Though there are a few prolonged silences (and some of them awkward) on the band commentary track as they watched themselves fight and occasionally power trip, for the most part I enjoyed their attempts to lighten the mood and otherwise inject a little levity into some of the heavier scenes. Particularly hilarious is Lars' story about driving Dave Mustaine back to his hotel room after an especially wrenching therapy session. Also amusing to hear the way the guys make fun of their various hairdon'ts and fashion faux pas over the years. Furthermore, since the commentary was recorded almost a year after the documentary finished filming, some semblance of closure is provided as we can hear the full band, still together and sounding quite relaxed after having been captured on film in some very tense and tenuous situations. I also liked some of James Hetfield's comments about Jason Newsted's appearances.

Things pick on the second commentary track with the filmmakers who point out that the structure of their documentary is an homage to the classic Rolling Stone’s doc, Gimme Shelter. They recount many stories behind the doc and provide a good inside look at how it was put together, including how closely they identified with their subjects and what they were going through.

A fantastic commentary. For those who are unaware of co-directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky's previous works, they are the team who previously made the outstanding documentaries Brother's Keeper and Paradise Lost. So they have a lot of excellent things to say - not just about this documentary in particular, but about docs in general. Very interesting stories are shared about how they began their working relationship with Metallica (while making Paradise lost), how this movie was almost made into a reality TV series, and how the therapy sessions that enabled the band to forge forth and make their album also helped the filmmakers themselves heal their relationships with each other. Pretty amazing stuff.