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Dom Robinson reviews

Metallica: Cunning Stunts

Recorded live in Fort Worth, Texas, USA,
on May 9-10th 1997

Distributed by

Polygram

Cat.no: 058 632 2
Cert: 15
Running time: 175 minutes
Year: 1997
Pressing: 1999
Region(s): 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (UK PAL)
Chapters: 20 plus extras
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Stereo
Languages: English
Subtitles: English
Fullscreen: 4:3
16:9-enhanced: No
Macrovision: Yes
Disc Format: 2 Discs (1 * DVD 9, 1 * DVD 5)
Price: £29.99
Extras : Scene index, band and crew interviews, documentary, behind-the-scenes footage, multi-angle option for three songs, extensive photo gallery, discography, DVD-ROM content, internet website links

Director:

Wayne Isham

The Band:

Kirk Hammett

James Hetfield

Jason Newsted

Lars Ulrich

Metallica: Cunning Stunts is, in total, a near-3hr compilation of two nights recorded live in Fort Worth, Texas on May 9th and 10th, 1997. With several albums to their credit including ...And Justice For All, Metallica, Load and Re-Load, Metallica first came to our attention in the singles market with The $5.98 EP: Garage Days Revisited which made No.27 in August 1987. Their biggest hits to date have been Enter Sandman (No.5, August 91), Nothing Else Matters (No.6, May 92) and Until It Sleeps (No.5, June 96).

For me though, they came to the fore nearly two years later in April 1989 when One reached No.13. It was a song about the harsh reality of war and what was felt when the worst, apart from death, happens. Taking its cue from the 1971 Dalton Trumbo film, Johnny Got His Gun, it featured a soldier, badly wounded in the war, so much so that he could no longer speak, hear or see...but was still alive. Disabled beyond belief, he still had a mind that was ticking along at 100% but could not express himself ever again. He longed to die so it would give him peace, but how to get his thoughts across to everyone ? If you see the extended promo video to this song, clocking in at nearly eight minutes, it features clips from the film and was released on video in its own right at the time, coming complete with an explanation of the lyrics from drummer Lars Ulrich.

Now I've depressed you all, pick yourself up and give yourself the best reason to spend thirty quid this year.

There are 20 chapters and the track listing is as follows :

1. So What
2. Creeping Death
3. Sad But True
4. Ain't My Bitch
5. Hero of the Day
6. King Nothing
7. One
8. Fuel
9. Bass/Guitar Doodle
10. Nothing Else Matters
11. Until It Sleeps
12. For Whom The Bell Tolls
13. Wherever I May Roam
14. Fade To Black
15. Kill/Ride Medley :

Last Caress

Master Of Puppets

Enter Sandman

Am I Evil ?

Motorbreath

Metallica pic

The band got confused as to
the purpose of a lighting engineer.

An effervescent set, the one thing this double-disc set could do with is a crystal-clear picture that's completely free of artifacts, allowing the full power of the concert to burst through into your living room. After all, you've just shelled out for the most expensive UK DVD released yet (it comes on two discs: one dual-sided and the other single-sided). Lo and behold, picture-perfection is exactly what you get.

Presented in fullscreen 4:3, I was unable to determine the average bitrate as the information is not available on either disc.

Where would a music DVD be without top-notch sound? Nowhere near my DVD player, that's where, which is why I've had a hard time removing this concert from my player (and my memory), but I can't be blamed for the next door neighbours selling up and moving town as the music wakes up the neighbourhood. The sound is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 - for those with the requisite equipment - or Dolby Stereo for those without.

Extras :

Chapters :

There are 20 chapters on this disc as described above in the track listing and even if that wouldn't be enough for a three-hour film, you can't complain when you're getting one chapter per song.

Languages and Lyrics :

The songs are all in English only (but can you really see someone being paid to dub them into another language?) while lyrics, also in English, are most welcome for those times when you either want to 'sing' along or just work out what on earth they're on about.

Other extras :

Where to start ? The total running time is 175 minutes, but only 140 of them cover the concert itself. The remaining 35 can be found amongst the following :
- Band and Crew interviews
- Documentary
- Behind-the-Scenes Footage: including an 'making of' the set destruction at the end of "Enter Sandman".
- Multi-angle option for three songs: This is one of the most impressive aspects of this disc. For three of the songs: Ain't My Bitch, For Whom The Bell Tolls and Wherever I May Roam you can watch from five different angles.
- Extensive photo gallery: But how extensive is extensive? Some DVDs have 30 or 40 photos at most. This DVD beats them all with nearly 1,000 covering every stop of the tour with Metallica music in the background.
- DVD-ROM content: As if the above isn't enough, Metallica: Cunning Stunts comes with a bonus for DVD-ROM owners. Using PC Friendly, the same software used by the region 1 Ronin DVD for their online event, you can read a discography and videography, as well as clicking on a number of internet website links such as Metallica online and The Metallica Store.

Menu :

Still want more? You're hard to please! How about a fully animated and scored menu which is as easy to use as counting from 1 to 2.

Launching the disc gives you the copyright info, the Polygram logo and then goes straight into the concert.

Firstly a note about the multi-angle feature. If at first it seems like it hasn't worked, that's because it takes a second or two to kick in sometimes. I was still sceptical at first because the camera editing moves so quick that it could be just another quick-cut to the next scene. However, if you 'rewind' the DVD after an angle-change kicks in, this confirms it does work as you're looking at a different piece of footage than that just watched.

Overall, this is the best UK DVD I've ever set eyes on to date and it was a serious omission in the Queen's honours list when all involved in production of this disc were not given a knighthood. If I could add anything else, it would be to include both versions of the One promo video, but to be honest, my cup runneth over several times already.

FILM 	 			: *****
PICTURE QUALITY			: *****
SOUND QUALITY 			: *****
EXTRAS				: *****
---------------------------------------
OVERALL				: *****

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1999.

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