Which Metallica song samples the film 'Johnny Got His Gun'?

The story behind the answer

Metallica's song "One" is associated with the film Johnny Got His Gun. The song's music video incorporates dialogue and black-and-white scenes from the 1971 anti-war film, creating a direct visual link between the track and its source material.

"One" tells the story of a World War I soldier who survives a land-mine explosion but loses his limbs, sight, hearing, speech, and ability to move. That premise closely parallels the story of Joe Bonham in Dalton Trumbo's novel and film. Metallica members recognized the connection and used footage from Johnny Got His Gun in the video.

Strictly speaking, the film material is most clearly used in the music video rather than as a conventional audio sample embedded in the studio recording. However, trivia questions commonly describe the song as sampling or featuring material from the film, and "One" is the single canonical answer. The video debuted on MTV in January 1989 and helped make the song one of Metallica's best-known works.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Aug. 2026

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