Metal: A Headbanger's Journey (2006)

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

I've been a fan of metal (the music itself, anyway) for many years now. I had been aware of this documentary's existence for a while, but only decided to watch it recently. Unfortunately, Metal: A Headbanger's Journey was exactly as bad as I feared, and I have to say a very unimpressive attempt to document this vast genre of music.The first issue with the film is that it presents itself as something to appeal to both metal fans and non-metal fans alike. It tries to educate those unfamiliar with the genre, while providing some fan service to those who love it. The film continually presses the issue of metal and its fan base being looked down upon and marginalised by the rest of society, and unfortunately rather than helping the situation, Metal merely ends up re-enforcing all of the worst aspects of the subculture. Amongst the delights we are treated to are some ridiculous interviews with clueless teenagers talking about how awesome they are for liking metal and how everyone else is an idiot. Way to help the cause, guys.The biggest problem with Metal: A Headbanger's Journey comes in the form of the "Definitive Metal Family Tree" penned by director Sam Dunn and referenced frequently throughout the film. To say this "definitve" family tree contains factual inaccuracies would be an understatement. Rather than actually checking his facts as most documentary makers would do, it appears that Dunn has created this document based entirely on his own opinions, and as a result there are some truly bizarre inclusions, omissions and definitions which would be obvious to anyone even moderately knowledgeable about metal. The fact that Dunn has been a metalhead since the mid '80s only makes this tree more puzzling. For instance, did you know that Slade are a glam metal band? It's true according to A Headbanger's Journey. I wasn't aware that they were even considered a metal band, yet there they are, listed in a category apparently derived from "Shock Rock", which includes bands such as Kiss. Never mind the fact that Kiss were formed post-Slade, and considered them to be one of their primary influences. We've also got Children of Bodom labelled thrash, Judas Priest lumped in with power metal rather than in the NWOBHM category, and (rather hilariously) Cradle of Filth in the "Norwegian Black Metal" category, of which they are neither - a classic rookie mistake.Then we have the inclusion of decidedly un-metal categories such as grunge, "Hard Alternative" (including bands such as Jane's Addiction and Smashing Pumpkins), "Pop Metal" (all of which would mostly be considered hard rock), and the aforementioned "Norwegian Black Metal" category, which completely fails to take into account all non-Norwegian second wave black metal acts around in both the early '90s and later. Things like nu-metal are also included, which a great many metal fans don't consider "metal" at all. In short, the whole chart is laughable and looks like it was drawn up by a 15 year old kid who'd just purchased his first Slipknot album. There are far too many errors on the chart to talk about here, but go and have a look for yourself to see the true scale of the problem. Granted, it's difficult to get it right 100% of the time with a genre as vast as metal, but the fact that this is being presented as "fact" in a documentary film, coupled with how atrociously wrong a lot of it is, makes you think that Dunn really should have done some research before making his movie.All in all, Metal: A Headbanger's Journey comes off as shallow, ill-informed and self-serving to the Nth degree. I think a lot of people (metalheads included) will find this film at best pointless and at worst downright embarrassing. Dunn's motives were noble but in the end he failed miserably.

So... this documentary is part of a thesis? As the movie opens, we are explained that the guy tries to find out,among other questions, why the heavy metal genre is ridiculed or why people laughs at it... and after more than an hour of dumbness, the only answer he finds is "f**k you!". Neato! If this documentary was a thesis, I hope they flunked him for not knowing that most of his questions were already answered by people much better prepared than him to do so, and in a much more amusing way: "This is Spinal tap"Grotesque. Anyways you can have some fun watching/listening to some former glories like R.J. Dio or Dee Snider.

I surprisingly found this DVD hidden in dark and secluded section of a local DVD store, mostly reserved for B grade flicks, art and indie material. Me being a metal-head myself, was thrilled about watching a documentary that digs into the world's most controversial and "forbidden" style of music/art/life. The experience was a little odd.The first few seconds into the film, when the all familiar intro of Number of the Beast began, with the clips of metal-heads on screen, I shivered, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. I felt something very rare, I felt "I'm at home, baby!" \m/ I won't go ramble on about the things everyone knows. Yes, this film is awesome. It has that rare atmosphere, that only a true metal-head could create, like Sam Dunn. If you are a true rocker, you'll feel in sync with the guy, you'll know what he is talking about and why, but if you aren't into metal, you'll have a hard time understanding some of the meaning.My biggest problem with this doc, is the same as the others: it's too superficial. For me, it's too much about satanism, gore and torching of churches. For me, metal is not about that. Metal is a form of expression, a way of life. I wanted to see more about metal from around the world.For an anthropologist, Dunn is far too concerned about the different styles of back and death metal, rather than reviewing metal as a phenomenon and culture around the world. He focuses on the US and Norway, but that is just a little piece of the big picture. What about the rest of Europe? What about eastern metal or other regions of the world? What about the other genres of metal? I wanted to hear more about the different genres, the history and pioneers of each of them...etc, how those evolved and transformed over the years, and who are the artists that made it happen.In a nutshell, it's too one-sided, too narrow perspective. I know it's only 90 minutes, but it could've been done. Okay, I'm maybe splitting hairs here. I agree, it's a decent documentary, and for such an (pardon the term) amateur team, it's a very good film about metal, but it left me with a nagging feeling of "something's missing", it's somehow not complete, and I guess that's what most people are feeling about this documentary. The interviews are very well done, but with the wrong people. I wanted to hear more big names, more name bands and real pioneers of metal. I know the film is very low-budget, and they probably couldn't pay for an interview with Ozzy, Lars, Joacim Cans or even Serj Tankian, but I really miss those bits from a documentary about metal. Other than that, its a pleasant experience, and I recommend it for every metal-head and non-metal-head out there.

METAL: A HEADBANGER'S JOURNEY is probably the best documentary EVER on the Heavy Metal scene. It encompasses virtually all of metal sub-genres like Hard Rock, Glam, Black, Power (although I have trouble with defining this sub genre in particular), death, prog and thrash. The film's mastermind, 31 year old Sam Dunn, does an excellent job dissecting the genre, from its classical and blues origins, to why the Scandinavian black metal scene is so evil. He even goes out of his way to set up a genealogical tree for metal! For the metal fan who enjoys or enjoyed some of the metal sub genres presented here, he/she will be full of ecstasy and for the uninitiated, this is a good place to start. Interviews with SLAYER, MOTLEY CRUE, EMPEROR, IRON MAIDEN, MAYHEM, DIO, BLACK SABBATH, RUSH, SLIPKNOT, KORN, ARCH ENEMY, TWISTED SISTER, etc. will only leave you wanting for more and more. There's a nice flow to the documentary and, in my humble opinion, wasn't bored in the least.What I didn't like too much was the fact that Sam Dunn barely talks about thrash metal. Yeah, he mentions METALLICA, MEGADETH, and there's the SLAYER interview, but this sub genre is the one that gets least mentioned (taking into account today's biggest metal band, METALLICA, arose from the thrash movement).On the other hand, black metal and death metal receive more film time. Maybe Sam Dunn wanted to leave the thrash part less explored due to the upcoming thrash documentary, "GET THRASHED", which has been in the making for at least 4 years.Minor complaints aside, this documentary rocks and if you're a fan of the genre you'll do no wrong in getting this essential film in your DVD library. Thrash on!!!