Metallica: S&M

Being a big Metallica fan I was amazed that Metallica was going to have a concert with an Orchestra and that one of My favorite movie composers Michael Kamen was going to be the Orchestrator and Conductor I couldn't believe it! This was an awesome experience seeing such an extraordinary event! The camera work is remarkable. It catches so many great moments perfectly in My opinion! The songs that were chosen are great and I thought it was really cool to have two new songs just for this concert! The band really performs greatly and James Hetfield's singing is incredible and I just love his voice! Michael Kamen is just so great here! The sound is also great! Overall in My opinion this is one of the most spectacular events of all time! If you love Metallica and want to see them in one of the greatest concerts ever and want to see Michael Kamen do his stuff then I strongly recommend that stop by at Amazon.com and buy the video and/or the DVD and the audio CD today!

Movie Nuttball's NOTE:

The DVD version has an Easter Egg on it. You can have the Orchestra performing by themselves Its a unique feature and it makes it a totally different experience!

Okay, so Metallica are my all-time favorite band and therefore I'm obviously going to offer a biased opinion, right? Wrong. Granted, this audio video extravaganza couples the greatest heavy metal band of all time with an accomplished, internationally recognized orchestra and manages to surprisingly produce a sound which is breathtaking at times. However, I can't help but think that the Orchestra's sound sometimes encroaches on the traditional 'Tallica sound of pounding riffs and fantastic vocals which often leaves you cursing at Kaymen for getting in the way. However, Kaymen is evidently masterful in his own element and this is indeed a credit to him and his team.

However, this is but a mere blotch on the paper as the orchestra and 'Tallica blend almost perfectly at times; most notably in "Master of Puppets" which gives the song a new edge, the orchestra filling in the sound gaps while at the same time giving the right background sound to the quite frankly sublime solo's by James and Kirk. The whole performance is faultless by all members plus the orchestra. One thing I find disappointing though, is the apparent lax attitude of "fans" the further back the camera's went, how could they not clap and shout and throw the horns over such a brilliant performance.

Needless to say for a die-hard Metallica fan like myself this is an absolute must for the collection. But, for a non Metallica fan but nevertheless an appreciator of the genre, this is still a thoroughly entertaining watch and i cannot recommend it more.

Rock on Metallica, Rock on

9/10

I'm not a huge fan of Metallica and I don't really like all of their music (the songs from the Black album, as well as ...And Justice for All and the single "I Disappear" are quite good but the rest kind of sound the same to me) -- but this live version even made me love the songs.

It's conducted with Michael Kamen and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, who ironically enough contacted THEM with an interest in performing their songs with an orchestra.

The result is a loud, powerful, emotional (!) experience. The deep, rich sound of the symphony really makes the songs all sound different. It's quite an experience.

The performance is two and a half hours long and the DVD/CD has tons of bonus features including a documentary covering the conception and execution of the entire ordeal.

All in all, a real treat, especially for Metallica fans, and perhaps even more so for non-fans who may find they like the music more like this.

This DVD is in my brothers collection and when he went away I watched it.I am a Metallica fan but not a big fan.I really loved this concert.My favorite songs were Master Of The Puppets,Enter Sandman,One and Nothing Else Matters.I loved all the songs.

Metallica are one of the best live bands of all time.The DVD had great features like commentaries and you could pick if you wanted to listen to Metallica or the orchestra.Some things that could have improved was to add more songs and some of my favorite Metallica tunes were missing.Other than that this is a very good DVD and all Metallica fans should have a copy of this DVD and CD.

10/10

This dvd is loaded with lots of features. It has four songs where you can choose the camera angles. You can choose to view it with the camera angles on only one member of Metallica at a time, or the way they edited it for vhs and dvd. You can also listen to just Metallica or just listen to the symphony. It also has a documentary talking about how they chose the songs they used for the concert. Overall I give it a 10.