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Hammett, for his part, states in the film that he forever tries “to be an example of being egoless to the other guys.” Throughout Some Kind of Monster he’s constantly playing the role of mediator between Hetfield and Ulrich, attempting to keep things running smoothly so that the band can continue working. “Egos create gridlock,” reasons Hammett. “If I started in as well, there would just be three egos battling instead of two.”

pushing to that next level. James is clearly“In the film, Kirk is always the guy saying, ‘Come on, let’s not beat on each other,’ ” says Sinofsky, “while Lars is constantly the one with the most problems, and his story is so inspirational because he’s willing and able to overcome those problems. I have so much respect for all of the guys, not only for what they were willing to go through to save their band but also for having the guts to let us film it and now to show it to the world.”

Fans may view Some Kind of Monster as a heroic epic, cautionary tale or merely voyeuristic, reality TV–type fodder. What’s certain is that, for the members of Metallica, at least, the film contains many important lessons that they will continue to learn from in the years to come.

“Cliff Burnstein [Metallica’s manager] was asked what he thought the value of Some Kind of Monster will be,” says Berlinger, “and he said, ‘Forget about the publicity or if it’s going to make money or help to sell some albums—forget about all of that. The most significant thing the film is going to do for these guys is that when things start to fall apart two, three, 10 years from now, I’m going to sit them all down and make them watch it again. It will be a very important vehicle to remind them of what their relationships can be about.’ ”

“That’s a really cool way to look at it,” says Hammett. “This film can be a lesson for the future that was created in the past—sort of a reminder to ourselves, from ourselves. I mean, really, how great a gift is that?”

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