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06/24/06
Metal: A Headbanger's Journey (2005)
89 %
Reviews Counted: 28 Fresh: 25 Rotten:3 Average Rating: 6.9/10
Consensus:
Made by a metalhead, this documentary of the musical genre both informs and entertains with its range of interviewees.
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Synopsis: Professional anthropologist and rabid heavy-metal fan Sam Dunn devoted himself to making the most complete portrait of the heavy metal scene every created; the result, METAL, A HEADBANGER'S JOURNEY, is a resounding success. Mixing his academic eye with his personal love for the genre,... [More]
Genre: Musical & Performing Arts
Starring: Tony Iommi, Bruce Dickinson, Dee Snider, Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie
Reviews
Top CriticClick to read the article
05/06/06
Top Critic Top Critic
A documentary that preaches to the converted if ever there was one, but Dunn's enthusiasm for the subject and the range of pretension and humour of his interviewees makes for fun viewing.
05/06/06
Top Critic
Brings on a variety of eloquent voices from both the fanbase and the gods of metal themselves.
10/20/07
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11/17/06
Top Critic
The success of Dunn's film in support of heavy metal music might be the result of not offering the audience too much music
11/10/06
The metal scene emerges throughout the documentary as the recruitment center of an army of misfits, where the outcasts of the world can seek each other out based on their love of the angsty, eardrum-destroying tunes their parents warned them about.
05/12/06
A film that manages to be intelligent without being boring, making it one of the better music documentaries in recent memory.
04/21/06
This documentary about one of the most loathed, lampooned and beloved music genres isn't the kind of film to rock your world, though it may well inspire laughter.
04/21/06
Top Critic
It'll make you want to dig out your Whitesnake T-shirt. It might even convince Tipper Gore that heavy metal thunder is all in good fun.
04/21/06
The movie is woefully short on concert footage, which could have shown us the power of metal instead of just telling us.
04/21/06
It's a measure of Dunn's success that even a total nonfan like myself could find his journey interesting.
04/20/06
You might not go out and buy the latest Slipknot album after seeing it, but you will understand why some disenfranchised kid would.
04/14/06
Acts not as the window for the outsider into the spectacle of heavy metal music, as the filmmakers proclaim it to be, but an unprovoked fan's defense for liking what he likes
04/14/06
Interviews with metal practitioners such as Tony Iommi, Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie and Dee Snider, journalists and academic types paint a compelling portrait of a vibrant society of outsiders.
04/13/06
Top Critic
The film is packed with hilarious, often poignant interviews with metal luminaries.
04/13/06
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A Real Metalhead's Review
by: Blackwater Park 1/8
by: Blackwater Park 1/8
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