Metal fans have been anticipating the release of the movie "Rock Star", which apparently was based on a New York Times article about Tim "Ripper" Owens, Judas Priest's Vocalist, and how he came to be part of the band. The movie, starring Mark Whalberg, Jennifer Anniston, Zakk Wylde, and Jeff Pilson, may not follow the true story exactly but it's very similar. A colleague of mine, Patricia Kellogg, was directly involved in the production of this movie as a background artist, and has also been very actively involved in the metal scene for years, and she says most metal fans may want to think twice about seeing this movie. Why? Well, for one thing, the movie completely sucks,according to Pat. However, there's more to it than just that. This goes beyond just merely being a bad movie. To begin with, the movie is insulting in many ways, to Judas Priest, to heavy metal and its fans in general; there are many racial and homophobic slurs in the movie; the entire script is based on hearsay; the producers of this film never actually involved or interviewed the members of Judas Priest in its making. Everything in the film is based on television, magazine, and newspaper interviews. In fact, Judas Priest had originally wanted to be involved with the film but writer and creative consultant Andrew C. Revkin said, "They wanted to see screenplays and stuff. If you were Warner Brothers, and you were going to throw $30 million into making a movie, would you want a bunch of middle-aged former heavy metal stars to have creative control? No." This of course is a very insulting remark, and Judas Priest, understandably, wanted nothing to do with the film after hearing this, and even threatened legal action if their name is used in the flim. Plus, I personally think this was a very stupid move on the studio's part, as Judas Priest are very well experienced in the heavy metal scene, and could have given the movie some very useful input. The movie, Pat says, also portrays heavy metal in a very bad, and false, light. In the film, the band "Steel Dragon", a fictitious band based on Judas Priest, are portrayed as a bunch of drug addicts, party animals, and sexaholics. The family of Mark Wahlberg's character are portrayed as "trailer trash". There are also many cliches about heavy metal in this film. For example, when a member of "Steel Dragon" calls Whalberg's character to tell him the band wants him as their singer, he is sitting by a pool, flanked by two attractive, bikini-clad women. Not only is this a big cliche, but it is also somewhat unrealistic, as I doubt very many people would make business calls while kicking back by the pool with girls! Things were also very dangerous on the set, where the filming took place. Pat and some others were, in fact, very seriously injured one day during filming. Some people who were not supposed to be there broke into the studio, breaching security, and rushed recklessly onto the set. One of which jumped right on top of Pat, causing her to be seriously injured. A few other crew members were also injured during this incident. Another dangerous thing that occurred on the set of "Rock Star" was the exposure to toxic fumes. The crew was exposed to toxic fumes during one scene, and were not compensated, financially or otherwise, for it. This shows that the filming set was dangerous, poorly secured, unprepared for emergencies, and shows an all-around lack of responsibility on the production company's part. The company responsible for making this film is George Clooney's company, which also made "The Perfect Storm" (also based on a true story), and are also being sued for the way this film portrayed the real life people its characters were based on. Perhaps this explains the irresponsible manner in which "Rock Star" was produced? Many people on the set also made insulting remarks about Judas Priest and heavy metal in general, including Zakk Wylde, former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist, who plays a guitarist in "Steel Dragon". The title of this movie also had to be changed several times. It was at first to be called "Metal God", but former Judas Priest singer Rob Halford owns the rights to that name, and made Warner Brothers change it. They initially changed it to "So You Wanna Be A Rock And Roll Star", but members of 60's rock band the Byrds, who recorded one of their biggest hits with this title, would not allow Warner to use this for the title of this film either, so it had to be changed, once again, to "Rock Star". Not only that, but this movie took a year and a half to be completed. If a film, with no elaborate, big budget special effects or action scenes, as is "Rock Star", take this long to be produced, it is clear there are some problems involved. In short, the production of this movie was a fiasco! Many bands withdrew their support of Rock Star and refused to let their names and merchandise be associated with the flim in any way. Jennifer Anniston, when recently interviewed by a national television show, declined to comment on the movie. Mark Whalberg, I've heard, was also reluctant to be in the movie. Things like these are nothing new in the motion picture industry, of course, but it seems as if "Rock Star" goes lower than usual. The film contains many insulting and untruthful things, research for the story appears to be flimsily done, the cast and crew were treated badly, there were senseless dangers on the set which should NEVER have been there (which caused people to be hurt), and the set was poorly secured and equipped. Bear in mind that this story is NOT HEARSAY! I These facts came directly from a source who experienced it firsthand!

Copyright 2001, BallBuster, The Official Int'l Underground Hard Music Report