This Is Spinal Tap
This Is Spinal Tap
R | 02 March 1984 (USA)
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"This Is Spinal Tap" shines a light on the self-contained universe of a metal band struggling to get back on the charts, including everything from its complicated history of ups and downs, gold albums, name changes and undersold concert dates, along with the full host of requisite groupies, promoters, hangers-on and historians, sessions, release events and those special behind-the-scenes moments that keep it all real.

Reviews
GamerTab

That was an excellent one.

MusicChat

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

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Hayden Kane

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

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Fleur

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

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merelyaninnuendo

This Is Spinal TapAn idea or a concept isn't everything and this is a fine example for it, as the brilliant idea of it fades away quickly as it derails off the track and becomes something entirely different than what was promised or even more embarrassingly what was right. The writing is funny and brilliant, but fails to keep it true to its nature and fumbles its way down the road. There are few hilarious sequences installed in here that one cannot not get lost into it. Another major dilemma in here is that the priority in here is nothing but the punch line of the joke which is kept above the bigger picture in here and fails to make a definite point out of it. The performance is promising and hilarious at the same time, as they draw plenty of laughs from the screen. Rob Reiner; the director, is bang on the money on his execution skills and is convincing throughout the course of it. The music bits of the feature may come off, off putting and uneven in here. This Is Spinal Tap is a gentle yet insulting tap on the back in its self-created genre as it fails provide the essential ingredients to it and leaves it undercooked.

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sulphuric_acid-38764

This movie can be Seen a 100 times and not be bored, Truly a class of its own. Don't believe me? Then Go ask Worlds most famous Rockstars, they will tell you the story. Not Only that i have also watched its follow ups and fake interviews, They kill it in every single One. It was way ahead of its time But Behind everything else.

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ElMaruecan82

"Why don't you just make 10 louder, and make 10 be the top number, and make that a little louder?" I was so entranced by Nigel's enthusiastic description of his unique amplifier-model-that-goes-to-eleven that I almost failed to grasp the common sense in Marty Di Bergi's question. It's not about the number indeed but the acoustic referential to determine the degrees of loudness. But how can you teach such a flatly simple notion to someone who doesn't even let you point at the most precious item of his guitar collection.But it's subtler than that, the joke isn't at Nigel's obliviousness but at the fact that his reaction doesn't come as a surprise, Marty's question is almost funnier in the way it makes us expect "something". And boy does it reward our expectations, Nigel doesn't even answer, he stops chewing his gum, marks a solemn pause and provides the iconic, laconic and self-sufficient "these go to eleven". Both scenes and quotes became staples of 80's comedy summing up what makes Rob Reiner's directorial debut "This is Spinal Tap" one of the all-time greatest comedies: it knows its subject and what's more, it knows the right attitude to 'amplify' the comedic effects (to eleven and beyond).Everyone knows this is a film about a fictional rock band; the word 'fake' would be too misleading and even insulting. Spinal Tap might not belong to Rock'n'Roll canon, among the Beatles or the Rolling Stones but it's got something to say about rock, as a music, a spirit and a business. In fact, you might learn even more stuff about from this band than any documentary about a real group. And if I had to choose between learning with laughs or without, I'd rather have laughs. Who wouldn't? That's what makes the "eleven" scene so hilarious. Apart from the pedagogical value on the field of amplifiers, the way Christopher Guest delivers the quotes with that deadpan expression turns a rather banal quote into a punch-line of comedic genius. And all the movie works with the same mechanisms, David St Hubbins (Christopher McKean) and Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) are totally oblivious to the hilarity of their statements, all delivered in the most casual way.That first scene alone is one of the highest summits of comedy and sets the tone of zaniness that will structure all the gags, from their first name "The Originals" to the first drummer (played by Ed Begley Jr.) who died in a freak accident, in fact every single drummer's accident is a try-not-to-laugh challenge where I fail every time. But again, it's not just the writing, mostly improvised, but also the acting, the documentary-like shooting allows many abrupt cuts and swiftly eluded moments where one couldn't keep a straight face.Watching the band telling these anecdotes about a drummer choking in someone else's vomit ("which police can't dust off") or one that exploded suddenly is funny enough, but the face of Reiner repeatedly nodding as if it was really serious is the key to the film's enjoyment. And most of the gags involved the craziest situations where they all try to keep a straight face, Smalls being locked in a cocoon, the group lost backstage, and some verbal delights involving a sexist disc cover… not to mention terrific cameos that include Fran Dresher, Bruno Kirby and Anjelica Huston.And the film never forgets to rock as a doc as well, it follows all the details of a tour organization and the struggle of the manager played by Tony Hendra, to book a concert, a hotel suite, or deal with matters of size from bread that is too small for the ham or a Stonehedge replica risking to be crushed by two gig-dancing dwarfs (paraphrasing David). You have a gag that works in a tertiary tempo, the set-up when you know there's going to be trouble. Then you have the musical interlude where you wait for the majestic entrance of the replica and the reactions of the band (who didn't know). The film even provides a little icing on the cake with St Hubbins' final comment.So, it might be improvised, but there's a sense of timing as acute and inspired as if it was used for music. The best compliment one can make to the film is that these guys are as good as musicians as they're comedians. And as far as I'm concerned, their music is credible enough to make the film feel real. And what makes the authenticity so palpable lies on these subtleties you notice after several viewings. The most delightful aspect involves the homoerotic subtext between Nigel and David (let's face It, Smalls is only slightly more famous than the drummers) and when Nigel's girlfriend comes in the picture, there's just something fading in Nigel it's actually touching."This is Spinal Tap" recreates the documentary feeling without resorting to cheap laughs. Near the end, there's even a sort of bittersweet feeling as their path comes to its logical conclusion, this might explain why many artists like Ozzie Osborne didn't actually laugh at it, that's how accurate it was. And the miracle of this film is to have provided powerful insights about rock business through a lousy and fictional band. But the film aged so well that no one would even use these adjectives to Spinal Tap, and rightfully so.And that concludes my 1111th review for IMDb, seriously, what other film would have I picked for this occasion? And while you're here, you might check one of the polls I suggested a few years ago about four-word movie quotes, guess which movie took the 11th spot? Yeah, that's right!

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classicsoncall

Totally outrageous and funny in the way it looks like the band members are playing it straight but sound like complete morons. Michael McKean excels at this kind of stuff but the other players held up their end real well too. Derek's (Harry Shearer) discourse on the band's two visionaries, David (McKean) and Nigel (Christopher Guest) was flat out hilarious, and I had to pause the film a minute to give due admiration for the Intravenous de Milo bit. The Stonehenge gimmick with the eighteen inch prop was pretty ridiculous too. Besides sending up the rock music scene in general, I thought director Reiner paid an off hand tribute to all those variety shows of an earlier era like 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' and 'The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour', whose guest bands often performed with the flower power colors and psychedelic strobes and lava effects. I can't really say why I never checked out this film before, it's had a strong reputation and avid following for three decades now, but at least I'm a member of that club now. And say, who came up with this line - "You can't really dust for vomit". The writer deserves a free ticket to a Spinal Tap concert.

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