Starring
William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Warren
Oates, Ben Johnson, Jaime Sanchez. Directed by Sam Peckinpah.
(1969, 143 min).
Essay D.M. Anderson
I've
been a loyal Metallica fan ever since they first came riding into my
hometown, guns blazing, to blow my face off
back way back in 1984. At the time, nobody suspected they'd someday
become the biggest heavy metal band on the planet. Metallica didn't
invent heavy metal, of course, but along with Black Sabbath, arguably did more
to shape and influence its direction (and public perception) than any
other band in the genre's history.
Always
an album-oriented genre, heavy metal itself is no longer as viable as
it was in its glory years (roughly the 80s through the mid-90s), retreating back to the underground once the
world began embracing instant pop stars belting out downloadable dance tunes with 'rap sections'
replacing heroic guitar solos.
But with
the exception of the dreary Load years, Metallica
have kicked-ass unabated for over three decades now, indifferent to
would-be successors to their crown, oblivious to changing trends and
unphased by tidal changes in the music industry. Metal bands have
come and gone (mostly gone), but Metallica soldiers on, still
relevant, still selling out stadiums worldwide. Of all the heavy
metal albums released in 2016, Metallica's Hardwired...To
Self-Destruct was the only one to top the Billboard charts.
While
they're still the biggest band in the world, what was once fresh and
cutting-edge is now what my daughters impatiently refer to as "Dad's
Music" whenever I crank-up my Ride the Lightning CD in
the car. For all intents and purposes, Metallica is the last of a
dying breed. Whenever they inevitably decide to hang up their guns or
simply drop dead on the road, once they're gone, it will effectively
be the end of an era that's already been on life support for a long
time: the reign of the authentic, uncompromising heavy metal rock
star.
 |
| Tector Gorch, Dutch Engstrom, Lyle Gorch, Pike Bishop. |
Like
the members of Metallica, the film depicts a band of
notorious-but-aging outlaws whose days are numbered. Not necessarily
because of their age, but a changing world where living by the gun
is fast becoming a thing of the past. Their leader, Pike Bishop
(William Holden) knows the end of the trail is inevitable. He's older
and wiser - a bit less reckless - yet still has the intestinal
fortitude to mastermind one last big score before riding off into the sunset, the robbery of a railroad office.
Rhythm
guitarist/lead singer James Hetfield can be seen as Metallica's Pike
Bishop: the primary creative force and defacto leader of the band.
Hardened by 30+ years of writing and playing some of the most
physically demanding music there is, he remains a master of the vicious metal
riff, though his lyrics are a far cry from the hair-whipping days of
Master of Puppets, often more
personal & introspective, with an acute awareness of the world
around him and the wisdom that comes with age.
If
Hetfield is Metallica's Bishop, then drummer/co-founder Lars Ulrich
is the band's Dutch Engstorm (played in the film by Ernest Borgnine).
The two have ridden together the longest, establishing a nearly
unbreakable bond of trust and respect over the years that isn't quite
shared with the other gang members. Despite the considerable
contributions and talents of bassist Robert Trujillo & lead
guitarist Kirk Hammett (who's been with Metallica almost from
the beginning), they're essentially the band's Gorch Brothers. Played
by Warren Oates & Ben Johnson in the film, the Gorch Brothers
certainly carry their weight in the gang, but are content to leave the
thinking to Bishop & Dutch.
The
initial railroad office job turns out to be a trap, set-up by Bishop's former
partner Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan), the head of a posse
deputized by the railroad. After a bloody shoot-out in the streets,
Bishop's gang manages to escape, leaving behind one of their own,
'Crazy' Lee (Bo Hopkins), with instructions to keep the office
workers as hostage. But the truth is they abandon him to take the fall because
Lee is a crazy, trigger-happy liability. This mirrors an early incident in
Metallica's career, when original lead guitarist Dave Mustaine was
unceremoniously kicked out of the band because he was often violent & crazy as well (mostly when he drank). How they dumped Mustaine
was nearly as cruel as what Bishop does to Lee: On the eve of
recording their debut album in a New York studio, the other three
band members woke Mustaine and dropped him off at the bus station
with a one-way ticket back to L.A.
Though
Lee died in a hail of gunfire, Mustaine survived and rebounded with a
major chip on his shoulder, putting together his own posse in the
form of Megadeth, consisting mostly of hired guns only slightly more
reliable than Thornton's scuzzy batch of bounty hunters, with the
single-minded intent of chasing down Metallica and beating them at their own game. Though he
inauspiciously began his career as 'Crazy' Lee, Dave Mustaine
definitely became Metallica's Deke Thornton.
Empty
handed after the botched railroad office job, the Bishop gang flees
to a Mexican village where their youngest member, Angel (Jaime
Sanchez), was born. The village is ruled by Mapache, a corrupt
general in the Mexican Army. Though Angel runs afoul of Mapache,
Bishop strikes a deal with the general in exchange for a
massive cache of gold: rob a train of several cases of U.S. weapons
destined for Pancho Villa's revolutionaries. It's the gang's second chance
for a big score that'll enable them to hang up their guns for
good.
But
after Angel is caught smuggling one case of rifles for his village to defend
themselves, Mapache insists on keeping him and lets his thugs do
their worst. Bishop, Dutch and the others ride away with their gold,
apparently willing to sacrifice Angel. Meanwhile, Thornton's
posse is drawing closer.
 |
| Kirk Hammett, Robert Trujillo, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich. |
Unlike
Bishop, Dutch and the Gorch Brothers, Angel was never part of the
gang's core, and seemingly the most expendable. Still, to see them
leave Angel behind as nonchalantly as Metallica moved on without
Newsted is a distressing moment in the film. Like Newsted, Angel often came
across as the most likable, down-to-Earth guy in the bunch (as cold-blooded killers
go, anyway).
It's
at this this point The Wild Bunch may most accurately foretell the end of Metallica's reign (and heavy metal in general). Not only does
Bishop realize he's too old and set in his ways to be anything other
than a bandit, he can't bring himself to leave Angel like this. The
four agree to turn back, try to rescue Angel and kill as
many Mapache soldiers as they can. While they'll all likely
die, their only shot at anything resembling redemption means going out in a hail of gunfire. This final shoot-out - still one of the greatest ever
filmed - marks the end of the most romanticized era in
American history, the reign of the outlaw gunfighter.
Metallica
was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2009. Newsted,
who'd been out of the band for eight years, was inducted along with
them and welcomed onto the stage to play with them once again.
Publicly anyway, it was the first time the rest of Metallica ever really
acknowledged his importance to them. It may have taken awhile, but at
least they finally made things right with their own Angel and paid him the respect he was due.
Mustaine,
however, wasn't afforded the same opportunity. He's still plugging
away in Megadeth, and though they achieved considerable success in
their own right, Mustaine's bitter obsession with beating his former
bandmates at their own game never came to pass. He's mellowed out a
lot over the years and now acknowledges his respect for everything
Metallica's accomplished, though you can still detect a considerable - and understandable -
amount of envy. After all, Metallica's won a slew of Grammys, sold
tens-of-millions of albums and still sell-out every show they play
with no signs of abating. One has the impression that, even three decades after his ouster, Mustaine would rejoin the band in a heartbeat if asked.
Similarly,
Deke Thornton never did catch up with the Bishop gang, despite occasionally coming close while chasing them across Mexico. Like
Mustaine, Thornton may have fallen out with his old gang, but as the
film plays on, it's obvious he still has tremendous respect for them. And though
he's working on the right side of the law, given the opportunity, he'd hook back up with Bishop & Dutch
without giving it a second thought, which is more-or-less confirmed
in the film's poignant final scene.
However
Metallica decides to go out - walking away quietly or in a blaze of
glory - they're probably going to take the very idea of heavy metal
superstardom with them. Nearly every true metal band - from
the legends to the flavors-of-the-month - have either broken up, faded
away, retired or become nostalgia acts, and none (not even the mighty Black Sabbath) ever
achieved the same consistent level of popularity and longevity as
Metallica has. They are essentially the last relevant bastion of what
was once the most popular music genre in the world. When they're
gone, that's it. Metal as a lucrative, viable genre will be dead. The
true rock star will be a thing of the past, to be
romanticized by pop culture historians the same way Zane Grey
mythologized the old west.
