As a lifelong Metallica fan, this film was to me very sad to watch. A band that once gave the finger to MTV, Rolling Stone and any other mainstream media outlet now lets a camera crew film them for three years, a la Ozzy. Yes I know they did their "Year and a Half" doc. in 1991, but that was strictly for their fans.
This movie just confirmed my suspicions that Lars Ulrich is the biggest jerk off in music today. He is a greedy egomaniac who only cares about one thing: making more money. When James decides to put his years of drinking behind him and go to rehab, Lars is only worried about how this will affect the recording sessions. James returns and is clearly taking his recovery very seriously. Instead of being a supportive friend, Lars just bitches that they can only work for four hours a day. As a recovering alcoholic myself, I can tell you that in your first year of sobriety, you are not supposed to make any life changing decisions. You focus on staying sober, and that is just what James is trying to do, to Lar's dismay.
Besides my disgust with Lars, the music is terrible. Didn't Bob Rock or Kirk Hamment bother to tell these guys that these songs were not going to make it onto the radio? It was also sad to see how they treated Jason Newstead. He was always the most level headed guy in the band, the one who cared what the fans thought. Perhaps he could see that Metallica's best days were behind them, and he wanted no part of St. Anger. Can't say I blame him.
This movie just confirmed my suspicions that Lars Ulrich is the biggest jerk off in music today. He is a greedy egomaniac who only cares about one thing: making more money. When James decides to put his years of drinking behind him and go to rehab, Lars is only worried about how this will affect the recording sessions. James returns and is clearly taking his recovery very seriously. Instead of being a supportive friend, Lars just bitches that they can only work for four hours a day. As a recovering alcoholic myself, I can tell you that in your first year of sobriety, you are not supposed to make any life changing decisions. You focus on staying sober, and that is just what James is trying to do, to Lar's dismay.
Besides my disgust with Lars, the music is terrible. Didn't Bob Rock or Kirk Hamment bother to tell these guys that these songs were not going to make it onto the radio? It was also sad to see how they treated Jason Newstead. He was always the most level headed guy in the band, the one who cared what the fans thought. Perhaps he could see that Metallica's best days were behind them, and he wanted no part of St. Anger. Can't say I blame him.