Anvil! The Story of Anvil Reviews and Ratings



  • December 1, 2009
    Absolutely fantastic documentary, a perfect companion to Some Kind Of Monster.. the complete opposite side of the same coin.
  • November 23, 2009
    One of the best and most realistic documentaries on a rock band. Engaging from start to finish!
  • November 19, 2009
    Follows the two best friends as they have the opportunity to do a European tour with their band. Things don't work out the best, but for this band it doesnt stop anything as they have been together making music for 35 years. They hit their high point 25 years ago, but havent give...( read more)n it up. Somehow they come up with the $30,000 to produce an album, but end up releasing it on their own when no record companies are interested. Also, they work shit jobs, yet seem to have rather nice homes. (But we all know they keep a bag of gold around their necks.) Interviews with fellow metal musicians as well as family members and long-time fans add good depth to this documentary. This film is great for the metalhead who wants to learn more about this great band, but sometimes it seems that they were hamming it up, being overly dramatic for the camera (a la so many ?reality" programs). So many Spinal Tap similarities! At least this film has helped to generate wider interest in the band.
  • November 11, 2009
    Very enjoyable documentary perfect for a Sunday evening. The viewer get right behind the band whatever their personal music taste.
  • November 7, 2009
    Excellent film. Enjoyed every minute of it. There was hardly nothing to dislike about this wonderful 90 minute Rockumentary about a down on its luck Canadian metal band of aging rockers.

    Oscarworthy for best documentary I havent enjoyed a film this much in a while, its funny, he...( read more)artwarming, interesting and just the right length!

    I think this might be my first 5 star film.

    There are times that you think something might have been staged, but the honesty which Steve Lips Kudlow and Robb Reiner confront the making of this film is fascinating to watch. There are tears, laughter, fights, disappointments and anger. Perhaps its because they are Canadian that I liked them that little bit more, I don't know.

    One thing, I hope they do well out of this, they deserve it.
  • November 4, 2009
    The (serious) spinal tap of 09. =Best Documentary of 2009=
  • October 31, 2009
    This documentary (or rather, rockumentary) depicts the Canadian heavy metal band Anvil which achieved moderate success in the 80s, the film picks up with the band at a crossroads after twenty years of failure. The movie shows the band embarking on a pretty lousy European tour th...( read more)ey commenced after taking a vacation from their day jobs. After this they are shown cutting their thirteenth album and trying to sell it to major labels. Many have compared this to This is Spinal Tap, which is misleading first because it?s a genuine documentary about a real band and secondly because it isn?t very funny. Of course the movie does invite this comparison when it chooses to focus on a dial being turned to eleven and on a trip the band takes to Stonehenge, but perhaps the better film to compare it to is Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, which shows a significantly more successful band dealing with a ton of comparable problems. I think a lot of the appeal this movie has had plays into a certain sense of nostalgic entitlement that could also be seen to some extent in films like The King of Kong and The Wrestler, movies which deal with people trying to return to their 80s glory days after years of failure at a cheesy endeavor. As I watched the film I couldn?t help but wonder if maybe, just maybe, the band kind of deserves the fate they?ve been dealt. The music played over the course of the movie is not great and the album they?re tying to make sounds really dated, it sounds to me like there?s more involved in the band?s lack of success than the world conspiring against them, these are not thoughts that should be going through your head while watching a movie that so desperately wants to be about underdogs overcoming adversity.
  • October 17, 2009
    Boy does it feel good to give a movie four stars again! Funny, touching, and unexpectedly life affirming, this documentary had a smile on my face almost the entire time. Even if you're not interested in metal music, dont' let it deter you from seeing this film. It will make yo...( read more)u feel pretty darn good.
  • October 12, 2009
    A good documentary of a band that should have had a bigger amount of sucsess than they do. Not my type of music but I was rooting for these guys all through the movie. Will they be able to record a new album? Will they have sucess on a European tour? Will they be able to get a ma...( read more)jor record deal after trying for 20 years? A great example that shows if you are doing what you love, it's not really work.
  • October 12, 2009
    Very entertaining rock doc by screenwriter/fan Sacha Gervasi. This one could go all the way to awards season!
  • October 12, 2009
    Heartfelt, funny, and passionate... "Anvil: The Story of Anvil" is a spectacular documentary about one band's 30 year quest of making the big time. It's also one of the most inspiring documents ever captured on film, and one of the greatest films about rock music and the music in...( read more)dustry. Not to be missed.
  • October 9, 2009
    Sweet documentary about two lifelong friends and their heavy metal band, who never made it big, but never gave up. Through a disastrous European tour, recording their thirteenth album ("This is Thirteen"), and a surprise Japanese gig , the director lets the brotherly relationship...( read more) (i.e. affectionate plus bickering) between Lips and Robb carry most of the film, but has room for plenty of wordless humour, like the record producer who at one point turns the volume dial all the way up to 11.
  • October 7, 2009
    Great stuff. Highly entertaining. What gets me though, is why don't all these megastars that talk at the start of the film about how great Anvil are, put one of thjeir songs on a b-side or something? I know they're not asking for charity, but it would be a nice gesture.
  • October 3, 2009
    You don't have to like heavy metal to appreciate this documentary about seminal Canadian band Anvil (although it certainly doesn't hurt if you do). While singer/guitarist Steve "Lips" Kudlow and drummer Robb Reiner are genuinely endearing, much of the credit for this film goes t...( read more)o Sacha Gervasi's tender direction. Gervasi worked as a roadie for Anvil years before writing the screenplay for "The Terminal". While Kudlow and Reiner's friendship is immediately apparent on screen, Gervasi's affection and respect for them is more sublime, revealing itself as it steadily yet silently encourages viewers to pull for a couple of over the hill rockers to finally make it big despite 30+ years of bad breaks.
  • September 19, 2009
    Interesting enough. More so I think if you were seriously into metal, or had lived through that transition.
  • September 14, 2009
    A documentary following the metal band Anvil, who fell by the wayside when so many of their contemporaries made it big, it would have been easy to make this film from a sneering, derogatory standpoint; let's face it, men in their 50s in perms and spandex are an easy target. But r...( read more)ather than treat them as a figure of fun, this inspiring film is more about a group of people choosing to follow and never give up on their dream. Lips (!) is such an honest and big-hearted person that you cannot help but warm to him and his attitude of spending his life doing what he loves, no matter what other people think. You don't have to be a metal fan to appreciate it; I myself do like my rock music, but to be honest, Anvil are pretty bad anyway! But that's not the point. There are times when you can't help but laugh, but it's an affectionate film that will probably invite comparisons with This Is Spinal Tap, but I personally felt it was more like a more upbeat version of The Wrestler. Quite life affirming in its own, offbeat way and I hope that this goes some way to help them fulfil their dream at least in some small part.
  • September 7, 2009
    pretty funny story and is somewhat inspiring... but overall the whole thing was just too finished with too many 'non documentary' shots.

    i like the subject matter to make the film not the camera man.
  • August 24, 2009
    A band that out stayed it's 15 seconds of fame for 13 albums and over 30 years is truly a story of determination but @ some times so sad that it's almost like it's rip straight from Spinal Tap. Only in Japan can Anvil reign...God I hope they've found a manager
  • August 23, 2009
    Not that I've seen many documentaries, but this is my favorite to date. From knowing that Anvil has gained some mainstream success due to this film, going back to see all that they have gone through to get to where they are today is a pleasure and triumph on their part.
  • August 22, 2009
    A funny and touching look at 80's metal band Anvils' slow but probably timely comeback. This documentry shows how the band hit their peak in the early-mid eighties before almost disappearing into obscurity. With singer Steve "Lips" Kudlow now working for a catering company but ke...( read more)eping the band going in his spare time and drummer Rob Reiner spending his time painting and looking back at what could have been, it seems Anvils time has come and gone. But after a european fan organises a tour, albeit a disaster, it kind of kick starts the band into action again and we see their journey as they attempt to keep the band alive and make a new album. This film is at times funny, sad and exciting as we see the occassionaly deluded Lips bang on about the past and still making it, he proves to be an endearing character, as well as clips of the band performing and profiles of other band members past and present. Throw in interviews with Lars Ulrich, Slash, Lemmy, Scott Ian and Tom Araya and you've got a great film that not just metal fans, but everyone, can enjoy.
  • August 12, 2009
    Two childhood friends form a heavy metal band at the age of fourteen. Thirteen albums later with both of them in their fifties, they're hoping to make it big.
    This is a great documentary about the life of people who came close to making it but never did but, still hold on. I fe...( read more)lt sorry for the guys in some parts where they were on tour in Europe and a stadium that holds 10,000 people had a crowd of 148. They even borrow money to produce a professional album but no record labels want to get behind it.
    Even if you aren't a fan of their music, this documentary is worth checking out.
  • August 2, 2009
    The movie started as rubbish and turned out to be revoltingly terrible.
    I couldn't even manage to see it all, that's just how bad it was.
  • July 15, 2009
    Top fucking notch!!! From start to finish an absolute riot - because it's real. Here we have 50-odd year-old guys relentlessly and aimlessly following a dream that one day it will happen. It is painfully obvious why there act hasn't taken them anywhere except to lipps and robb...( read more). It's excellent to see to friends fall in and out with each without any real reason other than being pissed off that life's such a struggle when they are together...especially on tour and recording this is thirteen! Brilliant brilliant brilliant!!!!
  • July 14, 2009
    These guys just love music. To be able to hold together a band for 30 years with little success, fiscally anyways, its amazing. Although it's not my style of music I found this film very touching. It's a rarity to find people the spirit to pursue their passions no matter the chal...( read more)lenges. I almost cried at the end. It's a beautiful documentary,

    Anyone who's ever been in a band or picked up an instrument should definitely see this.
  • July 12, 2009
    Good film, but I think they need to take up another interest.
  • July 6, 2009
    an inspiring emotional doctumentary. Believe every excellent review this flick has gotten and sit back and be ready to laugh and cry. Man i hope ANVIL do well on their tour with AC/DC. I can't recommend this movie enough. Even Dustin Hoffman loved and was moved by this and he...( read more) stated that he hated heavy metal!! TWO THUMBS UP!! Now excuse me while i go put on "METAL ON METAL" to bang my head to....
  • July 4, 2009
    Recomendation : Filmcritic
  • July 4, 2009
    Steve 'Lips' Kudlow: I started out with Robb when I was 14, 15 years old, and I said, "We're gonna do it till we're old men," and I really meant that.

    I felt really bad for these guys, they are such a dedicated band but have had such a tough break in the music industry. Anvil ...( read more)are a good band, as good as some that actually made it which is why it is so hard to believe that they just completely slipped of the radar. A funny, moving and inspiring documentry of a band that inspired many yet never quite made it themselves.
  • July 3, 2009
    Recommended by scottydgibbs.
  • July 3, 2009
    anvil were to make it big in the eighties,with the likes of bon jovi, metallica and many others, but never did, making over 13 records to this day, but certainly not raking it in and here we see them doing there day jobs,and a spinal tap like tour around europe, we see the highs ...( read more)and very lows of this troubled band, its very entertaining to watch them live the dream, or what there is of it, and looking to the future wit a new album. there passionate about there music and especially being in anvil
  • June 26, 2009
    Touching tale of 'believing in the dream' and male bonding with a great 'odd couple' relationship at its heart. Beats Metallica's similar documentary because the leads are far more likeable and endearing.
  • June 23, 2009
    hehehe, that rocked =D
  • June 13, 2009
    Very funny and sweet movie about two childhood friends trying to reclaim the fleeting success they had in the 80s with their band. Part real life Spinal Tap, part frustrating/heartbreaking, you can't help but fall in love with these dudes and PRAY something good happens to furth...( read more)er their rockin' dream.
  • June 11, 2009
    What a fantastic little documentary. The story of the band Anvil is one that I'm sure a lot of artists can attest to at one time or another. A nice rise to cult status in the world of heavy metal, even going as far as being instrumental in the evolution of heavy metal, and then...( read more) a long time of obscurity and missed opportunities. This documentary is not about heavy metal or fame although both play some part. This is about family, friendship and the love for music. It's sometimes hard to see the friends fight or have very few people show up when you expect a lot more, but you can't help but be uplifted by Lips positive attitude. In the end, this is the most charming metal documentary ever with a vibrator guitar solo.

    Oh, and whoever says they saw the name Robb Reiner/Anvil/Documentary and didn't think Spinal Tap/mockumentary, was lying!
  • June 3, 2009
    You will learn more about passion, ambition, and, above all, friendship in this little movie, than from any of the numerous melodramatic oscar-baits that come out every year. The friendship of Lips Kudlow and Robb Reiner may very well be of the most amazing relationships I've see...( read more)n on film in a very long time.
  • June 3, 2009
    very enjoyable rockectory about aging heavy metal band from canada, comparisons to spinal tap are unfair in my view
  • May 25, 2009
    Middle-aged rockers struggle to regain the spotlight in "Anvil! The Story the Anvil".

    Don't fret if the band name doesn't ring any bells. Although highly successful and influential in the 80's, Anvil, the hair metal group from Toronto, has vanished largely into obscurity. When ...( read more)I first heard of the film, I thought it was a mockumentary. Then, to my surprise, the film opens with evidence of Anvil in their heyday with accompanying praise by some of the most elite rockers in heavy metal - Lars Ulrich, Slash, Lemmy Kilmister, and Scott Ian. Anvil was very much a big deal.

    Director Sacha Gervasi was a longtime fan of Anvil - so passionate, in fact, that he was a roadie for them in the 80's. Following his success as a screenwriter for films like "The Terminal" and "The Big Tease", he tracked down the hair rockers to see where they are now. Needless to say, life is not as glamorous as it used to be.

    As the film opens, we see Anvil performing in front of thousands in Japan. Steve "Lips" Kudlow, in bondage gear, plays a guitar solo with a vibrator. Fans scream along: "metal on metal". Then Gervasi cuts to modern day Lips Kudlow. He's delivering school lunches. The lead singer, once in front of thousands of screaming fans, now struggles to remember the weekly menu. Although the most obvious comparison to "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" is "This is Spinal Tap!", it's story is eerily reminiscent Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler". Try to watch Kudlow without thinking about Randy the Ram.

    Lips, despite never attaining the success he deserved, is not a pessimist. He has a wonderful family, a loyal best friend in his long time drummer, Robb Reiner, and he mentions that although life can be tough it's all worth it when he gets to perform. We meet two middle-aged loyal fans after a performance in a dingy bar citing that they've seen Anvil hundreds of times. There's a film to make about them, as well.

    One of the remaining passionate Anvil fans is Tiziana Arrigoni, a promoter from Sweden. She books the band a European tour, however she's inexperienced, incompetent, and utterly out-of-her-league. On the tour they get stiffed on their pay, miss their trains, and only draw 178 people to a venue that holds 10,000. Although Robb and Lips reach a low point, however, things turn around when they get veteran metal producer Chris Tsangarides to record their 13th album with a financial assist from Lips' sister. One of the most touching moments of the film is when Lips, having been loaned the money to record his album, realizes the importance of family.

    The best thing about "Anvil!" is that it isn't condescending. The film, in fact, admires Lips and Reiner's unbreakable will and determination. Although the film has many laughs, more than any film this year, it's never laughing at the expense of it's subjects.

    The film was released at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, therefore i'm not sure what to make of it's eligibility in a "Best of 2009" list - but, one things for sure, it's the best new film i've seen so far this year.
  • April 23, 2009
    see hasu
    kiter arye
  • April 23, 2009
    ooOWwWwW!!!!!!........
  • April 23, 2009
    can i see it in flixster??
  • April 21, 2009
    This was a heartfelt film about some people who refused to let time erode their dreams. AWESOME!
  • April 19, 2009
    Amazing doc that is hilarious and touching throughout.
    You never feel like you're being manipulated in this fantastic film, and whether you like their music or not, you'll feel like buying an album just to help these nice guys out.
    I can't recommend this one highly enough, a must...( read more) see.
  • April 16, 2009
    Looks like a real-life "This Is Spinal Tap."
  • April 15, 2009
    TAASAN NYO POH RATINGS KO TNX
  • April 13, 2009
    There's a reason so many people love this movie after seeing it. This is a movie about dreamers, and everyone can relate, even if you've never listened to rock or metal.
  • April 12, 2009
    ga logisss aneh, ga layak di tonton

Summary


Anvil! The Story of Anvil Summary