Hacker Cinema
Metal: A Headbanger's Journey
2005 · Film · documentary · 91 min
Directed by Sam Dunn, Scot McFadyen, Jessica Joy Wise
The film discusses the traits and originators of some of metal's many subgenres, including the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, power metal, Nu metal, glam metal, thrash metal, black metal, and death metal. Dunn uses a family-tree-type flowchart to document some of the most popular metal subgenres. The film also explores various aspects of heavy metal culture.
4 positivefrom 4 commenters
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4 comments on Hacker News
Love it, though it looks like the website got the HN hug of death.
One of my favorite documentaries to learn the history of metal is "metal: a headbanger's journey" (available on YouTube).
Good list of examples. I like to point people to Every Noise at Once ( http://everynoise.com/engenremap.html ) to show the differences between the types of Metal.
BTW, it is really really nice to see a post related to this my favourite type of music here in Hacker News. For people that do not understand Metal I can recommend the documentary "Metal, A HeadBanger's journey" ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal:_A_Headbanger's_Journey ) which tries to explain in a "anthropological" way, the background of metal.
There's a guy, Sam Dunn[0], who is an anthropologist and metal head. He did the documentary movie Metal: A Headbanger's Journey[1] and later the documentary series Metal Evolution[2] on VH1 Classic. If you're interested at all in the topic, they're definitely fun to watch, a good way to find some new music, and learn a bit more and think more about what's going on with the music. Personally, I found the episode on Shock Rock to be my favorite.
[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Dunn
[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal:_A_Headbanger%27s_Journey
[2] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Evolution
This is turning out to be a really awesome list; here are a few others I feel should be mentioned:
- Dear Zachery: one of my all time favorite documentaries. Amazingly tragic, depressing, and infuriating, but extremely well made. (http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Dear_Zachary_A_Letter_to_a_Son_About_His_Father/70095159?trkid=2361637)
- The Great Happiness Space: an interesting look into the lives of japanese male 'escorts'; the unfolding of the moral dilemmas they face in doing their job is quite fascinating. (http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/The_Great_Happiness_Space/70067160?trkid=2361637)
- Heavy Metal In Baghdad: If you think running a startup is hard, multiply that difficulty a couple times just to get an idea of what these guys had to go through just to be able to play the music they enjoy. Don't have to be a metalhead to enjoy this one, but it helps \m/ (http://www.vbs.tv/watch/acrassicauda--2/heavy-metal-in-baghdad-feature), Also, be sure to checkout their follow-up, 'Heavy Metal in Istanbul' (http://www.vbs.tv/watch/acrassicauda--2/dvd-extra-heavy-metal-in-istanbul)
- Metal A Headbanger's Journey: Another one of my favorites, definitely a must watch if you're at all into metal; it basically traces the roots of metal, and explores all the different sub-genres and cultures it has spawned (http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/metal-headbangers-journey/)
- Standing In The Shadows Of Motown: Great doc about the greatest band no one has heard of; "This unheralded group of musicians had played on more number ones hits than the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, Elvis and the Beatles combined - which makes them the greatest hit machine in the history of popular music. They called themselves the Funk Brothers." (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=7&ved=0CFkQtwIwBg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2Fvideoplay%3Fdocid%3D-457607153062514364&ei=TNUHTtmkGYaCsQO1h53BDQ&usg=AFQjCNGz6jUK-Cl29OKlFuOwpVsxmwU85w)
- This Film Is Not Yet Rated: about the craziness that happens behind the film rating process (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CEQQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.netflix.com%2FMovie%2FThis-Film-Is-Not-Yet-Rated%2F70043954&ei=A9YHTqKyGY3msQOh_q3DDQ&usg=AFQjCNHrMy-duaWgtAfbu-0LQqqaoOkaMA)
- E=mc2 - Einstein and the World's Most Famous Equation: A look into the history behind all the scientific descoveries that led to Einstein's famous equation (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4144497206440839046#)
- Maxed out: Great look into the american credit card situation (http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Maxed-Out/70058892?trkid=438403)
- Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock?: A really cool, unique ride through the business of art (http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Who-the-Is-Jackson-Pollock/70064699?trkid=438403)
- Mr. Death - The Rise and Fall of Fred A Leuchter Jr.: About the fascinating life of an expert executioner (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=654178281151939378#)
- American Drug War: a look into what the war against drugs has done to the U.S. (http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/american-drug-war/)
- Between The Folds: A surprisingly interesting oragami documentary (http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Between-the-Folds/70120179?trkid=438403)
I'm sure I know of plenty more great ones, but these are all that came to mind at the moment...