Dead End Drive-In: Now Showing – Metallica
Written by Johnny H
Sunday, 16 February 2014 04:00
Metallica Through The Never (Entertainment One)
You may or may not already be aware of this, but there’s an ideology commonly used within marketing (and sadly also modern day politics) that is loosely built around the premise that “you cause a problem, and then offer a solution to that problem” – albeit at a cost. It was seemingly why we all as music fans migrated from vinyl to CD, film fans from VHS to DVD and most recently in the world of cinema from 2D to 3D. In most cases of course “the problem” didn’t really exist, it’s just the perception that you have to own this new all singing all dancing version of what you already had, only better…. or do you? Because, and this might just be me, in the case of the latter, isn’t this 3D malarkey all just a bit pants? Especially when you then try and cram the same big screen experience into your living room.
So please forgive me for going old school with this the latest in a long line of Metallica live films by reviewing the standard 2 disc DVD version of Through The Never, because even if this band funded multimillion dollar showcase of their greatest bits is an all-encompassing state of the art visual extravaganza, frankly, for me at least, it is still all about the music, and in this case what the band have done with their back catalogue within the framework of a feature film to create what they like to call a “musical narrative”.
With its origins in a failed IMAX project from the noughties, director Nimród Antal (Kontroll, Predators) and produced by 3D specialist Charlotte Huggins (Wild Safari 3D, Fly Me To The Moon 3D) were the people tasked with finally delivering Metallica’s big screen experience. Filmed on a custom built stage that showcases the best bits from all of the band’s stage shows from their last 3 decades, the whole thing was finally brought to life in front of 20,000 fans in Vancouver in a special one off concert that took 40 tracks to transport it to its final destination. Cliff ‘Em All then this most definitely is not, and that’s because Metallica Through The Never is not just a set of stock concert footage (in this case all shot very beautifully I might add), nah this is a Metallica feature film that also tells the story of what happens to Trip (a fictional roadie/runner for the band) played by Dane DeHaan (Lincoln, Lawless) when he is asked to go on a seemingly simple errand for the band and retrieve a lorry that has broken down in the city. A lorry that also just happens to contain a mysterious bag.
What unfolds next though to the soundtrack of some of the most iconic heavy metal music you will hear anywhere on planet earth is something akin to what the apocalypse might have looked like if had been filmed by Adam Jones (you know him of the Tool videos). It no doubt looks fantastic in 3D, but for me I’m simply happy that I can now finally makes sense of the audio glitches that made listening to the soundtrack album such a thankless listening task Here it all finally makes sense, and without doubt the best thing for me as a long term fan is 29 years on after first witnessing Metallica live at the UK’s Monsters Of Rock festival here songs like ‘Creeping Death’, ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls’ and ‘Ride The Lightning’ still sound fresh , vibrant and above all exciting, especially when trimmed of the usual excessive Metallica fat more commonly known as solo spots.
If the feature film alone isn’t enough to slake your thirst for Metallica, then the second DVD in this set – which is also available as a 3D Blu-ray and regular Blu-ray package – will go a long way to doing just that as it contains a 73 minute Making Of Metallica Through The Never Documentary, a 29 minute Mill Valley Film Festival Q&A with Metallica, director Nimród Antal and Dane DeHaan, and a 51 minute segment from Orion Festival 2013 with Lars Ulrich. So there’s certainly plenty of extra bang here for your bucks with this release.
Summing up then Metallica Through The Never as a piece of celluloid (3D or not) is certainly much more The Song Remains The Same than Slade In Flame, and without giving any of the plot away I personally think it will leave many (myself included) scratching their heads at the end of its 98 minute running time. Musically though the band have never sounded tighter, or in fact looked happier, so for those of us who prefer our music in proper 3D, as in live, I’ll see you down the front at a show sometime soon.
To pick up your copy of ‘Metallica Through The Never’ – CLICK HERE
