Film
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Anvil! The Story of Anvil follows two lifelong friends, still swinging for stardom in their fifties, on a tour that goes wrong in almost every way a tour can. It's funny, then suddenly not, then funny again — a rockumentary that keeps landing exactly on the line between comedy and heartbreak. Warm, unpretentious, and weirdly moving: less about metal than about refusing to grow up, or give up.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you love the stubborn, funny loyalty of two friends who refuse to quit the thing that made them, and you don't mind if the story is more heart than polish.
Skip it if you want a tidy narrative or slick concert footage, since this is loose, shaggy and content to sit in awkward, unglamorous moments with its subjects.
What it asks of you: Under ninety minutes, it moves at a loose, unhurried pace, with long stretches of conversation and waiting, and it wants your patience more than your attention.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
This Is Spinal Tap1984
The mockumentary Anvil accidentally remade as nonfiction. Watch them together and every joke about a disastrous tour turns out to be something that genuinely happened to a real band.
But If you've seen it a dozen times already, the resemblance is obvious rather than revelatory.
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster2004
The band Anvil influenced, decades later, falling apart in a therapist's office instead of a broken-down van. Same mythology, wildly different economics — money buying no more peace of mind than poverty did.
But Two and a half hours of very rich men in group therapy; slow going if you don't already care about Metallica.
Dig!2004
Two bands, one that made it and one that didn't, filmed obsessively for seven years. It's the tragicomic flip side of Anvil — talent and friendship curdling instead of enduring.
But Meaner and sadder than Anvil; the central rivalry gets genuinely uncomfortable to sit through.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Anvil! The Story of Anvil
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Wrestler2008
Randy 'The Ram' is Lips without the comic relief: same aging body, same refusal to accept it's over, staged as tragedy instead of comedy.
Mickey Rourke plays an aging performer risking his broken-down body for one more night in the spotlight, decades past his prime. The same refusal to quit as Lips, played entirely straight, and devastating.
But A punishing watch — no jokes, no comeback fairy tale, just the real cost of never letting go.
More like this (8)
American Movie1999
A broke Wisconsin filmmaker chases his horror-movie dream with the same doomed, lovable stubbornness as Lips chasing a comeback. One of the funniest, kindest documentaries ever made about failure.
But Some of the humour comes from a man who can't catch a break, which can feel close to mockery.
Searching for Sugar Man2012
A musician who never got his due at home discovers, decades later, he's a legend elsewhere. Where Anvil is about persisting without reward, this is reward arriving absurdly, beautifully late.
But Slicker and more mystery-driven than Anvil's scrappiness — less about friendship, more about one man's strange fate.
Beware of Mr. Baker2012
Cream's legendary, lethal drummer, old and furious in African exile — what happens when talent and self-destruction outlast fame. A rock documentary with real teeth.
But Baker is magnificently unlikeable, nowhere near as huggable as Lips and Robb, by design.
Hands on a Hardbody: The Documentary1997
Ten Texans compete to keep a hand on a pickup truck longer than anyone else for a shot at winning it. No music at all, but the same endurance and dignity that make Anvil sing.
But Zero rock and roll — this substitutes trucks and heatstroke for guitars and vans.
The Wrecking Crew2008
The unsung session musicians behind half of sixties pop, finally getting their due. A gentler companion piece about the gap between fame and the actual, unglamorous work of making records.
But Lower stakes and less drama than Anvil — a tribute more than a story with a real arc.
Marwencol2010
A man rebuilds his shattered life by photographing a miniature WWII town he's built in his backyard. No music, but the same tender fascination with a private, unembarrassed devotion to a strange dream.
But Much stranger and sadder territory — trauma and obsession rather than rock-and-roll comedy.
Inside Llewyn Davis2013
Fiction doing exactly what Anvil does with real footage: a musician stuck in a loop of almost-success, told with the same mix of comedy and quiet despair.
A folk musician circles the same failing career week after week, Coen brothers style — dry, sad, and very funny in a way that never quite lets him win.
But Deliberately circular and unresolved by design; frustrating if you need your underdog to actually triumph.
Salesman1969
The direct-cinema ancestor of Anvil's whole approach: unglamorous men, unglamorous jobs, a camera that just watches them fail and keep going anyway.
Decades before rockumentaries existed, the Maysles brothers followed door-to-door Bible salesmen with the same unflinching, sympathetic camera — men chasing a dream that keeps outrunning them, in grainy black and white.
But Slow and plotless by modern standards, about theology and commerce rather than music — a real shift in subject and pace.
People
Cast
Steve 'Lips' KudlowSelf - Lead Guitar
Robb ReinerSelf - Drummer
Kevin GoocherSelf
Glenn GyorffySelf- William HowellSelf
- Tiziana ArrigoniSelf - Manager
SlashSelf
Lemmy KilmisterSelf
Scott IanSelf
Lars UlrichSelf
Tom ArayaSelf- Jon ZazulaSelf
Directing
- Sacha GervasiDirector
Writing
- Sacha GervasiScreenplay
Production
- Dana SanoAssociate Producer
- Sacha GervasiExecutive Producer
- Rebecca YeldhamProducer
Recommended by
This Is Spinal Tap, Wayne's World, Best Worst Movie, Searching for Sugar Man, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, The Mighty Boosh, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, Dig!, Meet Me in the Bathroom, Flight of the Conchords, Control, I'm Alan Partridge, The Devil and Daniel Johnston, Marley, Mistaken for Strangers, End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones, Soul Power, Crazy Love, Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me, The Wedding Singer, The Weavers: Wasn't That a Time, That Guy... Who Was in That Thing, Shut Up and Play the Hits, Let It Be, Jandek on Corwood, GIMS: On the Record, The Doors, Shine a Light, Heavy Metal Parking Lot, Hired Gun, The Who: The Kids Are Alright, The Sapphires, CBGB, Ballplayer: Pelotero, Crazy Horse, Pearl Jam Twenty, We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen, Kurt & Courtney, Foo Fighters: Back and Forth, Instrument, Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk, Young at Heart, The Go-Go's, Indie Game: The Movie, Scratch, Rude Boy, A Band Called Death, The Second Act of Elliott Murphy, The Blues, WHAM!, Avicii - My Last Show, Svengali, Meeting People Is Easy, Foo Fighters Sonic Highways, Springsteen & I, Kill Your Idols, I Am Trying to Break Your Heart: A Film About Wilco, The Punk Singer, Austin City Limits, Killing Bono, Jai Ho, The Hip - Brainstorm, Art and Craft, It's So Easy and Other Lies, The Punk Syndrome, Work It Out, Waking Sleeping Beauty, Moonage Daydream, The Invisible Hands, Requiem for Detroit?, Cake: Live in San Francisco, Soundbreaking, Aaron Ponzo: A Rockumentary, Lightning in a Bottle, Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007, Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, The Clash: Westway To The World, All in Washington: A Concert for COVID-19 Relief, The Old Grey Whistle Test, Scott Walker: 30 Century Man, The Sparks Brothers, Before the Music Dies, Blues Brothers 2000, Live Aid, Tupac: Resurrection, The Idolmaker