Chalk this up as yet another entry in the category of “What Could Have Been” but honestly, it’s probably for the best that this never worked out.
In a column penned for The Daily Beast, Metallica drummer and notorious internet hater Lars Ulrich reveals that at one point, he was approached by Quentin Tarantino as the director was gearing up “Kill Bill,” with a request to use “Enter Sandman” and “Sad But True” for two fight sequences in the film. Obviously, that never came to pass — and really, it sounds like a kinda super dorky idea in the first place — and QT put together the great soundtrack we now know and love that spans everything from Johnny Cash to Ennio Morricone to Isaac Hayes to Nancy Sinatra to RZA. But it’s a pretty candid account from Ulrich who now realizes he probably should have known better. Excerpt below:
One of the most surreal 30 minutes of my life was having Q.T. six inches from my face, eyes dancing, intensely animated, explaining in intricate detail how he had written and choreographed the two main fight scenes in the film to the Metallica songs “Enter Sandman” and “Sad but True.” Fists would impact faces on accents. Kicks would land on cymbal hits. Bodies would twirl along with the rhythm of the music. Tarantino’s next-level movie magic married to Metallica music, all turned up to 11.
We were high on this idea for the rest of the evening, and the elation continued for days. Finally, ta-da!! The Script. All 180 pages. Man, was it thick and dense. I threw myself headfirst into the shenanigans. Then something slowly started happening. Story, language, twists, turns, kung fu banter, and jargon—as I got further and further into it, I became more and more puzzled.
Page by page, I realized that most of this was written in a language that was outside of my realm of understanding. I had never encountered a narrative like this, set in, to me, a very foreign culture of martial arts and Asian myths. I just couldn’t wrap my thick Danish head around it. I championed his movies, loved him as a person, but at the end of the 180 pages, I sat there somewhat bewildered and felt very uncool for not getting it….Over the next few weeks the whole thing fizzled out as I continued not trusting my instincts. In the end, I never got back to him. Probably the single biggest mistake I’ve made in the creative department.
Of course, which fight scenes in particular QT wanted the music for isn’t revealed, though we’re sure someone will ask the helmer the next chance they get, leading to a fan-made cut of the scene landing on YouTube, only to then get pulled down by Metallica over unauthorized use of their music. Circle of life.
