I was absolutely smitten by the characters in this film and completely sucked into the story of Anvil. This film is very well made and has all the requisite trappings of a great 21st century documentary.
My memory of Anvil from "back in the day" (yeah, I'm old enough) was only of having heard "Metal on Metal" on the radio, and possibly a few other tracks. I was kind of surprised by how friggin' good they actually are after seeing them in action in this film.
Their apparent struggle to be ultimately legitimized and to find some measure of commercial success reminded me of the "Ramones: End of the Century" documentary which sadly, had no happy ending such as that depicted in "Anvil! The Story of Anvil." I was "with it" and the struggle all the way to the end until I noticed the director of this film decided to employ a little Michael Moore-ish hanky-panky and present some Anvil history - out of chronological order, so as to have a happy ending.
Which then made me question a LOT of other specific events in the film and wonder about the authenticity of these events.
Which then made me wonder if the whole film isn't merely a long form reality show. I suppose since VH1 is behind this "documentary" then it's entirely possible the entire thing is as scripted and as contrived as any reality show on TV.
My memory of Anvil from "back in the day" (yeah, I'm old enough) was only of having heard "Metal on Metal" on the radio, and possibly a few other tracks. I was kind of surprised by how friggin' good they actually are after seeing them in action in this film.
Their apparent struggle to be ultimately legitimized and to find some measure of commercial success reminded me of the "Ramones: End of the Century" documentary which sadly, had no happy ending such as that depicted in "Anvil! The Story of Anvil." I was "with it" and the struggle all the way to the end until I noticed the director of this film decided to employ a little Michael Moore-ish hanky-panky and present some Anvil history - out of chronological order, so as to have a happy ending.
Which then made me question a LOT of other specific events in the film and wonder about the authenticity of these events.
Which then made me wonder if the whole film isn't merely a long form reality show. I suppose since VH1 is behind this "documentary" then it's entirely possible the entire thing is as scripted and as contrived as any reality show on TV.