Metallica: Through the Never is a 2013 concert film directed by Nimród Antal. Footage of
Metallica shot in
Vancouver and Edmonton in August 2012 is intercut with a plot involving young roadie Trip (
Dane DeHaan), who is sent to bring gas to a truck carrying "something very important." His mission turns into a surreal misadventure when he gets caught up in a riot.
Metallica: Through the Never contains examples of:
- Bloody Handprint: The first sign that something unusual is going on is a bloody handprint Trip sees on a sign.
- Bullet Time: Used on and off when Trip, on fire, is fighting with the mob.
- Chain-Link Fence: The mob chases Trip through a series of alleys. He comes across one fence, which he climbs. The mob climbs after him. Later he comes across another fence, which is topped with barbed wire, leaving him trapped.
- Heroic BSoD: The truck's driver is stuck in the driver's seat, staring at nothing and doesn't react when Trip tries banging on the windows.
- MacGuffin: The movie never shows what's in the duffel bag, even when Trip opens it to see. He is apparently shaken by it, though. The mob doesn't show any interest in it when they corner Trip. The film ends on a shot of it, still closed.
- Man on Fire:
- During one riot scene, a cop is set on fire.
- When Trip is cornered, he pours gasoline on himself and uses a lighter to set himself on fire. He runs through the mob punching people until cops and rioters knock him to the ground and beat him, still on fire. He wakes up uninjured on the roof of a parking garage.
- As the band's elaborate stage set collapses around them, an electrical failure sets a stagehand on fire. He runs flaming across the stage until some technicians put him out with fire extinguishers. Hetfield calls a halt to the show while EMTs tend to him and another man who was injured.
- Mickey Mousing: When the line of riot police are first shown, they are beating their shields to the rhythm of "Wherever I May Roam."
- Performance Video: The movie consists mostly of these.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: One shot of the riot is from inside a building's lobby, with peaceful elevator music playing.
- Soft Glass: A car slams into Trip's van, flipping it over and shattering the windows. Trip is showered in broken glass, but his only injuries are from being thrown against the walls of the van.
- Special Thanks: "Metallica would like to thank our significant others, our children & our families. Thank you, THE METALLICA FAMILY OF FANS." Then there's a long list of people under "Special Thanks," and then "Special Thanks to the forgotten one, ANNA PANDORF."
- Time Lapse: After Trip arrives in the stadium at the beginning of the movie, there's a time lapse of crowds of people moving into the stadium before the first song starts.
- What a Drag: One cop, wearing a gas mask and riding a horse, lassos Trip by the neck and drags him around the roof of a parking garage.
- Wipe: When Trip is driving through the stadium parking lot, one of the supports is used to wipe to concert footage.
