Anvil - The Story of Anvil (2009)

Great doco style viewing. A story of fierce determination to make it on the world music stage.

Excellent!

This is a strange little doco about a slightly odd Canadian heavy metal band from the early 80's who faded into obscurity until a fan made this reality doco about the 2 founding members, 'Lips' Kudrow (lead singer/guitarist) and Robb Reiner (drums). The guys have never stopped playing but they are struggling to maintain the rock'n'roll dream & lifestyle as there's been very little recognition or success since the early days. They get an offer to tour Europe, which goes horribly wrong, and on their return to Canada they decide to make one last stab at fame & fortune by making their 13th album - if they can find someone to produce it. At times it felt like I was watching a poor man's version of Metallica's Some King of Monster and felt sorry for these ageing rockers who are trying to hold onto the dream. It all felt a bit pathetic and sad at times but I couldn't help like these two ageing heavy metal dudes. Not a great movie but sort of enjoyable, you can't help but watch and wonder if they realise the dream or does it all fizzle ...

Right up there with the best music doco's I have ever seen. You don't have to like metal to get into this, but it probably helps. The eternal optimism and hope of these bandmates is hard not to admire, and at times, I even felt sorry for their run of hard luck. It's made by a former roadie and is really well done. Great to see they are now getting some success on the back of this movie, opening for AC/DC and other giants of metal.

Being a HUGE Hip Hop fan I didn't think that I would get into this doco, but I really enjoyed it.

i knew nothing about this band and thought its a spinal tap setup ie a silly spoof comedy. but it turn out to be really good movie. i love metal and been to numerous concerts and never knew the hardship of a band trying to make it. saw this band at soundwave! rock n' roll!!!

They never made is because their music is rubbish....and I like Heavy Metal, but this movie is a real treat. Shows the most common side of music. A really funny and often moving doco.

Spinal Tap without the laughs. The question posed by the movie is why were Anvil not as successful as some other heavy metal bands of their time. The simple answer is their music was not as good. Whilst watching I expected the next clip to be them playing Spinal Tap tracks or telling us their amps go up to 11. I like heavy metal music and music docos but this failed on both counts for me.

At the outset I have to say that I am no fan of heavy metal music. I was not interested in this film until I read some glowing reviews. I see movies about serial killers, why can't I see one about heavy metal rockers?. This documentary, actually, does not feature a lot of music. It's a study of two Canadian friends who since their teens have tried to make it in the rock world....and failed..so far. It's a great study of obsession and compromise. It held my interest totally. In the end I found it surprisingly moving. Recommended.

Poor old Anvil you can't help feeling sorry for Lips and at the same time admiring his blind optimism. Sometimes sad sometimes affirming and almost always funny. A real life Spinal Tap.

Its hard to tel if this movie is funny, inspiring, poignant or depressing. Either way it is well worth a look and probably one of the best rock docos ever made.

an alright doco, not the best doco but still very interesting some of the stuff they go thorugh just to make it. also the fights are just insane but very interesting stuff.

Liked it a lot. A good overview of what we don't show much in this business...people also fail and not many actually succeed. Young musicians dreaming of making a career in music should definitely watch this before leaving school or their daily job. The 2 Anvil guys were heaps touching and I wish them all the best. I listened to Anvil when I was a teenager and they were definitely out there. A band that didn't make it in my opinion because of the lack of creativity and Metal at the time was changing very fast, too fast for Anvil. Bands like Metallica, Slayer ...were going to rise. Anyway a good documentary with some funny moments and some sad ones. Anvil Rocks!