Movie Description
A brilliant and hilarious documentary-style satire of a has-been British heavy metal band who never really was on an absurd American comeback tour that never quite gets off the ground, THIS IS SPINAL TAP practically birthed the mockumentary style. Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer are David St. Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel, and Derek Smalls, respectively--three clueless, self-absorbed men who form the nucleus of Spinal Tap, aging purveyors of overwrought songs with titles such as "Big Bottom," "Smell the Glove," and "Sex Farm." Shot in faux cinema verité-style with director Rob Reiner as fictional filmmaker Marty DiBergi, the film lampoons just about every rock & roll cliché (not to mention every rockumentary cliché) in the book as it follows these fallen rock idols from one disastrous gig to the next. Scenes of the tour's descent from desperation into total collapse are interspersed with interviews in which the band members delightfully prattle on inanely about the none-too-illustrious history and dubious vision of Spinal Tap. THIS IS SPINAL TAP is a striking and acutely hysterical directorial debut for Reiner and a deserved cult classic. Watch for an endless array of cameos by wonderful comic character actors along the way.
| Credits | | Producer: | Karen Murphy | | Cast: | Anjelica Huston, Billy Crystal, Bruno Kirby, Christopher Guest, Dana Carvey, Ed Begley Jr., Fran Drescher, Harry Shearer, Howard Hesseman, June Chadwick, Michael McKean, Patrick Macnee, Paul Schaffer, Rob Reiner, Spinal Tap, Tony Hendra |
| Details | | Edition: | Criterion Collection |
Notes
DVD Features:
2 Separate commentaries: One featuring Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer, and another featuring Rob Reiner, producer Karen Murphy, and editors Robert Leighton and Kent Beyda
2 hours of bonus material featuring trailers, 20-minute demo reel, promotional shorts, and more than one hour of deleted scenes and alternate takes, Theatrical release: April 1984.
Theatrical rerelease: September 8, 2000 (Limited).
The three primary actors (Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer) all play their own instruments.
The hat of Marty DiBergi (director Rob Reiner) reappears in THE PRINCESS BRIDE on the young boy's bedpost.
Guest also reappears in THE PRINCESS BRIDE as Count Ruben.
Editorial Reviews
Included in The New York Times "10 BEST FILMS OF 1984"
New York Times - p.II:15 - Vincent Canby (12/30/1984)
"...[The movie is] required viewing in every musician's tour bus..."
USA Today - p.1E - Ken Barnes (06/02/2000)
"...A witty, mischievous satire, and it's obviously a labor of love....Delightful..."
New York Times - p.C6 - Janet Maslin (03/02/1984)
"...Funny, devastatingly clever and original....As funny a film about the intersection of music and popular culture as has ever been made..."
Los Angeles Times - Kenneth Turan (09/08/2000)
"...One of the funniest movies ever made....Reiner fills the frame with background information and subtle touches..."
Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert (01/21/2001)
"...The movie is brilliant at telling its story....There are a lot of great visual jokes..."
Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert (09/15/2000)
"...Stars Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer play fools as only wise men can..."
Entertainment Weekly - Entertainment Weekly Staff (05/23/2003)
"...The greatest rock movie ever....It's not just a comedy -- it's a love story. And it goes to eleven..."
Rolling Stone - Rolling Stone Staff (11/27/2003)
"Anytime a movie takes the piss out of a phenomenon, you've got England's loudest band to thank, dead drummers and all."
Premiere - Premiere Staff (12/01/2003)
5 stars out of 5 -- "TAP's legend still runs....Endlessly quotable gags fly fast and a whiff of plausibility pervades..."
Total Film - Kevin Harley (10/01/2009)
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mBLFt2HmD7w~~_7.JPG "This Is Spinal Tap (DVD, 1998, Criterion Collection)")
mBLFt2HmD7w~~_32.JPG "This Is Spinal Tap (DVD, 1998, Criterion Collection)")
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