Metacritic reviews

The lyrics to AC/DC’s Long Way To The Top were never more appropriate. Anvil! is exactly what's needed to slap the recent rash of doomsayer documentaries in the face -- preferably with a studded, fingerless leather glove.

It's a hilarious, and unexpectedly moving, documentary about the greatest metal band you've probably never heard of.

Yet in his despair, there's something Kudlow misses, and it's what makes Anvil! as moving as it is hilarious.

Want to find the heart of rock & roll? You can hear it thundering in Anvil.

Well-shot and edited, Anvil! is an underdog saga even non-metalheads will root for. It tows that fine line between chuckling at its protags' somewhat absurd situation and celebrating their sheer unwillingness to give up.

Phenomenal rockumentary.

From the too-good-to-be-true desk comes this loving and hilarious portrait of Spinal Tap-esque Canadian metal band Anvil, who were briefly a hard-rock sensation in the early '80s (mainly for the song "Metal on Metal") and have been struggling along in total obscurity ever since.

Surprisingly touching and funny.

You won't be seeing any stretch Hummers, wild late night parties and 75,000 seat arena shows in this documentary, but that's what makes this so good.

The documentary is solid as … as … an anvil. And if you can forget Spinal Tap (hard), it's also rather touching the way these 50-year-olds still have the forged-in-fire fortitude.