Get Thrashed is a film that I have been waiting to see since I first heard of its conception many years ago. Upon viewing it finally at Planet Hollywood this evening, a lot of work has definitely been put into making a proper film that catalogues the pivotal years of when thrash metal ruled the underground music scene from 1983-1991. Its influence has reached millions around the world, spawning hundreds of great bands, and a greater number of terrible bands, all while turning the world on its ear to a dirty little form of music known as "thrash metal."
It's always great to hear about some of my favorite metal bands. Typically, many of them that are mentioned include the always-popular "Big Four of Thrash" made up by Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax, but the film goes beyond those bands and manages to include others with equal influence such as Bay Area thrashers Exodus, Testament, Death Angel, and Forbidden; Crossover bands like Suicidal Tendencies, Corrosion of Conformity, S.O.D., and D.R.I.; and even German thrash bands Kreator, Sodom, and Destruction get some time in the sun. The filmmakers take great care in informing the uninitiated of just how expansive and powerful the bands had for a time without sounding preachy or heavy-handed. The anecdotes and stories by the band members are always entertaining and told with such brutal honesty and humor that the film never gets boring. Having the music from the bands playing helps, too.
But Get Thrashed loses something along the way, something that makes a documentary special. It lacks a spontaneous quality, which is what makes metal such a special form of music. What made Decline of the Western Civilization II, a documentary on the popular L.A. glam scene in the 80s, so great was because it was an actual documentation of a specific scene, albeit the shitty scene, where we see the good, the bad, and certainly the ugly side of life in a metal band as a raw, unpretty thing. Get Thrashed is too slick and comes off more like a scrapbook based off the memories of those who were there. While it's beautiful to see archival footage of the past and to see the blood, sweat and beers shed by the bands and the crowds who risked their bodies all in the name of fun, the film loses that spark that made Decline such an interesting and necessary documentary.
Get Thrashed comes off like a typical documentary for metal beginners that should have been titled "Thrash Metal For Dummies" and most certainly would have benefitted from some fan involvement of metal's past and present. I didn't care to hear how thrash influenced some of the newer band members like Corey Taylor or Jamey Jasta in the least, which made me think that they were used just to make the subject matter seem relevant to today's metalhead. But at least now we have a reference point for a particular genre of metal music, one which was criminally neglected and glossed over by Sam Dunn's "Metal: A Headbanger's Journey." In the end, Get Thrashed is good enough to stand as a piece of metal history.
***1/2 out of 5 stars
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