"Loud, fast and full of motion, the documentary feels like the music. The cuts, zoom-ins, punches of illustration and collisions of color recreate the chaos of a Metallica show. The Sequoia Cinema crowd sat politely - good posture, hands folded neatly in laps - and the contrast between the on-screen oomph and the calm in the seats was almost comical. Still, a charge ran through the room, a flicker of the adrenaline fans describe, convincingly, as life-sustaining."
"The film jumps from San Quentin to San Jose, Botswana to Antarctica. Along the way, it threads in familiar faces - Tony Hawk tipping his helmet to Metallica's skate-scene roots, John Cena thrashing around in the pit, and a few academics who help decode what makes the band's sound hit so hard. The fans, though, are the backbone of the documentary. They span continents, generations and reasons for devotion."
The documentary recreates Metallica's concert chaos through loud, fast editing, zoom-ins, illustration punches and vivid color collisions that mirror the band's music. The screening included a Q&A with filmmaker Jonas Åkerlund and drummer Lars Ulrich and a wider theatrical release is planned for spring. The film traverses locations from San Quentin and San Jose to Botswana and Antarctica and intercuts appearances by figures like Tony Hawk and John Cena alongside academics analyzing the band's sound. Devoted fans form the documentary's backbone, spanning continents and generations, including collectors, a Metallica-themed bar owner, and fans who credit the band with profound personal rescue.
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