In a move that most surrealist directors or impressionist artists should take on board, pre-release Lars Ulrich said in many interviews he simply didn't know what his new film was about. The man who had creative control, with an $18 million budget...hadn't a clue what all the post-apocalyptic scenes and dialogue was building towards. In some ways, that's just amazing, and in others you can demand a little bit more from such a creative direction. However to get the most out of it, you need to go with the former and just breathe in the genuinely original way of shooting the gig, with 20-odd 3D cameras simultaneously shooting three Metallica gigs as actor Dane Dehaan explored a ravaged city that looks like it's spawned from the hive-mind of early 80's metal album covers. Come the end, you'll have zero answers and a whole lot more questions, but it's one of those 'journey was better than the destination' kinda deals, and if you're anything of a LOST or True Detective fan, you'll be right at home.
5. Load And Reload Are Fantastic Albums
Turning in at only quarter of an hour shorter than their full-length movie, 1996's Load remains a career highlight that seemed to bare the brunt of the band's decision to get a few haircuts. As the Black Album took the thrash template they'd pioneered and wrote many more tight and easy-to-digest tracks, Load was the natural followup, giving us the powerful Wasting My Hate, fan-favourite Until It Sleeps and the utterly-entrancing Bleeding Me, all songs that were by no means thrash yet were all amazing additions to their discography regardless. Come Reload it there's far less to recommend over the incredibly tight package of Load, but this album also gave us the sublimely chant-able The Memory Remains and career-mainstay Fuel, not to mention the likes of Bad Seed are enjoyably crunchy, and Unforgiven II is up there with Bleeding Me as the best track the band put out in the 90's after The Black Album.
