This DVD has seven chapters all up: Enter Sandman, Sad But True, Holier Than Thou, The Unforgiven, Wherever I May Roam, Nothing Else Matters and everyone’s favourite, the End Credits. Whilst some go into a lot of detail, discussing the songs creation right from the demo tape, others skim over the top, giving facts most Metallica fans already know (and some you would be very surprised to hear).

The interviews conducted are often intellectual and informative as to what was asked, but some make you wonder why it wasn’t edited out. James and Lars are very informative, going into great detail to explain the whole process behind the songs, whilst Kirk and Jason simply want to have fun, providing only a little detail to their respective parts, which probably explains why they were interviewed so little of the time. Cliff Burnstein (Metallica manager) leaves much to be desired with his comments on ‘Sad But True’: ‘It’s music for pulling your teeth out!’. Only the die-hards would find that amusing. The Rolling Stone editor provides comments from a non-fans point of view, creating a different opinion which at some points are positive, whilst others may offend those die-hards with his comment on ‘80’s Metallica’.

Demo tapes featured: Enter Sandman (check out James’ solo!), Sad But True (fast, nicknamed the ‘happy’ version), Wherever I May Roam (have a nice chuckle at what James sings) and Nothing Else Matters (the ‘Elevator’ version: James singing, one guitar and the orchestra). A great addition, showing what could have been (and after listening to ‘Sad But True’, you’ll be happy Bob Rock was there). During the ‘Nothing’ chapter, a great interview with Micheal Kamen (conductor on S&M) is held, providing great information on his symphony work on ‘Nothing’, whilst also discussing how ‘S&M’ came to be.

The features, essential to any DVD. These are great, like the main documentary: James & Lars discuss songwriting; Drum recording techniques; Kirk’s guitar solo – ‘Wherever I May Roam’; Jason talks about ‘My Friend Of Misery’ (his original writing, also heard on ‘Cunning Stunts’); Bob Rock in the desert; The mix, the masters and the end of the story and The god that failed. Seven in total. As they are features, they are not very long (except for ‘James & Lars discuss songwriting’, which includes the demo for ‘Enter Sandman’). Short and sweet, as you would expect, plus a bit of information from Bob Rock in the ‘desert’ section – something that you will find very surprising.

Overall, as a fan I rate the documentary 8/10. For the non-fans, 7/10.

The features 8/10, ditto for the non-fans.