Rush

There isn't a directorial duo better equipped to profile Canada's famed power trio than compatriots Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen, the makers of Metal: A Headbanger's Journey. Insightful and entertaining, Beyond the Lighted Stage starts with the band's roots in working-class Ontario. Singer-bassist Geddy Lee, the son of Holocaust survivors, a self-described "nebbishy quiet kid," bonds with guitarist Alex Lifeson, the son of Yugoslav immigrants, over "this manic love for music," completing the lineup with "literate, opinionated" drummer Neil Peart (replacing John Rutsey). Getting gigs comes easy, but landing a record deal proves difficult until a Cleveland station takes a chance on "Working Man," and Mercury comes calling. The film proceeds oral-history style through the ensuing ups and downs: a tour with KISS (inspiring ribald comments from Gene Simmons), the making of classic records like Moving Pictures, the fashion faux pas, the personal tragedies, and the derision of critics versus the devotion of fans. Jack Black, one of several notable participants, praises their "deep reservoir of rocket sauce," while Metallica's Kirk Hammett proclaims them "the high priests of conceptual metal." They're also engaging conversationalists, and Dunn and McFadyen up the ante with home movies and early performances. The second disc offers additional live material and a look at a Rush convention. Old hands and new converts alike will find it hard to resist the true-life tale of three men who've stuck together through thick and thin, surviving and thriving where others have succumbed to petty squabbles and commercial pressures. --Kathleen C. Fennessy