never that interesting

Cursory glance at a fairly broad subject. Some of the interviews were (tragi)comical. Competent.

Interesting and in depth look into the world of Metal. Very solid documentary.

Sam Dunn made quite a nice little documentary about heavy metal. Not simply the history of the music, but the whole culture surrounding it. Showed the vast sub-genres of metal, but didn't really go into detail on quite a few of the genres like power metal, stoner metal, and some of the more progressive metal. A must watch for any metal fan, if only for the interviews with Iommi, Dio, and Dickinson.

Shied away from the fiercly moral issues way too much, I think for these reasons, that the histories of the extreme Metal genres were either omitted or very incomplete. In a way it felt like an apology more than a celebration. A lot of this stuff was the commericial tip of the iceberg too, and a lot of it hardly even Metal in the first place. Slipknot, Korn, please?

Just enough skipped over to drop it one point; such as Black Widow, the first overtly satanic group, who's children took the original satanic-folk rock to metal, and their grandchildren today playing extreme black- and drone-metal. Or the Finish and Swedish satanic groups who were also involved in the 90s burnings, or the American south, who's raciest country-black-metal is a growing statement of racial identity.

Kvlt enough

great'n'fun

Enjoyable as a cursory overview.

A film about Metalheads, by Metalheads, for.... Non-metalheads. If you're already a metal fan, it's probably not gonna be all the interesting, but if you're an outsider to the culture like I am, than it'll be moderately informative.... Or maybe not. ("You mean to tell me that Metal as a genre is inherently homoerotic?! WOW, I never would've guessed!!!")

Really, this is just a beginners look into metal. I agree with the person who said you'd need hours and hours to really get into the genre (but you can say that about most genres). It's clear that Sam loves metal so in that way it's very much a love letter and it speaks the language of a lot of metalheads, but there just isn't a lot of information there -- it just scratches the surface most of the time. There are some great parts, and it's decent all around so it's worth a watch.

Of late there has been an impetus to re-examine metal from an objective lens. The result was a stream of invariably flawed documentaries. That said this is one of the least flawed metal documentaries I've seen. It's a great intro for people who don't know much about the musical genre. The parts about Sabbath and Maiden are very well done. For extreme metal, however, you're better off checking out the somewhat obscure German documentary from the 90's, "666 At Calling Death".

I'm a huge fan of Heavy Metal, and this was an excellent documentary.

Sam's passion for metal is apparent, and he delivers without apologizing for its horn-throwing bravado or (maybe worse) succumbing to the Nietzsche 101 posturing that informs much of the "serious" metal discourse. It's very much a pet project; this probably isn't probing enough to win over the indie rockers, or offer longtime metalheads anything they didn't already know. But it is reasonably well made and has its heart in the right place.

Excellent documentary on the world of heavy metal. Not very informative if you are already a metal-head, but still provides some interesting viewpoints, extremes and spins of the genre. Worth a look for any metal fan, even for those who aren't. I would have liked a little more power metal coverage, but otherwise I have no complaints whatsoever.

A documentary that intelligently and graciously displays the good, the bad, and the drunk side of the world of heavy metal.

It's an entertaining documentary but doesn't explore much that a headbanger wouldn't already know. The footage choices were great. The death metal interviews were the ones that I thought were the most intrigueing. Gorgoroth's interview is odd. It was nice to see Angela Gassow of Arch Enemy comment on women in death metal. It's smooth flowing, but looks at a lot of aspects.

A must-see for any metalhead, and a should-see for everyone else. The study of metal as a culture and not just a music genre sets this film apart from the rest. Think of it as a longer, less voyeuristic version of Heavy Metal Parking Lot (another must-see).

Decent documentary, but one made for people ignorant of the genre, not its actual fans. Also lacks a clear statement or point; it's just exposition and a brief historical survey, often focusing on the far less interesting and important bands. The Mayhem and Gorgoroth interviews are absolutely insane, however.

entertaining, but this is a subject that needs a KenBurnshoursandhours treatment to really go into all the varied facets of metal.

extra 10 points are just for the final scene!

The chart is the best bit. A really good look at the culture of 'metal fans'.

Recommendable to all headbangers with some great interviews...laughed the shit out of me as I saw the Gorgoroth Interview. "taste the blood of satan" *lol* what a Statement..fu***** poser.But Bruce Dickinson is fabulous and many other Bands.( My favorite one is Twisted Sister ) Dunnīs new Documentary "Global Metal" is great, too.

Well done documentary.