Dorks, loners, weirdos, outliers. That’s how some Metallica fans described themselves in the new documentary Metallica Saved My Life. Revolver was on the scene for an unforgettable night at the Tribeca Film Festival for the world premiere of the highly-anticipated film. The festival welcomed Metallica fans, the film’s director Jonas Åkerlund, and band members James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Rob Trujillo and Lars Ulrich to celebrate the powerful impact that the iconic group has had over the years.
The event was itself a fan’s dream, with all four band members appearing on the red carpet and participating in a Q&A post screening. The lucky members of the audience were treated to a fast-paced history of Metallica jam-packed with archival footage and interviews with some of their earliest champions, including the founder of the group’s very first fan club. These supporters became indispensable DIY street teams, helping to spread the gospel of Metallica by copying cassette tapes to hand out, and all have stayed personally connected to the band throughout the years. The behind-the-scenes stories and memorabilia they shared underlined their special place in the group’s early history.
Later in the film, emotions ran high when band members and fans memorialized bassist Cliff Burton, who died in September 1986 in a devastating tour-bus accident. Celebrated as both a close friend and an important part of the band’s legacy, Burton’s memory will never be forgotten by the Metallica family.
Metallica Saved My Life features a series of compelling personal fan stories, including that of Peter Sobek, a devotee in New York who was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident. After being sidelined by his injuries for a year, he worked tirelessly to recuperate with the goal of attending a Metallica concert. His wife Sarah Sobek described how other fans looked out for Peter when he was finally strong enough to see the band perform. She teared up recounting how she witnessed him being supported by fellow Metallica die-hards at the show, and how she came to realization then that she finally had her husband back after the long struggle to heal his body and his life.
This feeling goes both ways. During the Q&A following the screening, Trujillo commented that “the fans heal us.”
Metallica fans are spread across the world and the film highlights the band’s global reach. A fan in Japan opened a Metallica-themed bar crammed with memorabilia, attracting fellow enthusiasts with a double shot of community and beer. But other international fans’ stories are less light-hearted — some shared bone-chilling accounts of the threats they faced as metalheads living under oppressive regimes, where the music was considered a threat to the state. A Ukrainian fan shared how the band’s songs help him cope with the war in his country on a daily basis. Lebanese fan Lina Khatib described how it helped her endure the political violence that engulfed her country. Other devotees acknowledged the life-saving impact the music had on them while they struggled with self-worth issues, a sense of belonging and identity. Austin Manning, a black trans man originally from Dallas, shared how he found strength in the band’s songs and acceptance from the fan community while transitioning. Another fan interviewed said Metallica “makes you want to live.”
There’s plenty of electrifying concert footage in Metallica Saved My Life. Some of the die-hards interviewed have seen the band over a hundred times, and the film captures some very special moments as fans brimming with excitement finally meet their idols. But not everyone gets that opportunity — the Metallica enthusiasts interviewed in Botswana haven’t been able to see the band perform in their country. That hasn’t stopped this small but passionate metal subculture from thriving and forming their own local bands and scene. The film’s producer, Alice Webb, described these fans’ communion with Metallica as “entirely based on the music alone, the lyrics and what it says to them and there’s some very powerful stories in there.”
Director Jonas Åkerlund (Spun, Lords of Chaos, Polar) credits the band with the idea for Metallica Saved My Life. The film is a tribute to the diversity of the Metallica family worldwide. It celebrates the culture that they all took part in creating together and is a sort of gift from the band to everyone who considers Metallica the soundtrack to their lives. As Ulrich asserts in the film, “Metallica is all of us together. It belongs to all of us.”
Trujillo continued this theme during the Q&A, sharing that there’s “power in unity” while emphasizing the importance of that message right now.
During that Q&A, Hetfield said, “The one thing that is purposeful is we want to be as intimate as possible when we’re onstage with the crowd and that has always been No. 1 with every show we do. How do we get closer, you know? What’s this barricade thing? Can’t we get rid of that? You know, it’s gotta be the ultimate, right?”
Ahead of both the screening and Q&A, Revolver was on hand at the red carpet to interview Hetfield and Hammett, director Jonas Åkerlund, and producer Alice Webb of Mercury Studios.
What band saved your life?
Kirk Hammett UFO!
James Hetfield It’s probably a combination of Aerosmith and Black Sabbath.
Flipping the concept of the film, how have Metallica’s fans saved your life?
Hammett They’ve been part of the whole impetus, the whole engine that keeps this whole thing going.
Hetfield They make me feel that I’m not weird. That what I’m singing about, what I’m doing, isn’t like so out there that I’m too far gone. That they identify, and they make me belong on the planet.
With so many Metallica fans worldwide, how did you narrow it down to the handful who appear in the film?
Hetfield I think this movie was seven hours long in the beginning. They had to squeeze it down. There’s so many great stories about fans and their lives. We get to tell our lives in the press and through our music and all of that stuff. This is the chance for their lives to get heard. There are so many amazing stories out there, how music has helped people through their lives, and we’re super grateful to be able to show this — that exact thing in this film. So how did we choose? I think it was a combination of the story, how long they’ve been a fan, their character, entertaining enough. We basically left that up to Jonas, he kind of did the pick and choose. He made it exciting for a few hours.
Hammett There were a core bunch of fans that we had to choose. It was quite a difficult choice. The people who appear in the film came from a really, really big pool of people. It was narrowed down after a while. These people are very familiar people that we’ve seen at tons of shows. Over decades even. When I see them on the screen, I’m like, Ah, they made it into the film, I know this person.
Jonas, you’ve worked with mega pop stars as a filmmaker — does Metallica take you back to your roots?
Jonas Åkerlund Definitely my metal roots. I was always more of an English metal guy, but the one band that was always there for me was Metallica… And I was there early. I saw them play early. I saw the last Cliff Burton gig, and saw them a couple of times with Cliff, so I was around, for sure.
How did your collaboration come together with the band initially?
Åkerlund They had this idea. They’d been thinking about it for a long time. They were curious to understand where this diversity happened with their fans. And they were curious to know more about it. So they sent me out like a soldier on the field to gather these stories. And to be honest, it was fun and not that hard, but once I came back to the edit room with all this footage it was a gigantic challenge to put it together.
Alice, how is this movie different from other films you’ve done?
Alice Webb The great thing about this film is Metallica’s role. Everyone comes to it thinking it’s about famous people. You come because you might think you know the band. This is going to turn everyone’s expectations on their heads. This is not your standard music documentary. We don’t make those at Mercury Studios. We make stories that have music at the heart of them but they’re stories of what it is to be human. They are stories that are totally translatable and relatable, so that’s what you’re going to find in this film. We’re very privileged that the band wanted to lean so heavily into this story.
