For a seemingly camera-shy band that staunchly maintained an anti-music video stance for the better part of their powerful early career, Metallica opens up quite a bit in Paramount Home Video's release of directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky's acclaimed and insightful documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster. The shot-on-video feature is presented in its original full-frame aspect shooting ratio of 1.33:1, and with evenly balanced colors and little evidence of digital artifacting, it really does look great. Audio is offered in both English Dolby Digital 5.1 and English Dolby Digital Stereo, and though the 5.1 track certainly packs a bit more punch in scenes involving Metallica's trademark brand of aggressive metal, both options sound great throughout the running time of this very dialogue-driven film. After fans have had the opportunity to watch the film and see just how close their favorite metal band came to imploding following the departure of longtime bassist Jason Newsted, they'll no doubt be eager to delve into the hearty selection of bonus materials offered on this massive, two-disc release. If the long stretches of silence and missed opportunities in the band's sparse audio commentary track initially feel somewhat disappointing (it would have been great to hear how James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett felt about Lars Ulrich's emotional meeting with former bandmate Dave Mustaine), the lively audio commentary by Berlinger and Sinofsky more than makes up for this by offering great insight from a unique perspective. In addition to offering invaluable advice about structure and the value of persistence to aspiring documentary filmmakers, the parallels that Berlinger and Sinofsky draw between themselves and the struggles faced by the band make for a truly involved and fascinating listen. If DVD lovers have become somewhat jaded by the mostly incidental deleted scenes that generally offer little extra, they'll certainly be happy to note that the deleted scenes included here are both revealing and entertaining. In addition to the amusing sight of a mellow Hammett sitting on a satanic throne during a photo session and offering the film crew cocktails, viewers also get to see the soft-spoken guitarist spend a day in traffic school before being treated to a remarkably personal trip with drummer Ulrich to his childhood home in Copenhagen. With an additional scene featuring new Metallica guitarist Robert Trujillo discussing his excitement over being accepted into the fold and the entire band discussing Dee Dee Ramone's untimely death on the eve of covering his song "53rd and 3rd" for a Ramones tribute album, these deleted scenes are a real treat for fans and certainly serve to enrich the viewing experience. Footage from the various premieres of Some Kind of Monster finds the band fielding numerous questions from fans and critics, with the Sundance press conference and San Francisco Film Festival appearances in particular offering notable insight into their reaction to the film. A music video offers the title track played over various clips from the film, with trailers and filmmaker biographies (which are more "filmography" than "biography") serving to round out this monstrously satisfying release that will no doubt hold a special place in the collection of die-hard Metallica fans.