Well what can I say, it was what I expected in terms of being a concert with a flimsy story line going on in the background. Sometimes the story was a little disconnected and didn't feel quite right, but it was easily overlooked by the amazing IMAX concert footage. They had cameras mounded on wires around the stadium, in the crowd, and cameras up close on the stage, it really looked awesome.
I must say I really do not enjoy watching 3D movies at all, they give me eye strain and give me a headache when it is overused and the director has all sorts of things hurtling at you. But this was much different, subtle use of 3D to give depth inside the concert hall made you feel like you were in the crowd. Definitely not as good as going to the concert but the next best thing.
The volume was set loud in the cinema and the concert sounded great. Plenty of bass rumbling your seat, again not as loud as one of their concerts, but loud enough for a cinema.
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The use of their old sets was great, I have seen some of it live and some of it on concert DVDs but it was good to see it all together, the electric chair and lady justice in particular. The laser show has been expanded from their last death magnetic tour and looked particularly good when combined with the pyrotechnics on the song "one"
The one set that didn't fit was the one used in cunning stunts where a big light tower falls and explodes and a man runs across the stage on fire and paramedics come out to help another injured by the fall. Looks good in a normal concert because you can not tell if it is supposed to be happening, but in a film with fictional parts interwoven into it, it felt a bit lame, I'm sure if you didn't know it was part of a different tour it may be ok, but still doesn't have the same shock effect in a non fictional concert if you get my drift.
Overall if you are a Metallica fan you will love this movie, for it's absolutely amazing concert footage, if nothing else
