Anvil! The Story of Anvil
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Anvil! The Story of Anvil is a 2008 Rockumentary film by Sacha Gervasi. The film follows the life of Canadian Heavy Metal band Anvil, that saw some success in the eighties, but, unlike their contemporaries like Whitesnake, Bon Jovi or Metallica, never got their big break.
The film follows the bands key members, vocalist and guitarist Steve "Lips" Kudlow and drummer Robb Reiner (no, not that Rob Reiner) as Anvil goes on a poorly organized European tour. While it starts out hopeful enough, soon they find themselves playing in small clubs for no more than a dozen people. Back home, they begin working on their thirteenth album. Things start to look up as they collaborate with renowned producer Chris "CT" Tsangarides, but tensions are rising in the band.
Anvil! The Story of Anvil is a heartwarming story about two guys who have spent their whole life chasing their dream, keeping at it against all odds out of loyalty to their art and to each other.
- Bar Brawl: Lips gets in one when he realizes he isn't getting paid for his gig.
- Canada, Eh?
- Cluster F-Bomb: Lips sure knows how to drop 'em when he's mad.
- Department of Redundancy Department: The title.
- Despair Event Horizon: Robb is about to give up on Anvil in the process of recording This Is Thirteen. Lips and CT talk him out of it.
- Determinator: If you have to give them credit for only one thing: These guys are unstoppable!
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Washed-up hard rock band, struggling to get some love and respect, is saved by Japanese fans - Again!
- Glory Days: That festival in 1984, when they shared the stage with Whitesnake, Scorpions and Bon Jovi. Anvil was the only band on stage that didn't make it big.
- Heterosexual Life Partners: Lips and Robb.
- Hot-Blooded: Lips is as emotional as you'd expect from a metal singer.
- Life Imitates Art: The story bears an uncanny resemblance to This Is Spinal Tap: they are an old, washed-up heavy metal group, they go on a disastrous tour, one of the two key members leaves and then comes back, and they all end up getting Big in Japan. Add this to the fact that the drummer is called Robb Reiner...
- Sadly, he doesn't explode though.
- Long Runners: Slash remids us at the end that Anvil are one of the few bands still at it after thirty years.
- Nice Guy: Everyone in the band.
- Reality Subtext: The movie gets an extra feel-good vibe when you realize Anvil has experienced a resurgence in popularity in its wake.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Lips is red, Robb is blue.
- Refuge in Audacity: Lips' infamous vibrator solos.
- Rockumentary
- Shout-Out: At one point, CT Tsangarides turns one of the volume knobs Up to Eleven.
- Also, they visit Stonehenge.
- The Red Stapler: The band themselves have gotten rather more popular after this movie came out.