Rating: 
Summary: A Cult Classic That Shouldn't Be Missed!
Review: I can't believe that I hadn't seen this movie sooner. I was very surprised by this very clever and hilarious "mockumentary." (Yes, this isn't a real documentary. Like "The Blair Witch Project," a lot of people thought this movie was real.) And now that it is restored and loaded with extras, the film is even better.The movie is about a heavy metal band, Spinal Tap, who goes on tour and hopes to sell their new album, "Smell the Glove" to Tap fans everywhere. Along that road to fame comes bumps and unexpected events. The band starts to fight with each other while cities are starting to cancel their tours. Though this movie is hilarious, it's funny in a very subtle way, so it makes you believe that you are watching an actual documentary. As funny as it may seem, the movie does seem to have a ring of truth when it comes to the music business. This DVD is loaded with extras! The funniest part is when you go to the menu and you hear the band trying to figure out what the buttons mean. ("That one means 'Play.'" "But I didn't bring any of my instruments, I didn't know we had to play.") It's pretty funny to hear the whole thing. There are also lots of rare out-takes that are defiantly worth seeing. The best feature of all is the audio commentary, which is done by Spinal Tap. (Yes, they stay in character throughout the whole commentary.) It's great listening to it the second time you see it. You hear the band members accusing the director of the documentary trying to make them look bad, and using "special" cameras that they couldn't see. They also try to figure out what the name of their skull head statue was. It's pretty funny when they accuse the director of having a fake beard. ("Look, it's got glue all over on it. Now, he's scratching it again.) Definitely check out the audio commentary when you can. "This is Spinal Tap" is a cult classic, and is an awesome movie. It's a very clever satire of documentaries on rock bands. This is a classic film that you will not forget.
Rating:
Summary: Spinal Tap - A Man's DVD
Review: Are you ever siting around with the guys looking for something to do? Look no further! This is Spinal Tap: is the greatest DVD in my collection. It's just one of those movies that a bunch of frineds can sit down, and watch while eating a pizza. The comedy is not to be missed. This "Rockumentary" follows a band on tour. You get to become one with the band. The special features on this DVD are not to be missed. From Music videos to deleted scenes, this DVD has it all. Never before have I seen a DVD that has such amazing and entertaining menus are one that had me on the floor laughing. I strongly reccommend this DVD to anybody that wants to laugh.
Rating:
Summary: There's A Fine Line Between Stupid And Clever...
Review: What can I say? This movie ROCKS! Its hilarious band members and side-splitting songs like "Big Bottom", "Sex Farm", and "Stonehenge" make me wish that Spinal Tap really were a band! This is my favorite movie and I recommend it to any fan of heavy metal (and Christopher Guest fans will definitely love it!!!) "As long as people have navels, there will be lint." - Derek Smalls, bassist
Rating: 
Summary: if there was ever a great rock group it wasnt these guys
Review: this movie is laugh out loud funny done by rob riener or legendary meat head if it was on a scale of 1 to 10 i would have to give this movie 11 "does that make it better" "well yes its one better isnt it" smell the glove is a great album "you ask how much blacker could this be and the answer is none" just see it its funny...
Rating:
Summary: Here lies David St. Hubbins...and why not?
Review: Brilliant. I've seen this movie countless times...and everytime I see it, I find something new to laugh at. It's really hilarious to watch this, and then flip over to VH-1 and catch "Behind the Music". The DVD features almost an entire second movie of outtakes. Some of these are pretty boring and trivial, but there are some great scenes mixed in here (including a fun bit about Derek Smalls' movie career). The DVD also includes the band's "videos" and the TV commercial for their greatest hits album (a rip on the K-TEL complitation commercials of the 70's and 80's). Rob Reiner also adds in some humorous promos, in character, as "Marty DeBergi".
Rating:
Summary: Turn it up to 11
Review: Assuming you wouldn't be looking for it if you've never seen it. You already know it's good. The DVD extras make this an especially choice addition to your collection of the finest in documentary films. Bonus interviews and scenes add to the experience. Go ahead, you know you want to.
Rating:
Summary: Great DVD Extras
Review: As other reviewers have admirably reviewed the rockumentary itself, I am going to focus on the DVD extras, and there are plenty. First, there is a present day interview with Marty DiBergi, where he laments that he hasn't received more work because he is now considered old. As he says, "It's not my fault Stanley Kubrick's last movie stunk." Reiner plays a dead-on bitter old director. There is also over an hour of segments that did not make the rockumentary itself. Most notably, we are given a closer look at the band's venereal diseases. In addition, there are trailers from the original release, commercials for the "albums", and segments of the band promoting the tour on the Joe Franklin Show. Finally, the segment true Tap fans were clamoring for, Guest and McKean commenting on the film IN CHARACTER. For a Tap afficianado, the DVD is absolutely essential.
Rating:
Summary: A delightful romp into the zany hijinx of masters of metal
Review: Pure comical genius with subtle satire.
Rating:
Summary: I'm sure I'd feel worse if I weren't under heavy sedation
Review: As David St. Hubbins, lead singer of Spinal Tap, so pointedly observes, "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever." This Is Spinal Tap is a movie that treads this fine line and is almost always on the clever side. A mock "rockumentary," with Rob Reiner as the director (of both the rockumentary and the real movie), this film is a romp through the world of heavy metal music, and is very funny as well. Following Spinal Tap on a tour of the U.S., Reiner's character Marty DiBergi gives us the inside scoop on the band - the post-show parties, the frustration when concerts are cancelled and hotel bookings lost, controversy over a sexist album cover, etc. When St. Hubbin's wife arrives (whom the lead guitarist Nigel is jealous of), things really go off the rails and Spinal Tap sinks to a new low, playing for a party on an air force base. The details of the plot are fairly unimportant, as very little actually occurs. The fun is in the dialogue - Nigel's distress at bread that is too small and his infatuation with his amp that goes to 11, St. Hubbin's revealing that he's named for the patron saint of quality footwear, and the drummer revealing that "as long as there's sex and drugs, I could do without the rock and roll." And, of course, my personal favourite, the bassist Small's prosthetic "limb," a strategically placed cucumber. Similarly, there's great fun involved in the concert numbers, with such notable tunes as "Big Bottom," "Sex Farm," and "Hell Hole." The fact that the dialogue was mostly unscripted, that the actors adopted their characters as alter-egos and lived in the parts, gives the film an unpolished quality and a feel of "authenticity" that many real documentaries lack. Reiner wisely keeps the film short at 75 minutes or so. Any longer and the momentum would have waned. The choice of actors is suberb - they really play the instruments and sing the songs, and keep their parts distinct and self-consistent. That all the parts are played with such utter seriousness and sincerity only increases the hilarity. The film itself, especially compared with some of Reiner's later work, probably "only" rates a 4 out of 5. The profusions of extras on this DVD raises this disc to a 5. There is an hour of extra footage cut from the movie. While the cuts could have been easily incorporated into the movie, I'm glad they weren't due to the aforementioned momentum. There's also 4 music videos, 3 of which are just the full versions of songs that were truncated in the film, but fun to watch nonetheless. There are assorted other interviews and comments, and a full audio commentary of the 3 main characters (in character), which is quite amusing. Clearly, a lot of effort went into making this film, and the proof is up there on the screen - it's a fun film, with enough nuances that it can be watched over and over again. The extras on the DVD make it well worth the price.
Rating:
Summary: This is Why I Bought a DVD Player!
Review: If you enjoyed the film "This Is Spinal Tap" when it was originally released, you will absolutely love this 'Special Edition' DVD. 'Special' it is. The DVD version of this film is exactly why I bothered to even buy a DVD player in the first place. It is loaded full of scenes deleted from the original film, (and many are hilarious) and many of these "deleted" scenes lend credence to some of the storylines in the theatre version. For example, Billy Crystal's mime character appears for several minutes, and Bruno Kirby's limo driver spends one wild night partying with Tap. In addition, there are also music videos, original movie trailers, and a "Listen to the Flower People" press conference, which was not seen in the original film. Finally, there is a feature where you watch the entire movie without sound, but you hear audio commentary from David, Nigel, and Derek that was recorded I believe back in 1999. Diehard Tap fans will find this absolutely hilarious and very informative! The problem with most DVDs is that you buy them thinking they will be somehow "better" than the original film version, and all you get is better sound and the "widescreen" version at home-to simulate you being at the theater. You may get a music video at the end, but that's pretty much it. With "This Is Spinal Tap- Special Edition", you get so much more, and you'll love it! Enjoy it Tap fans!
|
