Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
IFC Films | Release Date: July 9, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
27
Mixed:
4
Negative:
1

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
One of the most revelatory rock portraits ever made. Read full review
100
SlateDavid Edelstein
The band's implosion and reassembly makes for one of the most marvelous rock documentaries of all time. Read full review
100
Portland OregonianKaren Karbo
The miracle of Some Kind of Monster is Berlinger and Sinofsky's ability to make us root for these self-absorbed man-children. Read full review
90
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
It's a measure of the film's brilliance that it strips away the trappings of superstardom and allows audiences to see these men as flawed human beings first, musicians second, and rock gods a distant third. Read full review
90
The New York TimesDana Stevens
You realize you are witnessing a psychodrama of novelistic intricacy and epic scope. Read full review
90
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
That he (Hetfield), and his band, still lives is astonishing enough; that you get to see how and why in a movie so painfully intimate is nothing short of extraordinary. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy Burr
If you've seen the Beatles documentary "Let It Be," you know what four men who are heartily sick of one another look like, and in 2001, Metallica had been recording twice as long as the Fab Four. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneRobert K. Elder
A counterintuitive, riveting documentary so honest that it will either become a rock movie classic or a severe embarrassment for the heavy metal band. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterSura Wood
These are rich, aging men in a young man's game, and the discrepancy between image and reality, captured by the filmmakers, makes for engrossing material. Read full review
80
TimeJosh Tyrangiel
What's most captivating about Monster is that the camera never looks away and Metallica never hides. Read full review
80
VarietyDennis Harvey
Pic itself is a long haul, at nearly 2½ hours; yet one needn't be a fan of Metallica or heavy metal to be engrossed throughout. Read full review
80
Film ThreatTim Merrill
The result will stand as one of the most intense, in-depth, warts-and-all rockumentaries ever made. Read full review
80
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Absorbing, funny, exhilaratingly entertaining ride through two years in the life of the most successful heavy metal band in history. Read full review
80
EmpireDanny Graydon
An excruciating watch at times, the unflinching bluntness is captivating and somehow, despite their flaws, the group’s rock godhood is maintained. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarrit Ingman
Monster is, at its best, simply a chronicle of people trying to get along, which makes it compelling viewing indeed. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
A revelation: funny, fascinating and insightful. Read full review
75
New York PostMegan Lehmann
Metallica brought back the rights and funded the project, and it's their honesty and willingness to front the cameras, warts and all, that makes this well-edited, often very funny, documentary so compelling. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleNeva Chonin
Isn't about rock music or even the people who make it; it's about people, period, and the myriad ways they mangle themselves and each other. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Don't let anyone spoil the surprises of this thrashing, thrilling chunk of cinematic gold. It's one for the time capsule. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerBill White
Berlinger and Sinofsky, with their knack for penetrating the diabolical pretensions of weak and disaffected human beings, have brought Metallica to its knees. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Doesn't require you to know anything about the band Metallica or heavy metal music, but it supplies a lot of information about various kinds of monsters. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunRashod D. Ollison
You don't have to be a Metallica junkie to get this film. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Veers unpredictably between wrenching psychodrama and "Spinal Tap"-style mockumentary. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyGreg Burk
Uncomfortable fun. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
By turns exasperating, appalling and surprisingly empathetic -- sometimes all in the same moment -- the three members of Metallica quickly emerge as the main attractions in Some Kind of Monster, but not for the reasons you might expect. Read full review
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Documentary about rock history's biggest heavy metal band is -- variously -- serious, funny, frustrating and touching. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
I'm no psychologist, but it took about half this film's overlong running time to figure out that Metallica's problem is that Ulrich is a major pain in the butt. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
No matter how you spin Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky's chronicle of headbangers on the couch, it sounds like a pitch-perfect parody in "Beyond Spinal Tap" mode. If anything, knowing it's no joke makes it harder not to giggle. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Snippets of the band's brutally percussive music punctuate the endless encounter sessions, which expose the musicians' boundless self-absorption (the 9-11 attacks come and go without so much as a mention) and cowed obedience to their psychological guru. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The quartet appears to be mightily lacking in the brains and judgment departments, but at least it tries to do something about its failings, employing a traveling psychotherapist whose interventions and ruminations provide some of the film's most unwittingly amusing moments. Read full review
40
Village VoiceChuck Eddy
Much of Monster is just a two-and-a-half-hour puff piece about how "important" Metallica are and, worse, how much "integrity" they have. Read full review
20
Film ThreatJim Agnew
Simply put this is a TWO HOUR AND 20 MINUTE long documentary that consists of nothing more than millionaire rock stars bitching, whining and complaining about their problems. Read full review
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