I GAVE IT 10/10.

Bubba Fresh gave it a1:
Should have listened to film threat instead of you metalheads. this doc sucks and should disappear!!!

Jeff F. gave it a3:
Seek and destroy this DVD.

Vince H. gave it a10:
Easily the most poignant and relevatory portrait of musical artists ever put on film. I'd definitely rank it with Pennebaker's "Don't Look Back" in terms of how great it is. I cannot recommend this movie enough for fans of documentaries (although the movie has a much more structured narrative than many Hollywood movies). One of the five best documentaries of 2004. Rent it!

Jon D. gave it a10:
This movie kicked ass!!

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