When you think of rock-stars you usually think of hard hitting guitar riffs, beer and all round fun. Wrong. SKOM shows you the true cost of being a metal legend, and holds back nothing when delivering serious emotion. The film shows Metallica at probably the worst time in their career. James is struggling with alcoholism, Jason has left the band, and the remaining members are fighting Napster over copyrighted music. Out of all their struggles, they decide to record a new album, with a new sound. Producer Bob Rock takes the bass duties for 'St Anger', and influences a lot of the musical direction. Due to their struggles, the band hire the services of renowned Psychotherapist Phil Towle. Throughout the film, we see Metallica in an entirely different light, we see their emotions. We see how much they can simultaneously love and hate each other dependent on their mood in that day. The film is hard to watch, and it will certainly sadden any Metallica fan because of the conflict between themselves and everyone around them. A must see for fans of not only heavy music, but music in general.

Some Kind of Monster is a wonderful look into a band that is gradually falling apart. To be quite honest though, it was nowhere near as bad as I had been led to believe. Sure there are some spats between band mates, but it never got to violent excess. In fact, all it did show was their passion as each one believed in what was right for the music. At one point Lars even agrees, when discussing the naming of the album, as he didn't see Frantic as having any negative connotations. This shows a band where a member has just left and another is battling addiction. Of course there are going to be some arguments. I felt that above all this showed a band of 20 years continuing to mature. There are some very emotional moments, such as the scene with Dave Mustaine, as he talks about feeling betrayed and number 2 for all these years. The chemistry between Hetfield and Ulrich is that of a married couple prone to arguing, but you can still feel the love. As for Hammett, he is their awkward child stuck in the middle hoping it's all gonna be alright. A great film about music, business, passion, and ego.

Whether you like Metallica's music or not, this is an essential watch. It follows the bands recording of the 2004 'St Anger' album and goes through all the highs and lows of being in Metallica. It includes the search for a new bass player, James' battle with alcohol addiction and the band generally being at each others throats the whole time. It also includes exclusive footage of Lars talking to Dave Mustaine for the first time since 1983.This film shows also who has the power and control in Metallica, and how little others have. They even resort to hiring a personal phychiatrist to sort out their problems.A must see for lovers of Metallica and documentaries everywhere.

I bought this movie at the same time as U2's Rattle and Hum. I had thought they were more or less the same type of "concert-film". Unfortunately, that is not the case. Rattle and Hum is one of the best concert movies I own, but I doubt I will ever watch "Some Kind of Monster" again. It is a documentary on Metallica's creation of their latest album, "St. Anger". And what is very surprising, it shows over and over again how puerile the members of the band are. Lars is nothing more than a baby, constantly whining about things which would only concern kindergarten kids. It is absolutely no surprise that he so vigorously pursued Napster after seeing how he is in "real life", it was completely in line with his character. James Hetfield is not much better, although he would equate to a primary schooler rather than an out-and-out baby. He would pick fights for the smallest slight, and he and Lars would argue like pre-schoolers.There is not a single complete song heard in the movie despite many concert clips. Every song is cut-off about 30 seconds into it just to show some additional petty little fight the band is once again trying to work out. It is almost like Lars was only willing to give movie-goers a "free sample" of his music rather than the full song. I guess you also need to purchase St. Anger to hear the complete songs. It's the only "album-making-of" movie I have ever seen where you don't even get to listen to the songs! I am a fan of Metallica and have been since the days of "Kill Em All". I am also the opposite of most Metallica fans in that I think the Black Album is a great album. Metallica fans divide themselves along the Black Album / Bob Rock line; purists believe that only albums made before the Black album are any good, mainstream fans believe that ever since the arrival of Bob Rock has the band been any good. Personally, I like all of their music, from "Seek and Destroy", to "For Whom the Bells Toll", to "Master of Puppets". But I have to say that no album works as a whole as well as the Black Album, one of the finest pure rock and roll albums ever released. And if that makes me a Metallica "bandwagon heathen", then so be it. (For that matter, I also couldn't care less if Greedo shot first).I don't think Metallica should have made this movie. It just made me think they were a bunch of spoiled children. I would have preferred to continue to think of them as rock and roll superstars. I understand perfectly why Jason left the band, it would have driven me insane after 14 years of putting up with all of that garbage. There is a particularly funny scene where Lars is selling some of his art collection "to let others share the artwork" as he states. He then goes on about how it is not about the money, but it is much higher than that. Of course he doesn't donate his newfound riches to an art museum or anything like that, but when he sees some of the paintings selling for millions, he is laughing like a spoiled little rich kid.All in all, a waste of time. I expected a concert-movie, and instead got a documentary about a bunch of whiny children pretending to be adults.