Metallica: S&M

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.

The shameless exploitation of the old "Metal Meets Mozart" gimmick drags on, this time with metal band Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. The publicity that surrounded this stunt surprised me, seeing as how countless rock acts have already included symphony orchestras in their music, such as Pink Floyd (with whom San Francisco Symphony Orchestra conductor Michael Kamen had previously worked with), Van Morrison, and David Byrne...except those legends actually did it right. Usually, when a concert film is plagued with feverish, inaudible music (like this one), it depends heavily on cinematography and camera tricks, just as "S&M" tries to. But its attempts don't work. A poor effort from the usually worthwhile Metallica.

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 is a fantastic concert performed by one of the greatest bands of all time - Metallica. Guitar work by Hammett, Hetfield and Newsted is superb, as is vocals by Hetfield, and percussion by Lars. The songs are amazing, the symphony adds a new dimension to some already excellent tunes. The dvd extras are also great, the controllable camera angles in Enter Sandman and Of Wolf And Man are great additions.

All round great concert and dvd. 10/10

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!