Black Sabbath: the End of the End

Birmingham's legendary heavy metal ambassadors returned to their home town for a final gig in early 2017, bringing down the curtain on a career that began 49 years earlier. However, this lovingly filmed concert documentary reveals that it wasn't quite the last time the band played together, as it includes significantly more subdued performances and interview footage filmed in a rural farm a few days after the farewell show, a strangely muted coda to the cacophony that went before. Sabbath classics are rolled out in style at the gig proper, with director Dick Carruthers making sure his cameras pay as much attention to the passionate, die-hard fans witnessing the end of an era. In comparison, the after-the-event reminiscences of Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler seem awkwardly pedestrian, as Osbourne displays little of the wit and personality that made him a reality TV star back in 2002. Despite decades of ups-and-downs, estrangements and full-on animosity, there remains a strong bond between the players, although they're perhaps too polite when writing this last chapter.