Metallica: Through the Never
Picturehouse Entertainment | Release Date: September 27, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
61
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
6
Negative:
2
Watch Now
Buy on

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
The PlaylistDrew TaylorSep 26, 2013
It's one of the most unexpectedly enjoyable cinematic experiences of the year, even if you couldn't pick a Metallica track out of some hypothetical never-ending playlist. Read full review
83
IndieWireEric KohnSep 24, 2013
With "Gravity" around the corner, Metallica Through the Never isn't the year's most groundbreaking achievement, but it's surely the most earth-shattering, and that's enough to make it one helluva comeback story. Read full review
80
The GuardianPaul MacInnesOct 5, 2013
In between songs there's a movie within a movie as Dane DeHaan silently takes on the forces of anarchy on behalf of the band. Awesome. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsJim FarberSep 26, 2013
One drawback: While the swooping and careening visuals capture the depth and darkness of an arena experience, the sound doesn’t. As burly as the acoustics in a theater may be, they’re spindly compared to the sucker-punch fans prize at an actual Metallica concert. Luckily — for its visuals alone — “Through the Never” has enough grit and power to deserve two fists up. Read full review
80
Time OutJoshua RothkopfSep 24, 2013
Maybe because the band enjoyed raves for its daring 2004 psychodrama, Some Kind of Monster, an experimental narrative is shoehorned in, involving a roadie (Dane DeHaan) doing bloody battle in a deserted city. Your heart sinks with every cutaway. Read full review
80
VarietyDennis HarveySep 20, 2013
A definitive document for anyone who’s ever hoisted the devil-horn fingers in metalhead solidarity. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesMark GuarinoSep 26, 2013
In this film, Metallica elevates headbanging to matters of the head that will consume the viewer long after the fade to black. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversSep 26, 2013
If you’re looking for an orgasmic trip to heavy-metal heaven, this is it. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghSep 25, 2013
It makes for a unique sort of concert film, but also a weaker one. It would have been better if it had dispensed with the frail narrative or else committed to being completely bananas. But as die-hard Metallica fans well know, a little buffoonery is worth weathering for the main attraction. Read full review
70
Village VoicePeter RuggSep 24, 2013
This is a movie made for people who mash themselves up against those steel crowd-control barriers at concerts and still don't think they're close enough. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonSep 20, 2013
However mindless and heartless it may be, Through the Never succeeds as pure sense-swamping spectacle. It is a blow-out banquet for Metallica fans, and a blockbuster rock-and-rollercoaster ride for any heavy metal tourists curious to see this music played at major-league level. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Sep 25, 2013
This stereoscopic IMAX vanity project presents the titular rockers not as men, but as living legends, playing the hits at a gigantic venue, for thousands of bellowing diehard fans. In place of introspection, there is only lionizing spectacle; if Monster laid bare the wounded egos of metal’s biggest stars, Never simply re-inflates them. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleRaoul HernandezSep 25, 2013
The Song Remains the Same. There, said it – as will every other rock & roll fanatic considering Metallica: Through the Never. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Dave McGinnSep 27, 2013
If this review had to be in pantomime, it would be me head-banging and busting out some gnarly air guitar for an hour straight – and loving every minute of it. That’s how much fun this concert film is. But be warned: If you’ve never rocked-out to a Metallica song, or don’t even know what throwing the horns is, this movie is not for you. Read full review
63
Washington PostMark JenkinsSep 26, 2013
The music is central, so viewers without a preexisting taste for thump and thrash will probably not be converted by the Imax 3-D spectacle. Read full review
63
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreSep 25, 2013
Since the movie’s street side dream doesn’t add much more than a gimmicky “interpretation” of their sound, you’re left with a deafening dirge –well-played, but really, no improvement on your basic concert film. Read full review
60
The DissolveNoel MurraySep 25, 2013
Even at its goofiest, Through The Never brings back the communal appeal of those early concert films, which were often just a way for young fans to bond with other young fans over the music of entertainers who seemed to understand what they really wanted. Read full review
50
The New York TimesA.O. ScottSep 26, 2013
Despite swooping camera movements and elaborate stagecraft, the film produces detachment rather than immediacy. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesAugust BrownSep 26, 2013
The problem is that Antal and Metallica took two different movies — a fine live-band document and a supernatural end-of-days romp — and smashed them together to make both of them more boring. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTom RussoSep 26, 2013
The guys in Metallica are here to remind us that there’s a band behind the rage rock. The IMAX 3-D release Metallica Through the Never is all about reasserting their relevance, loudly. Read full review
40
Total FilmAndrew LowryOct 5, 2013
It’s a histrionic distraction from the band doing their thing. Watch "Some Kind Of Monster" instead. Read full review
40
The TelegraphDavid GrittenOct 4, 2013
Their fans will love the efficient, well-shot concert scenes: but its woeful parallel story suggests bands like Metallica are rarely more than one remove from Spinal Tap. Read full review
38
New York PostKyle SmithSep 30, 2013
This movie is basically “Spinal Tap” minus the jokes. Two of the band members have the word “Metallica” emblazoned on their clothing. Metallica — it’s the band that has to remind fans whom they’re watching! Read full review
38
Slant MagazineChris CabinSep 24, 2013
The songs still sound great here, but the instruments aren't amplified nearly as much as the nostalgia and vanity of the men who wield them. Read full review
More From This Movie

61 Critic Reviews

8.1 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 71 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL