Rating: 
Summary: The most stupid movie I've ever seen next to The Waterboy
Review: This movie is proof that the dumbing down of America is a reality.
Rating: 
Summary: DVD Goes to 11!
Review: Well, Spinal Tap just won't give up. They're approaching 60 and still rocking. This new edition of the comedy masterpiece This is Spinal Tap is loaded with goodies, especially for die hard fans. The intro alone is worth the price of the DVD, with all three members (in character) commenting on the title sequence of the DVD. Then some commentary as you navigate the menu (especially funny is the subtitles bit). Then there are the extras! Man...some of the extras aren't the funniest, so it's obvious as to why they were removed from the final cut, but some are hilarious! My favorite out-take was a bit featuring Nigel (Christopher Guest) explaining to Marty Dibergi (Rob Reiner) the similarities between tradtional Indonesian music and true American Western music. This scene is as funny as anything in the movie. A nice touch is the audio commentary featuring all three in character as they analyze the truthfulness of DiBergi's representation and recall old times. Funny as hell. All in all, if you're a Tap fan, this will make you forget about the "Hellhole" you live in! A great continuation of the Tap legacy.
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Summary: Tap fans MUST buy the DVD!
Review: ...Spinal Tap is legendary -- a masterpiece. But for the missing scenes included in this DVD, I would have paid three times the price!
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Summary: Behind the scenes of a legendary rock band.
Review: To me, growing up in the 70's meant sitting in bean bag chairs, eating Jiffy Pop and listening to Spinal Tap. By the 80's few people listened to or even knew about these "lesser" heavy metal gods. Fortunately, in 1984 young director (Marty DiBergi), made a low-budget documentary about Tap. Unfortunately, strained relationships and their lasting inability to keep a drummer alive for an entire tour eventually took its toll on the band. But DiBergi really captured the essence of what it is like to be on the road with an ear-pounding, mind-dulling, powerhouse from England. What the band lacked in sex-appeal, talent and proper hygiene, they made up for with ear-deafening volume, spandex and cucumbers. But if you're like me, by the end of the film you'll be singing along with songs such timeless classics as Hell Hole, Big Bottom and Sex Farm Woman. So sit back and soak in the sights, the sounds, and the smells of a rock and roll band known to their fans only as TAP!
Rating:
Summary: The Best Music Industry Satire Ever
Review: Spinal Tap is one of the most clever, incisive satires ever made. Rob Reiner, et. all created the "mockumentary" genre with this film and it's influence and relevance today is as strong as ever. This is Spinal Tap follows the tour of a British heavy metal band of the same name. Though Spinal Tap is a ficticious band created for this film, the band and situations bare such verisimilitude to the actual music industry to this day many people still think that Spinal Tap was a real band. There is so much to this film that a review of a few hundred words can't possibly due it justice. Spinal Tap subtly and mericlessly satires virtually every aspect of the music industry. First the fans: Though Spinal Tap never really existed, when the movie was being filmed in different cities, the creators took out ads that read "Legendary English Heavy Metal Band" (or something to that effect). The producer accurately gauged how many people would show up based on the degree of promotion. When "fans" did show-up, they expressed a remarkable degree of loyalty for a band they only heard about in the last 24 hours. Not only is the music industry lampooned, but Reiner and Co managed to take a dig at virtually every popular act since the 1950s; some very subtle, so obvious. Many of the jokes are so subtle that you will not notice them the first time. I've seem Spinal Tap at least 8 times and each time I catch something new. What's remarkable about Spinal Tap is it's accuracy and insightfulness. Though it's presented in a comical, slightly exaggerated way (only slightly exaggerated) everything that happens in this film is realistic: Equipment problems, declining popularity, bickering bandmembers and managers, just to name a few. This can best be illustrated by the reaction of Steven Tyler to this film (I'm not an Aerosmith fan, but it's a good story). This film was released in 1984 when Aerosmith was at the nadir of their popularity (Tyler was so broke he was sleeping on his manager's couch). Tyler said that he almost cried because this film so accurately portrays the experiences of a band declining in popularity. Spinal Tap is as fresh today as it was 16 years ago. Though the particulars of the popular music scene may have changed, the industry hasn't and with the growth of documentary programs such as "Behind the Music", Spinal Tap is more relevant than ever. On a general note, Spinal Tap seems to be the kind of comedy you'll either get or you won't. Some people love it, while others don't find it funny at all. Particularly, people who are really into hard rock/heavy metal don't seem to understand it, perhaps because the satire is so subtle. Also, a good historical understanding of popular music and the machinery of the music industry is necessary to understand some or the humor.
Rating: 
Summary: Tap cranks it to 12
Review: The Tap is at it again. Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Christopher Guest star in this Rob Reiner masterpiece. There are so many jokes in this film like In Cleveland, Ohio, Spinal Tap gets lost in the basement under the stage. I recomend this comedy smash to friends. So crank it to 11 and watch the film with the extra bonus footage.
Rating:
Summary: Decidedly on the clever side of the line
Review: So I've seen 'Spinal Tap' about a dozen times by this point. That's one more than 11, for those of you scoring at home (Sorry, just trying to get that obligatory reference out of the way early). What amazes me most about the movie is that even though the jokes are cultural relics by this point, and you can see (remember) them coming from a mile away, they still elicit an honest to goodness chuckle. You know when the title card reads "Cleveland, Ohio" that it's time for the Tap to get lost in the basement on their way to the stage. You know when Nigel diagrams Stonehenge that when the prop shows up it will be 18 inches instead of 18 feet tall. And you know that when the band breaks into "Rock 'n' Roll Creation", Derek will get stuck in his pod. You know all these things. And yet you wait for the punchline. And when the punchline happens, you laugh. Staying power like that is a sign of a well-constructed joke. What surprised me about the movie when I saw it recently, was that amongst a sea of cartoonish caricatures, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest give strikingly real performances. Their David St. Hubbins and Nigel Tufnel (the band's "poetic visionaries") come off as complete characters. I didn't notice this upon viewing the movie the first couple of times. McKean manages to show some of David's manic anguish at being relegated to the deletion bin, as well as his pride at creating a prosperous musical relationship. Guest's Tufnel is lovably dim-witted for the most part (the mini sandwich scene is good evidence of this), but his jealousy when David's girlfriend shows up is tangible and quite touching. I don't think these two actors get the credit they deserve for their textured performances (look at me talking about "textured performances" during a 'Spinal Tap' review, but there you have it). Like I said before, the other characters barely escape two-dimensionality. Harry Shearer's Derek Smalls has some shining moments, my favourite being his stunt at the airport metal-detector. What makes this movie the classic that it is are the songs. Never mind the fact that they are outstanding parodies of heavy metal's penchants for primitive double entendres (hello AC/DC). The most astounding thing to me is that they were written and performed by the actors themselves. And they ably shift from youthful skiffle music ("All the Way Home"), to watered-down psychedelia ("(Listen to the) Flower People"), to stupid hard rock (the triple-bass workout "Big Bottom" is my favourite), to... um... free jazz ("Jazz Odyssey"). It's hardly fair that these men get to be both this funny and this musical at the same time. And the fact that the boys can play their instruments elevates the concert footage above other instances of actors-as-musicians. I find it terribly distracting when the fingers on the fretboard don't match the tones coming from the amp. So 'Tap' is good. Well, we all knew that. What I'm here to say is that 'Tap' stays good, no matter how many times you've seen it.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible humor and value!
Review: A must-have for anyone who loved the movie. The extra footage is extensive and hilarious. And the movie itself just gets funnier every time I watch it.
Rating:
Summary: This Is Spinal Tap - Defining the "Rockumentary"
Review: I always compared Spinal Tap to a fine wine....the longer you let it age, the better it will taste. Watching this DVD proves my rather silly comparison. This film is so funny, and with the addition of over an hour of footage, this Spinal Tap DVD provides an overwhelming amount of laughter. I find this film funnier now then when I first saw it over 10 years ago. Marty DiBergi (Rob Reiner aka "Meathead") is back with his rockumentary classic in the digital medium. The graphic design on the package and disc itself is simple.....it's black. I'm sure the members of Spinal Tap approved this color since you can't get any more black then this. The inner pamphlet contains updates on the members of Spinal Tap, including a "Drummer Necrology" of all the drummers that died throughout the years. A funny little read, but I always seem to want more from an inner pamphlet! I popped in the DVD and immediately started to laugh. As the main menu started to load, the band started talking about the menu. You really have to listen to it to understand, but if you are slow at deciding what you are going to choose, the band members have plenty to say to ammuse you while you decide. Anyway, the choices you have are "Scene Selections", which has a very impressive graphical design. Scenes are numbered and each one has a picture and description. You have a choice of French or Spanish subtitles while listening to the band chatter brainlessly about what a subtitle is! Your final choice from the main menu is "Special Features." You can watch the film with audio commentary by the band which is really funny because the bands IQ seems to have decreased throughout the years! You also have a recent interview with Marty DiBergi, and you can watch over 1 hour of rare outtakes which are hysterical! You can click "Vintage Material" and watch the 'Flower People' press conference and the 'Joe Franklin Show' with the band. You will find yourself laughing again and again! You have the choice of watching 4 music videos including "Gimme Some Money", "Flower People", "Hell Hole", and "Big Bottom". You have a button titled "Promotional Materials" where you can watch the theatrical trailer, 3 TV spots and a few other funny trailers and commercials. The final button titled "Commercials" has all 3 "Rock & Rolls" spots....all silly, all funny. So I started to watch the film and a smile came to my face as Marty DiBergi introduces us to his film. The new digital transfer is fairly clean. Dirt and grain is noticeable sometimes during the film, but for this feature you really can't complain. The picture is sharp and surpasses any previous release. The colors, especially during the concert footage are also a noticeable improvement over any previous release. This DVD transfer is the best version of Spinal Tap you will find. The picture is far from poor and will be pleasing to most viewers. There is no choice of audio formats on this DVD, but the sound was fairly clean. It sounds great on 2 speaker set-ups and of course sounds better on surround sound set-ups. The production track is dated, but overall pleasing for this type of film. The dated production track will not at all affect the overall experience of the film. It still sounded acceptably clean. The music track sounds like it has been improved, sounding much cleaner then the production track, and opening up in ambiance and atmosphere a great deal during concert scenes. In conclusion, if you are a fan of this film, the music, the craziness and silliness, then this release of "This is Spinal Tap" is a MUST HAVE DVD. The menu design and navigation are excellent, and the technical aspects of the disc are quite pleasing. "This is Spinal Tap" is a very funny and entertaining film. Turn your receiver up to 11 and enjoy this DVD!
Rating:
Summary: A terrible misrepresentation of a great band
Review: All right. I know the band has said this in interviews, but this film, while it has some great concert footage and some typically wise interviews, is a travesty of the facts. Marty DiBergi - whoever he is - went out of his way to present the guys in the worst possible light. So they got lost on the way to the stage in Cleveland; that could happen to anybody! Nigel's complaints about the bread being the wrong size for the luncheon meat will be familiar to anyone who's had to deal with low-quality caterers. When Derek got stuck inside the pod during "Rock'n'Roll Creation", that wasn't funny at all, that was very serious. He could have suffocated in there, or at least got dangerously sweaty. Another thing that you probably all had a good chuckle at was the bit when Nigel's radio mike picked up the air traffic control. Well, that scene galvanised the music industry into providing proper screening for wireless systems, which goes to show how one man's tragedy can help the whole business. It's yin and, what's that other one, yang. That's it. The good thing about the film is that we get to see the Tap in all their concert glory, although I personally could have used more of Nigel's guitar/violin virtuosity. (Jimmy Page was a pussy - he only used the bow. Nigel used the whole violin. That's imagination for you.) But I don't think it was right to show the "Stonehenge" debacle. It wasn't Nigel's fault that he doesn't know feet from inches. If that designer had been any good, she'd have known that Stonehenge is considerably larger than even a tall dwarf. Also, the archive stuff is great, and a reminder of how musicianly the Tap has always been, even in their early incarnations. So why did I give it five stars? Because, flawed as it is, it's still the only full-length documentary about a seminal band. Do I mean seminal? Is that how you spell it? Probably. And it's nice to see that they've stayed in the limelight, and sorted out the pod problems, and generally kept breaking like the wind. Because pods can put you off touring, and touring is the Tap's life blood, or maybe their spinal fluid. Yeah. So I recommend this film to anyone who likes to boogie. Remember - the sun never sweats. But enough of my yakkin'.
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