Metallica Movies

This release from the Bridge School Concert series captures the 25th anniversary concert, featuring such landmark performances as "Girl from the North Country" by Bob Dylan, "Blue Ridge Mountains" by Fleet Foxes, "People Have the Power" by Patti Smith, "Heroes" by David Bowie, and more. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi

During the 1980s and '90s, professional snowboarder (or 'X-Games Pro') Craig Kelly clocked in as one of the top-tiered international competitors of his sport, then swept up a veritable pantheon of awards and honors including seven World Snowboarding Championship titles. Kelly also perfected the practice of mountain-back country riding - and developed such a longstanding affinity for that pastime that he opted to devote all of his time to it and qualified as the first accredited snowboarding mountain guide in history. In addition, Kelly developed and honed a unique spiritual philosophy related to snowboarding that explores the unity between the participant, the snowboard and the surrounding mountains. Jacques Russo's documentary homage Let It Ride interweaves two narratives: it observes and traces the history of the rise in snowboarding as an international pastime, as it relays Kelly's own personal ascent to legendary status within his field. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

When a San Francisco homicide detective with a keen eye for criminal profiling is fired for botching the arrest of a notorious serial killer, his subsequent effort to reinvent himself as an insurance claims case-investigator leads him to study a series of perplexing wrongful deaths in this comedy starring Joseph Fiennes, Winona Ryder, Tim Blake Nelson, and Wilmer Valderrama. Michael Burrows (Fiennes) isn't your typical detective. Though Detective Burrows is a paranoid obsessive-compulsive who faints at the sight of blood, his remarkable insight into the criminal mindset has nevertheless made him a valuable asset to the San Francisco Police Department. When Detective Burrows' idiosyncrasies allow the feared "North Beach Killer" to elude capture, however, he is fired by his superiors. Upon offering his unique skills to a doubting insurance company, Burrows is given 30 days in which to prove he can sort out the legitimate claims from the false ones. Now, as Burrows makes for the Midwest in the company of hard-nosed field agent Siri Tyler (Ryder), the film student (Valderrama) who has been following the former detective for his thesis follows the pair as they investigate a series of forehead-slapping deaths, including that of a powerful executive who attempts to prove that his high-rise window is unbreakable and a pair of English tourists who fatally misinterpret the "cruise control" function on their rented RV. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Of all the bands that emerged from the thrash metal underground in the 1980's, none rose higher than Metallica -- and few bands have ever accomplished so much while compromising so little. While staying true to their creed of hard, fast, intense heavy metal, Metallica have toured the world's largest and most prestigious venues and sold tens of millions of records, and are still going strong nearly twenty-five years after they were formed. Metallica: The History of Metallica (also released as Metallica: Out Of The Loop) is a documentary on the band's long, hard climb to the top, featuring interviews with members of the group and those close to them. This film was produced without the cooperation or authorization of Metallica, and includes no music or performances from the band. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A powerful and uncompromising heavy metal band, Metallica managed the rare feat of rising from the underground of thrash to become the biggest rock group on Earth, and despite many changes in their lineup, their approach, and their sound, at the end of the day Metallica never stopped playing their music in their own way and on their own terms. Metallica: Dark Souls Unauthorized is a documentary which combines newsreel footage with interviews with people who know the band to fashion an inside look at one of the most powerful forces in hard rock. Produced without the participation of the group or their management, Metallica: Dark Souls Unauthorized features no music or performances from Metallica. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In the 1980s, Metallica was the biggest thrash metal band in the world, serving up blistering hard rock that was faster and louder than anything the mainstream was willing to accept. That changed in 1991 with the release of the group's self-titled fifth album (often described as "the Black Album" for its black-on-black cover art), which put just enough polish on the group's sound to reach new listeners without compromising the band's musical intensity or outlaw image. Metallica sold 12 million copies, and its runaway success made Metallica the biggest hard rock band in the world. This documentary from the Classic Albums series takes an in-depth look at the production of this metal masterpiece, featuring exclusive interviews with all four members of the group as well as producer Bob Rock. Also included are the five videos created for songs from the album -- "Enter Sandman," "Sad but True," "The Unforgiven," "Nothing Else Matters," and "Wherever I May Roam." ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Metallica: Rock Warriors Unauthorized charts the creation and rise of the band that stands as arguably the most successful metal act of all time. The film consists primarily of interviews with people who knew the band and discusses such career turning events as how the band members firs met each other, how the band's name was decided upon, and the events surrounding the untimely death of original bass player Cliff Burton. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Thrash metal pioneers Metallica are one band who've never been afraid of a challenge, but in 1998 they tried an experiment that surprised both fans and casual observers -- they performed a special concert with the San Francisco Symphony, in which the group and conductor/arranger Michael Kamen brought together the group's raw guitar firepower with the dynamic range of a full orchestra. A camera crew was on hand to record the event, and Metallica: S&M captures the full 150-minute concert in its entirety. The band performs two new songs, Human and No Leaf Clover, as well as eighteen classics from their back catalog, including Enter Sandman, The Call Of Ktulu, Master Of Puppets, The Thing That Should No Be, Sad But True, and Until It Sleeps. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This 1997 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Nathan Lane and features musical guest Metallica. ~ Skyler Miller, Rovi

The underground heavy metal phenomenon gets an official release after nearly a decade of bootlegging and trading by die-hard metalheads as Killing Time Productions and filmmaker Marc Paschke's team up to bring the most outrageous metal documentary ever produced to home video. This is drunken heavy metal debauchery at its absolute finest, with over 100 minutes of the best bands in the business and their biggest fans stumbling, slurring, and swearing their way through a series of hilarious clips and inebriated interviews. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

In 1994, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the famed Woodstock Music and Art Fair, several of the promoters of the original event staged a second festival, and as with the first Woodstock, a camera crew was on hand to capture the proceedings for posterity. Woodstock '94) features backstage footage, interviews with the artists, and portraits of the fans who arrived for the festivities, alongside plenty of music, including performances by Aerosmith, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bob Dylan, Nine Inch Nails, Sheryl Crow, the Cranberries, Cypress Hill, Joe Cocker, Peter Gabriel, and many more. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Band members and producer Bob Rock talk about their albums. Includes behind-the-scenes information about production. ~ Rovi

In September 1991, only a few days after an attempted military coup failed to restore Communism to the newly democratic Russia and its affiliated nations, 500,000 rock music fans converged in Moscow to enjoy the first open-air rock festival to be held in the former Soviet Union. For Those About to Rock: Monsters in Moscow features performances from AC/DC, Metallica, the Black Crowes, and Pantera; along with the music, the video also offers a look at the efforts by the Russian army to postpone the concert, as well as the violent behavior of some of the soldiers assigned to act as security. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi