My Top 10 Movies of 2009 – Anvil! The Story of Anvil

This is the third post in my series covering my favorite movies of 2009. My third honorable mention is… “Anvil! The Story of Anvil”.

If you are a hardcore metal fan then you are probably familiar with a band called Anvil. They formed in the late 70’s to a fair amount of acclaim and attention for creating a new raw energy in a still fairly budding American metal scene. If like me you had never heard of Anvil, this documentary does a great job of explaining their origins before really getting into the thick of it.

The movie chronicles the bands’ current efforts and attempts in rekindling their initial success while simultaneously offering up interviews with popular musicians about Anvil and their influence. Unfortunately, the current state of Anvil’s band members is a sort of washed-up local legend status, but not quite legendary enough that they can go without ‘normal’ jobs (outside of  being a ‘rock star’). Lead singer and guitarist Steve “Lips” Kudlow is a driver for a catering company while the drummer works in construction. I’m sure you can already grasp the bleak picture that is taking shape.

Anvil at a Bar, Discussing Their Next Move

Despite their constant lack of success these 50 year old veterans somehow still have the same drive and determination that they did on day one. They are constantly looking for shows to play, tours to plan, and ways to get back into the limelight. The movie jumps around between family life, money problems, and fruitless attempts at a European tour. The movie lets us get to know the real Steve and Robb for who they are, driven and passionate men that are stuck in a quagmire of failure, but who still maintain a sense of humor and humility despite it all.

The scattered interviews with rock legends such as Slash, Tom Araya, Lemmy, and Lars Ulrich, do well to seed our minds with the immense success that was had and further expected of Anvil when they first broke onto the scene. This gives the viewer a tiny window into what Anvil is going through as we watch them continue to struggle through failure after failure.

If you are into documentaries, both tragic and uplifting, this movie will be a great watch for you. And if you are music lover then you have no reason to pass it up, heavy metal or not.

In a wonderful example of a documentary having measurable real world impact, the band has started to see some recent success. They have performed on The Tonight Show, opened for AC/DC, and will be touring with another band called RATT. Sounds pretty metal to me.

Anvil at the Beach

The downtrodden but determined people of this heartfelt movie reminded me a lot of those from “The King of Kong”, another documentary worth seeing, but without the conflict.

Read more about “Anvil! The Story of Anvil” at Wikipedia and IMDB.