Lars Ulrich Regrets Withholding Metallica’s Music From Tarantino

Metallica have never been very willing to let their music be used in films, but Lars Ulrich now says they regret shooting down one such request from filmmaker Quentin Tarantino regarding 'Kill Bill'.

It's usually pretty rare to hear Metallica's music in a film. Their song 'Master of Puppets' appeared in the Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughan comedy 'Old School', they did a song for the 'Mission Impossible 2' soundtrack, and recently allowed the use their music for the film 'Hesher' after learning actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt based his portrayal of the lead character on their former bassist Cliff Burton.

In a blog on The Daily Beast he titled 'My Favorite Mistake', Lars Ulrich told about a dinner he had with acclaimed filmmaker Quentin Tarantino and how he now regrets the outcome of said meeting:

"In between the mischief and half-truths, we get to the point of the visit, which concerns his next cinematic endeavor, titled 'Kill Bill'. 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."

Lars continued speaking about how excited he became of the possibilities, a feeling that lasted until he received a copy of the script:

"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. I wasn’t capable of appreciating its brilliance."

Ulrich ultimately decided to not participate and never got back to Tarantino about his proposal, a dismissal he would later come to regret:

"Probably the single biggest mistake I’ve made in the creative department. Of course Kill Bill turned out to be above and beyond brilliant, as have his subsequent movies, which have all been a significant part of my life in the 2000's. To this day I still worship the ground Q.T. walks on. If only..."

Lars' drumming can next be heard on Metallica's upcoming collaboration with Lou Reed -- 'Lulu', which is set for release November 1st.