This Is Spinal Tap

< Previous Trailer  |   Add to My Scrapbook  |   Next Trailer >
This Is Spinal Tap

92% Liked It
liked it

This Is Spinal Tap

Rob Reiner, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, Tony Hendra

A spoof about a filmmaker making a documentary about a once-famous, now almost forgotten British heavy metal band returning to the United States after 17 years for a concert tour.

Id: 10901841

Do you want to see this movie?

My Friends Said...

This Is Spinal Tap Recent Reviews

Register or sign-in to see your friends' reviews !

Recent Reviews

This Is Spinal Tap Recent Reviews
  • SirPant
    September 21, 2009
    SirPant
    This is Spinal Tap has to be credited as being the first ever mockumentary and its brilliantly done. It has been done better since though. Christopher Guest is a funny guy who pretty much invented a genres all by himself and for that I respect him but I can?t help but think he?s ...( read more)a one trick Pony and some of his Ponies are taller/faster/cuter/whatever than others!
  • pier007
    September 8, 2009
    pier007
    Great mock-rockumentary about the grandiloquence, stupidity and poor musical taste of the supposedly British heavy metal band Spinal Tap.
    Displaying one hilarious sketch after another, while this trio of social misfits meander all over the u.s in their "american tour"
    One more th...( read more)ing, the lyrics of most of their songs are hysterical.
  • stopitgoaway
    August 5, 2009
    stopitgoaway
    This Is Spinal Tap is brilliant on several levels. It is a hilarious comedy, the music is excellent, the concept is fantastic, and it is a wonderfully accurate spoof as well.

    The preparation which went into this film included going on tour with the band Saxon, which allegedly in...( read more)spired the superb sequence where the band gets lost backstage on tour. Although Status Quo claim the film was based on them, it was from the Saxon tour that much of the detail was taken.

    The characters, though, are quintessentially British. David St. Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel (whose amplifiers go up to 11 instead of the usual 10) and Derek Smalls are archetypes of faded British rock musicians desperately trying to be cosmopolitan in an industry dominated by bigger, bolder, louder Americans.

    If you are a rock fan you will laugh long and loud at this film. If you are a British rock fan, you will laugh even louder. And watch out for the surreal Stonehenge sequence, which proves once and for all that standards of arithmetic teaching are not what they were....
  • sononothing
    April 5, 2009
    sononothing
    Spinal Tap followed the same path as all of those other British wave bands, starting out as happy disciples of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones only to end up in the 1970's and 1980's a devilish metal gods. They have gone over that hill, fighting for a spot on the charts and a ...( read more)slot on the shelves at K Mart.

    Rob Reiner directs this film parody of other rock band documentaries, namely The Last Waltz and the now obscure Let It Be. The film stars Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer as the core members of Spinal Tap, hamming their way through their Smell The Glove Tour of the United States. They're not as big as they used to be as their venues get smaller and smaller after failures galore. It's the last dance so to speak.

    What's great about This Is Spinal Tap is the fact that it's not as far out as you would think, especially looking at todays music scene. Today the parody is now reality. Reiner directs the film in guerrilla style just like a docu film crew lending to the credibility of the film and making people stand in line for imaginary Spinal Tap tickets. The three leads fall into their roles, talking idiotic pretentious talk that we have to wrap around our heads to make sense. That's what rock stars do- make their work seem bigger and more important than it appears.

    This Is Spinal Tap is the greatest rockumentary ever made, even though it's a parody of the genre. You can sit there laughing at the eccentricities of the characters, but if you've seen other real films of this vein you'll realize that most of it is not as absurd as it seems. But that's rock n' roll.
  • RCCLBC
    March 25, 2009
    RCCLBC
    Ahead of it's time.
    Not my favorite "Guest Film"...but definately a classic.
    And worth seeing if you enjoy his films.
  • malcolmjovidennis
    December 31, 2009
    malcolmjovidennis
    As far as Rockumentorys go there is this and the Jonas brothers 3D experience, that?s gay so lets just focus on Spinal tap. This movie is a British comedy so it is very subtle and its all about smart dialogue and awkward facial expressions, I am glad to say that this works perfec...( read more)tly in this movie. The scenes are stages so well and the chemistry between the cast just adds to the humor. The style with which it is shot is very much like a documentary even though it isn?t real and the writing is great. I had a great time with this movie and am glad that I bought the 3 disc edition with bonus features including all their songs presented in true TAP style. It?s a comedy classic and a great movie, I only wish the rating system would go to 11.
  • jscottcorley
    December 26, 2009
    jscottcorley
    "You ask yourself how much blacker this could be and the answer is none. None more black."
  • stdehop
    December 21, 2009
    stdehop
    i think the first half was really really really funny but it just got a little old near the end
  • reytutiver
    December 6, 2009
    reytutiver
    Still one of the funniest mocumentaries that ever saw the light of day!
  • MrOrange8590
    December 1, 2009
    MrOrange8590
    very, very good comedy for people looking for a little more than gags that end with "Dude he got hit in the balls!"
View All Reviews

Opening This Week

Top Box Office

Upcoming Movies

New on DVD