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This Is Spinal Tap - Criterion Collection

This Is Spinal Tap - Criterion Collection

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: i am a worse person for watching this movie
Review: 'this is spinal tap' is the worst movie i've ever seen. it made me want to stick a pencil in my eye.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: They stink!
Review: Ah, yes. I remember stumbling home,slightly inebreated from the Bush & Feathers one night and I plopped down on the sofa to watch TV. Spinal Tap was on and I remember thinking, "Man, they stink." I continued to watch as I couldn't believe how crap this band were. I found myself laughing at them and pointing to the screen, looking around my room for people who were not there to agree with me that they are just idiots -

"What's the difference between sexy and sexist?" "There's such a fine line between clever and ... stupid." "That guitar's never been played..No, don't touch it...Don't even look at it." "Scotland Yard just doesn't have the equipment to dust for vomit." "A musical about Jack the Ripper called 'Saucy Jack'"

After it was over I found myself humming along to 'Stonehenge' (which nearly was crushed by dwarves), and Big Bottoms (talk about mud-flaps, my girls got 'em). As I nodded of I woke with a start - "Wasn't that record-exec Steed from The Avengers?" Ahh, I had been conned - I'm an idiot.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: This was Spinal Tap?
Review: Very good film, taking a queue from The Rutles. It reminds us of how human(and rather foolish) the music industry is. Days of the actual rock stars are gone, and this brings back the memories of all of the 80's hair bands, when stars were gods. Now, the music industry stars are like that annoying guy next door.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Big bottom?
Review: My girl's got 'em! But seriously, this movie was great. At Ferncliff Hall we don't often view good movies, but this was a refreshing exception. And Ryan, I'm sorry, but I just can't leave this behind!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Criterion version has NOTHING on this!
Review: Put simply, this is a must own DVD! The film itself is a comedy classic, and the bonus features make this one of the best examples of what a DVD is good for. A huge load of fantastic outtakes, the full array of bonuses, not to mention the funniest opening menu ever, provide a perfect companion to the Tap's excess. I can't recommend it enough.

For you Criterion Collection spine-hounds, buy this DVD and put it in your Criterion case. You'll be glad you did.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Hubby Thought It Was Real
Review: My husband, who has never been a rock music fan, thought for awhile that this movie was a real documentary of a rock music band. You know that satire is great when it is rocketing along that close to the truth! Rob Reiner, director of this masterpiece, goes beyond tongue-in-cheek, to present the funniest, wickedest satire of a rock music band and the music industry itself. This film deserves a prominent spot in everyone's permanent film collection.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Mime is money!
Review: Superb (m/r)ockumentary of the semi-fictitious band "Spinal Tap", made up of Michael McKean ("Lenny", soul mate of Squigy, on the TV series "Laverne & Shirley"), Christopher Guest (actor/director of "Waiting for Guffman"), Harry Shearer (performs voices of 22 different characters on "The Simpsons"), and a random selection of ever-changing drummers. The movie is a tongue-in-cheek parody of washed-up hard rock bands that still think they are God's gift to the universe. The inspired idiocy borders on genius at times, lending weight to Michael's observation that there is a "fine line between stupid and clever".

The DVD is simply amazing. For starters, everything is in character. From the style of the main menu title screen, to the menu voice-overs by the band, and extending through all of the extra material included on the DVD, the personas of the band (and the fictitious director as well) are maintained with perfect consistency.

What makes this all the more amazing is the shear quantity of extras on the disk. For starters, there is about an hour of "deleted" scenes provided. In addition, there are numerous music videos, TV commercials (fake I presume???), and trailers. And as if that weren't enough, there is also a commentary track throughout the entire film with the band members, completely in character, being as hilariously idiotic as they are in the film. The Spinal Tap commentary track is easily the most entertaining commentary in my extensive DVD library.

The DVD medium is put to splendid use as well. Menu transitions are computer animations inspired by some of the film's funniest moments. Each menu plays a different "Tap" song, giving you access to a decent percentage of the sound track. And, just as importantly, the animations are not overdone; the menus are still easy to use, and the transitions only take a few seconds.

Overall, this DVD is a great value, and provides a vast amount of material not available in the VHS version. If you are a Tap fan, or would like to be, you NEED this DVD!

Movie
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Originality: A
Creativity: A
Complexity/Depth: B-
Relevance/Message: B
Artistic Merit: A
Overall Entertainment Value: A

DVD
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Transfer Quality: A
Extras: A+
Use of Medium: A


Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Original Rockumertary
Review: This Is Spinal Tap pokes fun at documentary films with what faux director Marty DiBergi calls a rockumentary. While MTV took this title and actually had rockumentaries, VH1's wildly successful Behind The Music series is a take off (albeit a serious one) of Tap's concept. Michael McKean, Christopher Guest & Harry Shearer star as a fictional English heavy metal band Spinal Tap. The film follows them around on their concert tour and the hoopla surrounding the release of their album Smell The Glove. The three stars are hysterical. They conduct themselves with a mock seriousness and that better than everyone attitude that stars often assume. The concert sequences are great as the Tap's songs are great spoofs of the metal genre with titles like "Stonehedge" & "Big Bottoms". The movie is woefully short, so the extra footage is a welcome addition. Tony Hendra is brilliant as the band's put upon manager and a young Fran Drescher shows up as a record label executive while Dana Carvey and Billy Crystal have a small bit as mime waiters.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This review goes to 6
Review: There's nothing to really say about the film itself that has not been said many times before. This is _the_ standard for the sometimes overdone art of mockumentary filmmaking. Viewers owe this film a debt of gratitude for any and all films in the genre since thenk, including the brilliant work of Christopher Guest. One would think that even The Blair Witch boys owe a nod to Tap for the reality style of fiction.

Beyond the sheer brilliance and hilarity of the movie itself, the extra features of this new DVD release make it a must-own, even if you have the original DVD release. The extra footage is over an hour in length, with deleted scenes that are just as funny as some of the bits in the movie. The scene where the limo driver gets intoxicated and sings in his underwear is a scream. Also, there are things like television spots for some sort of packaged sandwich thing that are great for Tap fanatics. Even the automatic menu opening when the disc is popped in is funny, with the Tapsters commenting on the logo.

Anyone who is in the music business, has seen the music business, or simply loves music, will find this movie hilarious. The extra features are only one more strong reason to buy this and put it in a place of honor on the DVD shelf.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: More than I expected
Review: This is really a great DVD. The hour or so of extra footage alone made my day, but the commentary by the "band" is absolutely hysterical (and surprisingly clever). This is the reason they make DVDs--the extras are really worth it!


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