Product Details

• Actors: James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, Jason Newsted, Michael Kamen
• Directors: Wayne Isham
• Producers: David Hausen, Bart Lipton
• Format: Color, Explicit Lyrics, Live, NTSC
• Language: German
• Rating: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Elektra / Wea
• VHS Release Date: November 23, 1999
• Run Time: 145 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (159 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00002ZMNW
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #31,836 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  Video > Music Video & Concerts > Artists > Metallica

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
There's little doubt that this two-volume concert and documentary package will appeal to die-hard Metallica lovers--given its more than three-hour length (two and a half for the concert segment alone), the band's predominantly white male fan base (repeatedly addressed as "man" by singer-guitarist James Hetfield) will be--in fact already are--ecstatic. But one wonders, especially given the erratic history of rock-cum-orchestra experiments, whether S&M will win Metallica any new aficionados. The fact is that the presence of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, conducted by composer Michael Kamen, adds texture but not much else of significance to the Metallica sound. The band is so loud that it tends to overwhelm even a 100-plus member orchestra; what's more, Metallica's crunching, fist-pumping, riff-laden metal music lends itself less to genuine orchestral adornment than to superfluous bombast. And while the sound quality is excellent, it's still basically just a filmed concert, with little in the way of additional visual interest. Still, there are some cool moments, and all involved are clearly having a great time. There are also two new Metallica songs, "No Leaf Clover" and "Minus Human." (Note: also available is an edited version, sold at a slightly lower price, which corresponds to the popular PBS broadcast. The longer version carries an explicit content advisory label, due to much casual profanity, especially in the "making of" documentary.) --Sam Graham

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Michael Kamen and Wayne Isham are GENIUSES!, May 28, 2000

By	Ibraheem Al-Ammar (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) - See all my reviews

The direction is simply stunning.The director of Metallica's Cunning Stunts stretches more direction muscle here.The editing is also excellent.

Pros:

*It's a Metallica greatest hits concert!

*The San Fransisco Symphony were amazing.I've never seen an orchestra play so fast.

*The lights,editing,direction,effects and the whole setting in general were brilliant.

*Jaymz' voice was so terrific.Sometimes deep(most of the time),sometimes touching(Nothing Else Matters,No Leaf Clover) and sometimes powerful(The Thing That Should Not Be,Master of Puppets,-Human).

Cons:

*Why couldn't we see a lot of Jason in the beginning of "For Whom The Bell Tolls"?

*"Of Wolf And Man" shouldn't have been changed.It's the perfect Metallica song.

*James still hasn't perfected the part "sleep with one eye open,gripping your pillow tight---exit:light,enter:night".It's not the same as the original.In the original,the word "light" seems to be extended,like this :"Eeeeexit liiiiight!".

About the S&M documentary,it's outstanding.The pre-show and post-show doc's have always been so much fun.

My advice: watch the documentary first and then the concert. I regret watching the concert first. Don't make my mistake.

And about the memorable moments in my review of the S&M audio CD,I forgot to add to them Lars' staggeringly fast rolls in "Fuel", "Master of Puppets", "For Whom the Bell Tolls", and a lot others.

By the way, was it just me, or was James having a blast performing "The Thing That Should Not Be"? I like it when he jumps.

Also, add to the phenomenal songs, "Battery". "Devil's Dance" and "Enter Sandman" were also very cool.

By the way,I changed my mind:I think that Hammett's original "Of Wolf And Man" solo was better than S&M's.(I said the opposite in my cd review)

If you ask me what's THE most memorable moment of the concert,it's definitely that part of "Of Wolf And Man" where James says "...so seek the wolf in thyseeeeeeeeeeeelf!" with the symphony building up.And the best part in this part is Jason's background scream.What a rush!

Bottom line:this is one unbelievable epic.I can't recommend it higher.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great DVD for the best CD ever!, July 1, 2000

By	"smackdown221" (Peterson AFB, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Metallica - S & M with the San Francisco Symphony (DVD)

If you liked the S&M CD I guarantee you that you will like the DVD even more. If you have seen the VHS version or if you own it, you might just think it is the same thing in higher quality on DVD, but there is much more. This video has so many great special features. My favorite was the way you can filter the audio to hear only the symphony without Metallica, or only Metallica without the symphony. The first thing I did was listen to "No Leaf Clover" without the symphony. Another really cool feature is the angle changes that you can do on select songs. You can watch certain songs at 5 different angles. The first is the original edited camera views, but you can also watch these songs with the camera focused on one of the four band members, James, Lars, Jason, and Kirk. The DVD also features an excellent behind the scenes documentary featuring interviews with the band and with conductor Michael Kamen about preparation for the concert and how it all came to be. Even if you already have the VHS version, I would still get this DVD if I were you. The video quality and sound quality both greatly surpass that of the VHS version. This is a DVD that no Metallica fan should go without.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cool special edition 2 tapes, December 9, 1999

By	ABDULRHMAN (kuwait city , KUWAIT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Metallica - S & M with the San Francisco Symphony (Explicit Version) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

this is the LIMITED EDITION 2 tapes . one of them is the live concert and the other is special bonus featuring 40 minutes of behind the scenes footage , interviews with metallica and the symphony . Her you will find the bonus tape funy as hell especialy from JAMES ! must have for a Metallica fan .