Anyone who’s already seen the remarkable documentary, “Anvil! The Story of Anvil,” knows the Spinal Tap-ish tale is like, at least superficially, a VH1 Behind The Music episode, but engagingly made for the big screen with a ton of heart and depth.
So it’s very fitting that VH1 has snapped up the theatrical rights to the movie according to THR. As previously reported, the film comes out April 10th in the U.S.
Directed by Sacha Gervasi (who wrote Spielberg’s “The Terminal”) the documentary chronicles the seemingly washed-up 1980s Canadian heavy-metal rockers, Anvil (they had one hit in the eighties called, “Metal On Metal“), and the film is comical, tragic and emotionally awe-inspiring (Michael Moore called it, “The best documentary I’ve seen in years!”).
Funny and poignant, it really is something. We loved it when we saw it last year, and we included it in our list of the Best Films We Saw In 2008 (whether they were technically released in that year or not. We also talked to the film’s music composer David Norland who — along with a few cues by David Torn (“The Wackness,” “Lars & The Real Girl”) and some music by Air and Explosions In The Sky — created some stirring and beautiful sonic experience in the picture too.
A lot of people shrug when they hear about this film if they don’t care about metal or know the band, but that’s completely missing the point of how marvelous it is. “This film is so much more than a documentary about the roots of metal — it’s a story about the power of perseverance and friendship and the passion that drives them,” VH1 president Tom Calderone said, echoing this sentiment. ” ‘Anvil!’ has a huge heart and will resonate with all of our viewers. This is the type of project that drew me into the VH1 fold and makes me especially proud to work here.”
Here’s the trailer if you haven’t already seen it. The Anvil story is such an amazing underdog tale that the band have also scored a book deal. “Anvil! The Story Of Anvil” autobiography written by the band’s founders Steve ‘Lips’ Kudlow and Robb Reiner comes out March 12 and features a foreward by ex-Guns N’ Roses rocker Slash. The doc itself features glowing testimonials of the band by members of Motorhead, Metallica, Anthrax and Slayer. Go out of your way to see this film.
VH1 will put on seven events in U.S. cities timed to the release of the doc and each will include a screening of the film and performance by the band (we saw them play in Brooklyn last summer and it rocked, ironically and unironically).