This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

This is one of the best comedies ever made. It is a perfect example of a mockumentary style of film and it has so many classic scenes and moments in it. The cast is top notch including the supporting cast but especially the band, in particular Christopher Guest and Michael McKean. Their later such films are also great, especially Waiting for Guffman, but this one is the funniest and will always be a comedy classic. Stonehenge, Hello Cleveland, the great and funny songs... such a great and timeless film.

Fmovies: All rock music fans need to watch this. I was laughing so hard, especially at the "Big Bottom" performance scene. I love the flashback scenes to the band's early days too, it reminds me of Led Zeppelin, back when Jimmy Page was in The Yardbirds.

This is FANTASTIC! Writers Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer in collaboration with director Rob Reiner have created a satire so dead-on its target that it might be scary if it wasn't so hilarious.

Filmmaker Marty DiBergi, taking a break from dog food commercials, is determined to capture the sights, sounds and smells of his favorite rock group, the legendary Spinal Tap, on their latest U.S. tour. They're a 20-year old heavy metal outfit from England centering around lead singer David St. Hubbins (McKean), lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel (Guest) and bass guitarist Derek Smalls (Shearer). The rest of the band is a revolving door of personnel including a series of unlucky drummers who have met with bizarre demises. The new tour is the first the band has made of America in years, and unfortunately the they seem to have lost about as many fans as they've lost brain cells. When asked if the smaller venues that the band is playing on this tour means they are losing popularity, manager Ian Faith (Tony Hendra) quickly dismisses the idea. The band's fans are just becoming more "selective," he says.

Still, the group is received well at their initial shows--that is if the gig hasn't been canceled, if their balky stage props don't malfunction, and if the band can find its way to the stage from their dressing rooms. But the tour is one disaster following another. Fans don't show up for autograph sessions at record stores. Radio stations play their oldies and ask, "where are they now?" To top things off, David's girlfriend Jeanine (June Chadwick), the band's Yoko Ono, arrives. She soon starts contributing her ideas, such as having the band dress in fantasy creature costumes and recording their music "in Dubly."

Even with all this trouble, the band feels things will pick up if they can just get their new album released. But Polymer Records refuses to distribute "Smell the Glove" with its lurid cover art. Eventually it's released with a solid black record sleeve, with nary a word or picture on it. This turns out to be a reverse image of the Beatles' white album in appearance, artistic success and sales. The band sinks so low as to be billed second to a puppet show at a theme park. The pressures are just too much and as the tour limps to a close the long life of Spinal Tap seems at an end. But rock & roll is a funny business...

Throughout we're treated to the band's rock & roll wisdom and philosophy. For instance, Nigel lets Marty in on one of the reasons for their success--loud amplifiers. While the volume settings on other bands' equipment might just go to 10, theirs goes to 11! Asked if there's really a difference, Nigel replies, "Yeah, well it's like... one louder, innit?"

There are tons of cameos by all sorts of people, including some funny portrayals of PR flacks by Fran Drescher and Paul Shaffer. This is a brilliant comedy that, despite all the parody, loves its subject. Treat yourself to it.

This Is Spinal Tap fmovies. Spinal Tap seemed funny the first time I saw it, but I never got all the jokes. Now though, I saw it through and through and I loved it even more (especially on DVD where the extras are hilarious). Nearly every gag in the movie is dead pan funny, from the cover of "Smell the Glove" (just the description will make you laugh) to all the others including the three piece guitar solo, the animal costumes ("this is what you'll look like as a crab" is the funniest line of the 80's next to "Frank, they're not here for you, Weird Al is on the plane" in Naked Gun), the backstage food, (of course) the amp that goes to 11 and the 18 inch stonehenge. Satire at one of it's best, and it's excellent. Cameos include Bruno Kirby, Billy Crystal, Dana Carvey, Paul Schaffer and Anjelica Houston. Other best line: you can not do free flow jazz odyssey in front of a festival crowd! A+

Not too long ago, my classmates and I were allowed to bring in a DVD of our choice as it was nearing the end of the school term. Knowing that these pop culturists wouldn't be too happy to watch one of my 'arty cult films', I didn't give a shite and brought in 'This is Spinal Tap'. They quite happily agreed to put it on after I told them it was funny and had swearing in it. But soon, boredom started to sink in with the class. "Crap", they labelled it. "Boring", they yelled. After less than ten minutes, my teacher was changing the disk to, wait for itÂ… 'The Others'. One of my chums, being a fan of the film, dismissed them as idiots. However, I told him it was all a matter of taste and that they would be much happier settling down to watch their 40-year-old virgins and American pies than this more subtly-coloured tin of paint. So as I walked over to the front of the classroom, tail between my legs, to pick up my DVD my teacher leaned over and said, "Don't worry, I liked it. You have to be cultured to enjoy this sort of thing." And you know what, she's right.

To be quite frank, 'Spinal Tap' is just like marmite. You'll either love everything about it or hate every frame of it. Some people say it's like watching wet paint dry, others say it was so funny it gave them a hernia. I definitely fall into that latter category. After the umpteenth viewing, I still find it painfully hilarious!

But that's not the only reason for seeing it. It's also a totally accurate, observational and witty deconstruction of rock's strutting pretensions. If you're someone who thinks rock bands take themselves far too seriously, you need this movie. If, on the other hand, you feel like rock stars should forever be treated like gods and worshipped on a regular basis, you might just want to avoid this. After all, when Aerosmith's Steven Tyler had finished watching it he said he just felt like he wanted to throw himself off a cliff! It reveals the utter shallowness of rock 'n' roll without even flinching!

If you're also a lover of in-your-face laugh-out-loud got-it-straight-away humour, just stay away. Far, far away. This is intellectual stuff. You have to possess intelligence to enjoy it. I've never met any stupid people who did enjoy this film.

Director Rob Reiner really shows how broad his range is with this (his best in my opinion!), bringing every authentic detail, no matter how seemingly minor, to the screen effortlessly with a wonderfully sharp cast. Its still a challenge to get my head around the fact that this is from the same tubby Santa Claus look-alike who made 'The Princess Bride' and 'Stand By Me'! Reiner has always been a man with extraordinarily wide horizons and always will be, constantly entertaining cinema-goers with so many different stories!

The film's fly-on-the-wall mockumentary style works wonders, getting some beautiful performances from its actors (namely Michael McKean and Christopher Guest) and adding to its 'natural' feel. Many films, mainly British ones, have imitated this style ever since. Even one of the film's actors and co-writers has stuck to the hip of this film for the most part of his career, coming up with new and even more outlandish 'mockumentaries' to entertain and sate his legion of followers.

On each viewing, you'll erupt into laughter at the discovery of a new joke. Then for weeks on end, you'll be qu

By many seen as the favorite cult classic (together with 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show') 'This is Spinal Tap' is truly a comedy masterpiece. The rockumentary about fake band Spinal Tap seems so honest and serious that the slightest joke gets a huge laugh. We follow the band together with a documentary filmmaker, played by director Rob Reiner, on a tour that must make sure they will have a comeback. We see some of their shows where things go wrong, we see how they argue about the cover of their album, and we see how a girlfriend almost destroys the band.

The movie handles all these events as serious as possible, presenting itself as a real documentary about a real band. The fact that the band members are not too bright makes it funny. Especially the scene where the lead singer talks about an amplifier that goes to eleven instead of ten and therefore produces louder sounds is hilarious. The scene where the band plays on a Stonehenge stage is a classic, very memorable.

Writer Christopher Guest recently wrote and starred in 'Best in Show' (2000) and 'A Mighty Wind' (2003), two hilarious and terrific fake documentaries, the so-called mockumentaries, but 'This is Spinal Tap' stays the classic example. He and his co-writers, including director Reiner, have created the ultimate cult classic.