This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Letitia L

  
  Too slow and too painfully Office-esque for me, but clever and I understand why other people liked it. I'd rather have watched 3 Youtube clips of the most famous moments. It needed to be turned up to 11.

• Sam B

  
  "This is Spinal Tap" was quite the pioneer...in 1984. Since that time, more recent movies have upped the ante when it comes to both mockumentaries ("Borat") and comedies that satirize the music industry ("Almost Famous" and the underrated Apatow film… More
  "This is Spinal Tap" was quite the pioneer...in 1984. Since that time, more recent movies have upped the ante when it comes to both mockumentaries ("Borat") and comedies that satirize the music industry ("Almost Famous" and the underrated Apatow film "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story"). So while Spinal Tap may have been the first of its kind in many ways, its novelty has long since worn off. Still, what we're left with are some genuinely timeless gags (most notably the famous "it goes to 11" scene), direction that perfectly imitates both concert videos and behind-the-scenes documentaries, rock music that is both hilarious and surprisingly decent, and banter so organic it would be hard to tell it wasn't a real documentary if it wasn't all so absurd.

• Daniel M

  
  In my review of Moon a couple of years ago, I talked about the strange mystique surrounding debut features. The first effort of a budding filmmaker can come to define their entire career - something which is a blessing if it leads to future success and a curse if it turns out to be… More
  In my review of Moon a couple of years ago, I talked about the strange mystique surrounding debut features. The first effort of a budding filmmaker can come to define their entire career - something which is a blessing if it leads to future success and a curse if it turns out to be their only work of any note. While Rob Reiner has continued to produce great work, with a run of form that lasted well into the 1990s, he has never topped his work on This Is Spinal Tap, a film which created the modern mockumentary and remains one of the funniest comedies of the 1980s. The cult status that Spinal Tap has enjoyed for so long is evident by how many of its lines have entered into our everyday lexicon. Whenever a TV presenter talks about the effort levels of sportsmen or the atmosphere at a gig, you can put your house on the phrase "turned up to 11" being in there somewhere. Nigel Tufnell's remark about there being "a fine line between stupid and clever" is frequently used by reviewers, particularly when reviewing comedies. Even lesser lines, about D Minor being "the saddest of all keys" and Tufnell's comments about the album cover ("How much more black could it be?... None more black") have become instantly recognisable. From a filmmaking point of view, Spinal Tap is an editing masterclass. Where subsequent spoofs like Wayne's World were constructed from a script, Reiner's was created out of dozens of hours of improvisation in front of camera. The cast and Reiner filmed themselves, keeping the cameras rolling to capture anything interesting or funny that came out. Reiner then edited down this mountain of footage to a lean, taut running time of 82 minutes (a 4 1/2-hour bootleg also exists, and some die-hard fans would hold this to be the proper version). As well as demonstrating Reiner's directorial discipline, there are two positive side effects to this approach. Because the cameras were rolling pretty much all the time, there is never any sense of the jokes being staged or choreographed. The humour flows freely - so freely in fact that you may not pick up on every joke the first time round. The other positive side effect lies in the camerawork. Because no-one ever knew where the next joke would be coming from, the crew had to be on their toes and get close to the actors. There is an intimacy to Spinal Tap which you don't get either in Wayne's World or in earlier efforts like The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash. The secret of Spinal Tap's success as a mockumentary is the balance between naturalism and absurdity. Even though what the band are doing is clearly pompous, preposterous and egomaniacal in the extreme, they feel like real people rather than puppets of a didactic director. The intimacy of the camerawork, coupled with the comic timing of the performers, gives the impression that everyone involved on camera believes in the stories the characters are telling and the music they are playing. Unlike The Rutles, where Eric Idle was constantly winking at the audience, there is never a moment where the performers break the fourth wall and try to bring the audience in on the joke. Even when Rob Reiner appears on screen as the 'director' of the 'film', the perfect little bubble surrounding the characters is never punctured. The performers are confident enough in their abilities and the strength of the material that the audience will pick up on the joke, rather than being told that it's a joke. Ultimately this wasn't entirely the case, with early audiences believing that the band was real, and with Spinal Tap eventually going out on the road as a bona fide rock band. Spinal Tap is a satire on heavy metal and the rock industry as it was in the 1980s. It shows how the trends in 1980s metal that we recognise had grown out of both the more pompous, self-absorbed end of prog rock and the harsher side of glam. The long hair, guitar-shredding, lengthy solos and elaborate entrances successfully convey how bloated and theatrical big-bucks rock music has become. The levels of ego and stupidity present on the tour for Smell the Glove are enough to send anyone running to buy up The Smiths' back catalogue. The film is replete with references to rock stars and iconic rock images. The blank black cover to Smell the Glove (put out as a compromise with the record company) is a nod to both The Beatles (a.k.a. The White Album) and the external, 'bin-liner' cover of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here. There are further Beatles references in the character of Jeanine: she is the Yoko Ono who comes in and breaks up the group, turning the song-writing pair against each other through her peculiar artsy taste. The musical numbers in Spinal Tap are brilliantly smart send-ups of songs from the era, with no genre from the 1970s and 1980s being left unscathed. 'Stonehenge' is a welcome piss-take of Yes with their hugely ambitious sets, while 'Jazz Odyssey' looks towards the noodling of Stanley Clarke's 'Dream Suite' or King Crimson's 'Moonchild'. The performances combine the tongue-poking of Kiss with the schoolboy cheek of AC/DC, and because all the performers are playing their own instruments (another plus over The Rutles), we really believe someone could genuinely be stupid enough to not only write these songs but play them with passion. Although the satire in Spinal Tap is clear, it is also deeply affectionate. This is demonstrated not just by the musicianship of the actors, but the amount of effort that clearly went into writing these songs in the first place. Had they gone the easy way, writing 'so-bad-they're-bad' songs to get cheap, mean-spirited laughs, the gag would have worn off in 5 minutes and we wouldn't care about the men behind the egos. The fact that Spinal Tap went on to have a legitimate pop career is testament to this effort - they knew how to write so-bad-they're-good songs and play them with a straight face (well, sort of). The film also delves into other issues surrounding rock and roll. The band's arguments with their manager, akin to those which inspired the Queen song 'Death On Two Legs', tap into claims about the record industry ruining the creativity of artists by their desire for commercial success. The arguments over Smell the Glove find their incompetent manager Ian Faith trying to persuade the band that the change from their intended cover is in fact a bold artistic choice. The theme of artistic mismanagement continues in promoter Artie Fufkin, a possible reference to Rupert Pupkin from The King of Comedy. There are also discussions raised about whether it is possible to be a rock star in your 40s, the homoerotic undertones of rock (Tap play largely to young male audiences), and whether being 'big in Japan' is no bad thing. But outside of its acerbic observations about rock, the film is also a convincing piss-take of the rock doc format. Some of the best scenes in This Is Spinal Tap are its recreations of earlier periods of music, akin to The Rutles' reimagining of The Ed Sullivan Show. The performance of Spinal Tap's early hit, 'Listen To The Flower People', perfectly recreates the kind of TV performances The Beatles and The Who used to do, with the band on different levels on the stage and random dancers alongside for no reason. This Is Spinal Tap remains one of the funniest films of the 1980s and the peak of Rob Reiner's much-lauded career. It takes a little while to get going, and the romantic twist at the end may seem contrived to some, but the vast majority of the charm and the humour remains intact. The Stonehenge sequence in particular, with an 18-inch model descending behind Nigel Tufnell, will still have you in hysterics. When everything is said and done, it still stands as the definitive mockumentary of this and any era, and as far as Reiner is concerned, there's none more funny.

• Carlos M

  
  A hilarious mockumentary that features numerous memorable, well-inspired moments. It is a delicious film that works so well due to its intelligent, ironic sense of humor, making fun of the rock 'n' roll universe (the stars and the fans) in a very light-hearted way.

• Jonathan H

  
  One of the greatest mockumentaries ever made -- a clever skewering of the entitlement and idiocy of rock stars and the ridiculous lifestyle they lead. This Is Spinal Tap, a clinic on improvisational comedy, is the standard against which all mockumentaries are evaluated. In fact, the… More
  One of the greatest mockumentaries ever made -- a clever skewering of the entitlement and idiocy of rock stars and the ridiculous lifestyle they lead. This Is Spinal Tap, a clinic on improvisational comedy, is the standard against which all mockumentaries are evaluated. In fact, the movie was so successful that in the 1990s the fictitious group reunited for a series of live concerts and a TV special, further blurring the lines between satire and reportage. If that isn't the end result of a great parody, I don't know what is.

• Directors C

  
  If you want to see a sophisticated but hilarious spoof film, I urge you to avoid trashy modern ones like Date Movie, Meet the Spartans, Vampires Suck and just watch This is Spinal Tap over and over again. TIST is the funniest comedy movie of the 80's and arguably the best… More
  If you want to see a sophisticated but hilarious spoof film, I urge you to avoid trashy modern ones like Date Movie, Meet the Spartans, Vampires Suck and just watch This is Spinal Tap over and over again. TIST is the funniest comedy movie of the 80's and arguably the best mockumentary ever made. It's also the wittiest spoof film i've ever seen. Who knew that a spoof could be hilarious and witty and could even exist after Airplane?! It's got a completely original story, extremely convincing acting and jokes and quotable lines that'll knock you out each time you see it. Simply a comedy classic.

• Jens S

  
  This fake documentary about the somewhat catastrophic tour of an 80s hair metal band is done so well that it was certainly taken at face value when it came out. The interviews, bits and pieces from the hotel rooms, back stage and the tour bus feel so random, bizarre, yet oddly… More
  This fake documentary about the somewhat catastrophic tour of an 80s hair metal band is done so well that it was certainly taken at face value when it came out. The interviews, bits and pieces from the hotel rooms, back stage and the tour bus feel so random, bizarre, yet oddly realistic. While nothing outrageously crazy happens, the subtle stabs at the musical genre and the record industry are pretty funny. The highlights are definitely the live songs with rather outrageously bad and hilarious lyrics, mocking and worshiping the different rock genres of the time. It was probably easier to appreciate the film when it originally came out, but as a contemporary document of the early 80s, it's pretty priceless.

• BG Movie Reviews 2

  
  This Is Spinal Tap is possibly the best mockumentary and rockumentary ever! If you haven't heard of this film, read this review and then go out and watch it! I managed to pick up a new copy of the 3-Disc Edition from Sainsbury's for £3! This Is Spinal Tap tells the… More
  This Is Spinal Tap is possibly the best mockumentary and rockumentary ever! If you haven't heard of this film, read this review and then go out and watch it! I managed to pick up a new copy of the 3-Disc Edition from Sainsbury's for £3! This Is Spinal Tap tells the outlandishly hilarious story of the legendary band "Spinal Tap", showing their highs and lows throughout their career! Even though the band was originally fictional, this film made Spinal Tap become a real band, releasing a couple of albums featuring some of their best loved songs! What you will find in this hour and a half spectacle are some amazing moments of hilarity, references to previous events in rock history, and classic lines that you will remember vividly! For example, the lead guitarist is showing the interviewer their amps, and points out that they all go up to 11, so if they need an extra push they can go there. "Why not just make 10 louder?" "...Cos it's not 11! 11 makes it better!" "But you could just have 10 louder and you wouldn't need 11." "...But it's not 11!" Old or young, this film can be treasured as one of the best British comedies of the 80's, and will most certainly be one of the best mockumentaries of all time...

• Joe M

  
  6 out of 5 stars

• Melvin W

  
  Nigel Tufnel: It's like, how much more black could this be? and the answer is none. None more black.  "Does for Rock and Roll what "Sound of Music" did for hills." This Is Spinal Tap is the best mocumentary ever made. If you are a fan of rock and or metal,… More
  Nigel Tufnel: It's like, how much more black could this be? and the answer is none. None more black.  "Does for Rock and Roll what "Sound of Music" did for hills." This Is Spinal Tap is the best mocumentary ever made. If you are a fan of rock and or metal, there is absolutely no way you can't love everything about Spinal Tap. Although the entire movie is hilarious; there are three or four sequences that will have you practically gasping for air they are so funny. Christopher Guest as Nigel is spot on perfect. Guest is the king of the mocumentary. He's directed such classics as Waiting For Guffman and Best in Show. Rob Reiner directed this and the writing team of him, Guest, McKean and Shearer make one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. I've seen many interviews with real rockstars, who said that it's almost scary watching Spinal Tap because of spot on it is at summing up the rock and roll scene. From the scene where Nigel is complaining about the food backstage to the band getting lost while trying to make their way onstage. It's all a realistic portrayal of what goes on during a tour.  I love every minute of Spinal Tap and I wish it was I little longer. It doesn't get old like a lot mocumentaries do after 45 minutes to an hour. It all stays fresh and really holds up after a couple of decades pretty well. Mick Shrimpton: As long as there's, you know, sex and drugs, I can do without the rock and roll. 

• Tim S

  
  Wonderfully silly. I'm a fan of Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, and this is probably the finest of them. Everybody does some great comedic work, and the music is great, too. Not much more to say about it really, except crank it up to eleven. :)

• Jacob E

  
  Funny. Just frickin' hilarious. There are no words to describe this, you just have to watch it. One of the best mock-u-mentaries ever and well worth anyone's time.

• AJ V

  
  This movie is a fantastic spoof on the world of heavy metal rock music of the 80s! I loved it, it's hilarious.

• Michael E

  
  a very funny and interesting improvised comedy

• Coxxie M

  
  very, very good comedy for people looking for a little more than gags that end with "Dude he got hit in the balls!"

• Spencer S

  
  From the men who brought you Best in Show and For Your Consideration comes the original film that started the careers of Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, and Michael McKean. Rob Reiner was the perfect choice as director, and the comedy is beyond belief.

• MisterYoda ?

  
  2 stars

• Thomas J

  
  I understand what the intent was....but I just did not find the humor in it! I am glad others find it so amusing, but I cannot join the bandwagon pretending I like it because so many others have called it a classic.

• Jeff "

  
  This is Spinal Tap is a film about the greatest hard rock, heavy metal band that has ever existed. With this film Marty Dibergi follows the band and documents the life on the road with Spinal Tap. This is a film that goes up to 11 and is one louder than every other rock documentary.… More
  This is Spinal Tap is a film about the greatest hard rock, heavy metal band that has ever existed. With this film Marty Dibergi follows the band and documents the life on the road with Spinal Tap. This is a film that goes up to 11 and is one louder than every other rock documentary. In this film we get to know the members of Spinal Tap, and their electrifying guitar player, Nigel Tufnel. This is one of the greatest rock documentaries ever made.

• Conner R

  
  Essentially the greatest mockumentary ever made. It's funny in all the right ways and gives you a condensed version of every rock and metal band from the 70s through the 80s. Christopher Guest is the most amazingly horrible guitar player, his 5 minute solos are priceless. Just… More
  Essentially the greatest mockumentary ever made. It's funny in all the right ways and gives you a condensed version of every rock and metal band from the 70s through the 80s. Christopher Guest is the most amazingly horrible guitar player, his 5 minute solos are priceless. Just the shear stupidity of the entire band and manager(s) is hilarious. I love the way it is shot because it matches the writing and improvisation perfectly. It's an essential step in documentaries, proving that they don't have to be either accurate or informational.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings