best movie i've ever seen.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

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.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Whilst METALLICA are playing a show somewhere, a young roadie is sent across the city to fetch a bag. Admittedly, this story-line doesn't sound like serious competition for 'The Wall' or 'Quadrophenia' - because it isn't. But if we only consider 'Through the Never' as a concert movie with a bit of cool rock video decoration, it is actually fun and extremely good looking. However, when the band members praise the challenge of a narrative concept in the making-of, I wonder if they read all 3 pages of the script, which includes scenes like 'guy puts himself on fire to win a fight' (no he doesn't), 'guy looks into bag and doesn't tell us what he finds inside' (boo!) and 'hammer bloke hangs people for fun' (which probably has some intricate symbolism woven into it, but hidden so well that nobody will ever find out).The movie has its best moments not with the larger than life bits, but with the little touches, for example when a microphone fails in 'Ride the Lightning' and James angrily pushes it away - this is a well-staged moment to show the band not as flawless super-heroes, but normal human beings. The collapsing statue and the (Tesla coil) lightnings make the performance visually memorable, but this probably would have worked just as well without the, uh, 'narrative concept'. I voted 8/10 which is a compromise between 10 for the visual qualities, 9 for the music and 4 for the 'story'.

I actually don't mind Metallica, and I went into this film knowing full well there would be concert footage. After watching the trailer for this "film", I believed it was a film that incorporated the concert into the storyline and the soundtrack would be Metallica, obviously. The trailer falsely advertised this as more of a film than a live DVD. There is no storyline, the sections with trip might as well be non existent. This looks like a very long glorified music video rather than a film.Don't get me wrong, if your a fan who only wants to watch the live performance then yes, it is brilliant and I respect the creativity and artistic style. But please do not use the trailer to sell this to me as a film. It is not. I believe this would have worked better if there was a valid storyline that involved the show.

Crowds out there are only in it because of Metallica; I went there mostly because of up-and-coming star Dane DeHaan and the movie within the show and I admit I got more than what I was looking for. Though not that much of a fan of the band (I like some of their music) I acknowledge its power among their devoted fans, and they deserve to be on the top of the game because they deliver a spectacle, they deliver a true rock n'roll concert, loud and clear, and so magnificent that you might become a fan of theirs after the film, if you weren't before. What about Dane? Excellent choice in the minor adventure that jumps back and forth between the show, with some little interaction between Trip, his roadie character, and the band."Metallica Through the Never" revolves around the band performing their classics and a story involving Trip, one of their roadies, embarking on a strange adventure trying to pick up a mysterious bag. Trip's long journey is surrounded with danger, crashes, explosions, protests and stuff, greatly matched with the sound of James Hetfield and his troupe to be heard at full volume. Director Nimród Antal's concept was quite good, though lacking in more substance. It reminded me a bit of that Duran Duran gig in the 1980's where they joined with the real Duran Duran played again by Milo O'Shea in "Barbarella", but that was a more interactive concert with the actor appearing from time to time on the stage while DeHaan's voiceless character pops in with the group in brief moments. But there's fascinating visual effects (the pyrotechnic effects on the show are truly effective), and a positively engaging adventure to follow through. It feels fresh, unique and visually captivating, though it doesn't answer anything. The acting was great and the concert even more explosive. The movie points a way on how we should experience music in a different light, creating the images after what's already composed, with themes from the many different albums and you form a image of the whole. That kind of experiment would work better if the director (and I'm not sure if Antal was deeply involved behind Metallica's show) selected the songs and tried to create a film afterwards with a plausible storyline. Not exactly like "Tommy" or "The Wall" were, but I'm talking about mixing several albums from a said artist and work a script around those music and lyrics. While more of those aren't invented, I dream of a "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" version. Antal could make it work, he's got the visuals, the technique, everything to make a great musical out of that. 8/10

As many here have said, I love Metallica, but I feel disappointed, I was expecting a movie, and even though it isn't a movie but a concert with a little tiny movie within, the movie doesn't have any explanation on what was all the crazy stuff on the little movie shoots, and what was in the bag at the end, it makes me angry.... but a great concert after all, Cunning Stunts on steroids... or "Cunning Stunts on HD, 3D, Dolby Atmos and 15 years later".There is not a single reason or explanation on why there are zombies, why there is some kind of rioting, why the guy in the truck is scared or what is happening to him, what is the meaning on the horsemen, no explanation at all.Some argue that the bag contained Cliff Burton soul, but again, nothing concrete.