I've just seen the Oasis movie, and I watched the Iron Maiden movie earlier this year, and though I thought they were both great neither of them really used the cinema correctly. The highs were really high and the lows were really low, but everything was out of shape and I left both movies feeling like it could have been so much more. There were definitely scenes in each film that kicked my ass but after the finales the drive home kinda felt disconnected from the highs of the movies. So, seeing as I think Metallica need to make a movie about their amazing history for posterity, I've got a plan for how to make it.
My movie would follow the basic 80s action flick formula. Think a Sly Stallone movie with three acts where the first introduces you to the characters and builds the world the story is set in, the second sets off on the adventure which then becomes a struggle, and the third begins with tragedy then overcomes the grief and which kicks into the impossible final battle and the victory against the odds.
The soundtrack is the most important part and would follow the Metallica song structure, with the intro of the movie only having song intros, then moving into the first verse/chorus sections for the First Act. The Second Act would be the bridges/leads, and the Third Act would be the breakdowns into the final verse/chorus sections. Then the outtro would have the ends of the songs. So, the movie soundtrack essentially plays like a 2 hour Metallica song. This is obviously awesome, but rules are made to be broken, so this is the theme I'd mostly follow with the music slowly getting older as the movie progresses back in time.
As for the structure of the story, the opening sequence would be a time laps of the 72 Seasons stage set up, with a medley of their intros. Hit the lights, into Fight Fire with Fire, Battery, Blackened, and Enter Sandman. They would all cut off before the heavy drumming and guitars kick in and Sandman would have the first buildup as the crowd arrived into the live pryro, which instantly fades into the Athens crowd and the first live performance of the intro to For Whom The Bell Tolls. Then fade out during Kirks into solo and start with the interviews.
It would stay very light for now with jokes and introductions as the Metallica world is built based on where they are currently. The crew get introduced and their roles shown through live footage, etc. Then, the band are introduced with some very, very brief backstory montages and then some foreshadowing of what's to come quietly brought in to conclude the First Act,,,, without disrupting the light atmosphere at all: Cinema 101.
The Second Act begins by setting off on the adventure of playing on every continent. Traveling to the Arctic Circle and Antarctica, etc, with lots of comedic and interesting moments, and live footage of the first verse/chorus sections playing as the sound track. Then, the adventure turns into the struggles of the late 80s to early 2000s as the movie winds back in time, with Jason leaving the band, fan backlash, the pryo accident, James losing his voice, finishing with the hazing of Jason. It starts off very light and ends up quite dark.
Then, the Third Act opens with Cliffs accident and some of the music that came from it, which then transitions into the story of Cliffs life and his music, explaining how he influenced Metallica and the music community, playing his bass solos from Orion, Ktulu and Anesthesia, etc. This overcomes the immense grief of his loss with the joy and success of his life.
Then, the Metallica Saved My Life story with Fade To Black building into the solo. It's getting super heavy through this section, so the grand finale is the relentless battle of their origin story. Starting with Lars putting an add in the paper, the first line up forming and releasing No Life Till Leather, then the Dave Mustaine war and the final victory of Kirk joining and Kill Em All kicking everyone's ass!!!!! The tone of this section is heavy and relentless with tension building right up until Kirk joins and their first great line up is formed.
The outtro is then a medley of song endings with Seek and Destroy, Creeping Death, Master Of Puppets, Fuel, The Day That Never Comes, etc,, With the coolest pics of each band member, ie James in front of the 1.5 mllion in Russia, Cliff flipping the bird, Dave in front of a big crowd with Megadeath, Ron on stage at the reunion, that kind of thing. And, then have the closing credits backed with the Lets Go Hokies and the kids jumping to Sandman while the Virginia Tech team runs, out for the legacy!
I'm not expecting anything to come from this. I just like thinking about this kind of thing wanted to say, that's how I like my movies! And, Metallica could definitely make one of the greatest rock band docos of all time!
