Review of Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2008) by Jeff Q — 06 Oct 2009

Anvil is the documentary film that captures one of the greatest Thrash Metal bands you've never heard of, Anvil. In the early 80's, Canadian band Anvil crashed into the metal scene with an onslaught of fast-paced speed/thrash metal that caught everyone's attention (specifically the biggest hit of theirs Metal on Metal), but quickly faded into obscurity thanks to bad album marketing and terrible management.

30 years later, now that the founding members, vocalist Lipps and drummer Robb Reiner, are in their 50's, their dream of being rock stars still lives on as they bleed metal, determined to get the recognition they honestly deserve.

Some new but still poor management leads them on a rough and disappointing tour, thus forcing them to realize they need to up their game by reuniting with their old producer of their most popular albums and start promoting it to bigger, better labels.

As each obstacle and hurdle (and there are a lot of them) gets in the way, the band makes every attempt to jump over them. As a result, the film comes off as hilarious at times, but also heartbreaking AND heartwarming.

These real people show us some very raw and beautiful emotions that had my eyes glued to the screen, watching every minute of this beautifully told story. The documentary perfectly resembles a cross between the epic faux-documentary This is Spinal Tap and the equally awesome (and very real) American Movie.

This is a powerful film that has done the band justice (giving them the attention they deserve). I can honestly say nothing negative about this film. Excellent watch. One of my favorites this year.