This is Spinal Tap * FIRST TIME WATCHING * reaction & commentary * Millennial Movie Monday
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- Опубліковано 8 тра 2022
- Just in time to remember their drummer who just passed by spontaneous combustion 😞 hate it when that happens.
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My Review: 22:09
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The Internet Movie Database normally only allows users to rate films up to ten stars, but specifically for Spinal Tap, the site displays the film rating as "out of 11 stars."
Oh yeah look at that it sure does lol
I'm a web developer and I keep wondering how I'd do it. Probably create a conditional stylesheet clause for it, and let the browser do it. One alternative, altering the database to include a "max rating" field to every movie, would be easy but wasteful of data.
BBC iPlayer also goes up to 11 (the volume slider).
Ha ha that's brilliant
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Christopher Guest, who plays Nigel "This one goes to eleven", also plays the six fingered man in the princess bride. If you add up ALL of his fingers, they go to eleven.
Also a Rob Reiner film...
Also the head mime caterer was Billy Crystal....Miracle Max
If you add up all his fingers, wouldn't it be 21?
OMG! I knew he played the evil Count Rugen but it never clicked that if you counted all his fingers they go to ELEVEN!!!!
@@scarletguard Ya wanna take a minute and really think that through?
For anyone who loves this movie, you HAVE to get the Special Edition DVD and watch it with the audio commentary. The 3 mains do the commentary in character as if they were watching their documentary years later. It's like watching a sequel.
So true! One of my favorite parts is when Derek is going through the metal detector at the airport. He explains that the reason why the cucumber was wrapped in foil is because he was afraid of it growing/grafting onto his leg! Hilarious!
There's also a "lost" commentary track with the actors speaking out of character, noting how the film was put together and the lengths they went to to make things as authentic as possible.
It was hard to get things off the ground because none of the studios heads 'got' the concept. One recommended that they make the movie as a standard scripted comedy.
You can find the track on UA-cam.
Didn't know that. Gotta get that release. This is the best fake documentary of all time.
The abuse they give their "manager" in the commentary is amazing. They keep delivering.
Came here to say that as well I had the dvd for years before I watched it this way… so great!
The whole Stonehenge sequence slays me every time. It’s just so painful and ridiculous. I hurt for the band and can’t stop laughing.
I visited Stonehenge a few years ago, and in the visitor center there is a wall of quotes from famous archeologists about the significance of the site, and they include a quote from Spinal Tap.
The film resonated with many musicians. Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Jerry Cantrell, Dee Snider and Ozzy Osbourne all reported that, like Spinal Tap, they had become lost in confusing arena backstage hallways trying to make their way to the stage. When Dokken's George Lynch saw the film he is said to have exclaimed, "That's us! How'd they make a movie about us?" Glenn Danzig had a similar reaction when comparing Spinal Tap to his former band the Misfits saying, "When I first saw Spinal Tap, I was like, 'Hey, this is my old band.'"
Lars Ulrich told a press conference crowd that the 1992 Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour seemed "so Spinal Tap." This tour was in support of Metallica's own "black album". Shortly after the tour started, Metallica's James Hetfield suffered third-degree burns on his arms after he stood too close to a pyrotechnic device. Earlier in that tour, backstage at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, Metallica met with Spinal Tap and discussed how their "black album" was an homage to Spinal Tap's Smell the Glove. This was captured on the Metallica DVD A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica.
In a 1992 interview, Nirvana explained declining the offer to be a part of the film Singles. Kurt Cobain goes on to say, "There's never really been a good documentary on rock and roll bands." Dave Grohl then cuts in saying, "Except for Spinal Tap, [that] was the only rock movie worth watching," which Cobain agreed with.
U2 guitarist, The Edge, said in the documentary It Might Get Loud that when he first saw Spinal Tap, "I didn't laugh, I wept," because it summed up what a brainless swamp big-label rock music had become.
Holy crap.. This is all so interesting honestly.
@@awkwardashleigh Would definitely recommend a rewatch under the influence of some "things"!
Harry Shearer who played Derek Smalls also does voices for The Simpsons.
In other words a highly talented man
@@awkwardashleigh if you liked this, you should definitely try Best In Show and A Mighty Wind! Both are "mockumentarys" and are hilarious!!
@@awkwardashleigh There's a British metal band called Saxon who claimed that Harry Shearer travelled on a tour with them once and they're convinced the film is based on their band, at least in part. The bass player was very much like Derek Smalls. 64.media.tumblr.com/c766ea2afc14ad01252f915af8efae19/tumblr_peabg4MIHO1v6icxjo1_540.jpg
"There's a fine line between stupid and clever."
Some of the best words ever in a film. LOL 😂😂😂😂
Words to live by
I like that Bobbie Flackman (Fran Drescher) made a cameo on The Nanny (Fran played both characters at the same time)
The same year "This is Spinal Tap" came out, Quiet Riot released their album "Condition Critical." Rolling Stone gave it a two-word review:
"Condition Terminal."
Life imitates art.
The "Stonehenge" scene was inspired by an incident that happened to Black Sabbath. They had an idea to build a stage set based on Stonehenge. Except the measurements were written in meters,not feet. When they got the set it was 3 times the size of the original and they couldn't take it anywhere because it was too big for any arena.
rotflol!!!
They couldn't take it anywhere because they couldn't fit it into a cargo jet.
the movie scene in question was actually filmed in 1982, as part of a 20-minute short the production team used to get a greenlight. black sabbath's born again tour wasn't until '83
measure twice cut once lol
It's been exaggerated over the years like all these stories. If it was 3x bigger the quoted cost would have been higher. It was just the real Stonehenge size but THAT was too big for any stage. I am sure the metres/feet thing just came from this film lol
I've been waiting for you to watch this. All you need to know: Jamie Lee Curtis saw this, fell in love with Christopher Guest, sought him out and married him, and they've stayed married. THAT is how good this comedy is: it makes the hottest woman in the world want you.
Yeah, looking at recent photos of them together, you can tell she still really does adore him. Seems super rare to see such a long term connection, in life in general, but especially in Hollywood.
Holy crap, I can't believe I didn't even know that. Just goes to show, if you can make a woman laugh....she's yours.
He's also Royalty in Britain. 5th Lord, Haden-Guest. His father was the 4th Lord.
@@hedgehog1965ukwell Mrs.Robinson herself Anne Bancroft was married to Mel Brooks.
@@sweeney60Yup, that's right and I think watching The Graduate gave me an appreciation of the appeal of the mature woman.
Two great running gags in this movie:
- All the drummers die of mysterious circumstances
- None of the actors who make up the band are British. They're all Americans who pull of passable accents.
Christopher Guest (Nigel Tufnel) mostly grew up in New York City, but he's a dual citizen of the UK and the US, and he did spent parts of his growing-up years in England. His father was a British diplomat and peer, his mother was an American television network executive. When Guest's father died, he assumed his father's hereditary title and is now the 5th Baron Haden-Guest. His wife, actress Jamie Lee Curtis, is thus Lady Haden-Guest. So Guest had a bit of a head start on perfecting his English accent.
i love how she loves this and misses how amazing the cast is i don’t even think she noticed Billy Crystal
She is notorious for not knowing who people are.
Or Paul Simon
Harry Shearer who plays Derek is the voice of Mr. Burns, Smithers, Flanders, Principal Skinner, Dr. Hibbert and many more characters on The Simpsons.
Ha ha, I so loved it when Spinal Tap showed up in Simpsons. I was a kid when that first aired and I had not seen Spinal Tap, yet I kinda knew it was a thing. And Simpsons picked up perfectly where the movie left off. "We solute you, our half inflated dark lord!"
A quick shout out for the accents in this movie.
It's quite rare for US actors to pull of an entirely convincing British accent, but here you have 3 in one movie. Those accents are bang on the money.
Well, Guest isn't really American
@@solicitr666 Yeah, it would be hard for an American to be a legit UK Baron.
Well, he has British ancestry and peerage, with the whole Lord/Baron thing going on, but he was born and has spent most of his life in NY. Still an American in my book, and still a killer accent.
This is one of the greatest movies ever! RIP To Ric Parnel who played Mick Shrimpton the drummer who passed away last week. Also I have played a show where we got lost on the way to the stage.
Glad you enjoyed this so much. These are seriously talented guys. They all play their own instruments and they are all American but have amazing British accents. (I'm a Brit so I can say that.)
I saw Soundgarden around 1992, and for their encore, they played "Big Bottom", complete with the Spinal Tap skull rising from behind the stage. So goddamn fun. 😆
That’s HILARIOUS!
Were they all playing basses??
haha, worth the cost of admission just for that song
Talk about mud flaps, my girl's got 'em
I rarely envy people for those kind of things, but damn. Soundgarden live went from my bucketlist to the graveyardplaylist. *sigh
Now you'll want to go through Christoper Guest's mockumentaries. All of these have the same core cast: Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Fred Willard, Michael McKean, Parker Posey, and Bob Balaban.
Waiting for Guffman (1996) - small town community theater.
Best in Show (2000) - dog shows, mostly about the owners
A Mighty Wind (2003) - reunion concert of older folk musicians
For Your Consideration (2006) - a low-budget film gets Oscar buzz
Mascots (2016) - the world of professional mascots
How have I missed Mascots?
All great, but Best in Show is my favorite, followed by A Mighty Wind.
Best in Show and Mighty Wind! Patreon make it happen!
Knowing her love of Jamie Lee Curtis, it might interest Ashleigh to know she is married to Christopher Guest.
I was coming to say the same thing! I quote best in show all the time. “We could talk. Or not talk. For hours. And still find things to not talk about.”
This is one of the great comedies. Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer at their brilliant best. People forget that when this film was released a large proportion of the audiences who saw it thought it was real. There was more than one band who thought it was about them when they saw it. So many of the lines in the movie are still quoted today. "This goes to eleven." is an absolute classic. Cheers from the UK!
I was impressed that the actors actually performed those songs. A musician can tell when it's fake.
And took the show on tour, several times over the years, in character. There is an album too. A musician can always tell, for sure. They are all very good players.
Speaking of Fred Willard roles in other comments, his co-star on Fernwood 2 nite/America 2 nite, Martin Mull is an equally good guitarist and song writer.
The “Mime is money” guy is Billy Crystal aka Miracle Max from The Princess Bride and the Director of the “Rockumentary” is Rob Reiner the director of The Princess Bride 🤘😎
And Nigel is Christopher Guest, who played the Six-Fingered Man.
@@melenatorr I’m an idiot; of course he is 😆 thanks 😁
Has she reacted to any Billy Crystal movies? When Harry Met Sally, City Slickers & Throw Momma From the Train are all very fun. Billy Had a pretty good fun in the 80’s & early 90’s. I daresay he was one of the more famous people of that decade.
Rob Reiner's naval hat from Spinal Tap is hanging on the bedpost in The Princess Bride.
The commentary by the 3 main Spinal Tap members, done completely in character, is a must listen to. It feels like a sequel to the movie.
I have the special edition dvd. The outtakes & deleted scenes are wonderful.
Oh, god, I had forgotten that! I have the DVD with the in-character commentary, but I haven’t watched it in so long. 🤣
@@ninamravlja3632
Movie
Ian: We're canceled here in Boston. I wouldn't worry about it, it's not a big college town.
Commentary
Derrick: That turned out to be a lie.
@@ruthfoley2580 There's enough material in the deleted scenes to make a sequel.
This movie takes on a whole different meaning once you've toured in a rock band. Just about all of the gags are based on reality.
Ashleigh nailed the "Hogwood" / Harry Potter connection. The pale young boy from Hogwarts was inspired by this segment.
Looking up information on this, it does seem like Rowling was a big fan of this film. Didn’t she acknowledge that the constant replacement of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professors was a bit of a homage to the curse of the Spinal Tap drummers? 😆
"Ian's back - with his cricket club!" is perhaps the comment I most needed to hear on this spectacular film. Those who discover the difference between "cricket club" and "cricket bat" will hopefully share my transcendent joy.
You gotta know what a crumpet is to understand cricket
@@joshritz7067 I'll teach you
Ashleigh: "37?!"
Me: this line becomes even more hilarious if you've seen Clerks...
In a row?????
British humour? You've been had! They're all American. That's what makes it even funnier, those accents are impeccable. Very cleverly done.
Well, Christopher Guest is like half-British.
More British than most...he is actually Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest
I'm British and they can all do London accents better than me.
I would _HIGHLY_ recommend watching the rest of Christopher Guest's movies, particularly A Mighty Wind, a mockumentary about a memorial folk music concert featuring several folk groups. One of those groups, The Folksmen, is made up of the three main bandmates of Spinal Tap, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer (probably best known for his roles on The Simpsons as Ned Flanders and Principal Skinner). Together they toured as Spinal Tap after this movie and was their own opening act as The Folksmen. Although the title is clearly a reference to a big fart, I don't think there's actually any such joke in the movie. The soundtrack is absolute fire.
Seconded. A Mighty Wind is excellent.
"I build model trains."
"Oh thank god for model trains. If they didn't have those, how would they have had the idea for the big ones."
I think Ashleigh would LOVE "Best in Show".
Not only is the "Mighty Wind" a subtle fart joke, but the final line "It's blowin' you and me!" goes by so sincerely that it doesn't really get a laugh when played for audiences.
I just saw Best In Show an hour ago on Showtime. Another Christopher Guest masterpiece.
Ea' A' 'oe's!!!
This movie and the band are considered to be real and part of rock history by the music community. They've played concerts, had articles written in Guitar magazines, and so on. It's an homage to how good This Is Spinal Tap really is. They created a parody that came to life and resonates with the very people and industry they were mocking.
When I'm in a down period and feeling low, this is one of those films that can bring me right back. The laughs are pure comedy gold and great for the soul.
Real rock stars of the era ha e watched this movie, and they don't think its that ridiculous. It's not far from the reality of touring.
There are clips of them playing the royal Albert Hall in 1992 on UA-cam :)
The bassist is Harry Shearer. He voices over 40 voices on the Simpsons, including Mr. Burns, Smithers, Reverend Lovejoy and Ned Flanders. Spinal Tap also make an appearance in a season 3 episode of The Simpsons where they make a stop in Springfield on their world tour. "This is a rock concert. Not the bleedin Splish Splash Show."
The lead played Lenny in "Lavern & Shirley" and Christopher guest was count roogan: The 6 fingered man!
@@misterprickly Chistopher Guest is very odd in that he is fantastic at disappearing into a part. He has a distinctive face, but you'd never look at Harlen Pepper in Best in Show and think, "That's Nigel!"
@@misterprickly so even his fingers went to eleven!
@@vapoet Agreed!
@@footofjuniper8212 Best comment ever!
"This Is Spinal Tap" - reigning king of the mocumentaries! So glad you enjoyed it; and yes, that's where the concept of turning it up to 11 comes from.
Btw, since you mentioned Monty Python in this review, you might be interested in a movie that Eric Idle made in 1978 called "The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash".
For years I was employed at one of the largest concert venues in the country, and it's all true. My office was located under the stage (upstage right) with direct access to the stage and basement corridors connecting to catering and dressing rooms and the other side of the stage. On more than one occasion someone would stick their head in my office door asking for directions to catering or somewhere. I would tell them how to get there through the labyrinthine basement corridors and off they would go, only to reappear from the opposite direction minutes later, still searching for catering. BTW, I was told that virtually all band buses had a copy of Spinal Tap on video.
Also, by strange coincidence, on one occasion we had "Spinal Tap Unplugged" at the theatre. This was the live show presented by the original members of Spinal Tap doing music from the film and elsewhere. Along with them was C. J. Vanston, the keyboard player and musical collaborator responsible for Spinal Tap's arrangements and music for many other Christopher Guest films. On his way to dinner he spotted the theatre's pipe organ console and asked if he could play it. "Sure", said I, and showed him the ropes. He was obviously an experienced organist and proceeded into a spontaneous rendition of "Saucy Jack", the Spinal Tap song (about Jack the Ripper) that is mentioned in the film but never performed. A friend of his recorded it and it can be seen on UA-cam here: ua-cam.com/video/BN-0G6ArNQo/v-deo.html
It was between the sound check and dinner, and at the end spontaneous applause and cheers can be heard from the stagehands on the stage below. Ah, memories!
Wendy's was actually Dave Thomas. Danny Thomas was a singer, actor, comedian, producer, and TV personality, who starred in "Make Room for Daddy". He was Marlo Thomas' father, and he was the founder of St. Jude's Children's Hospital.
Also as a former resident of Memphis, you should know that Danny Thomas founded St Jude.
And as Blanche knows, he's Lebanese.
@@D.J.- Danny Thomas wasn't in White Christmas, that was Danny Kaye.
He was confusing Danny Thomas with the poet Dylan Thomas, who wrote 'A Child's Christmas in Wales'.
@@jamesbarrett9466 Could be, but I had figured he was referring to "White Christmas" with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, since Ashleigh just reacted to that specific film just a few months ago.
I love that Soundgarden would often play Big Bottom at live shows
It was written by "Rob Reiner" who played "meathead' on "All in the Family"....he was also the son of Carl Reiner. Who wrote for the Dick Van Dyke and Mel Brooks and Steve Martin.
"Are those guitar real?" Yes, yes they are.
During nigel's guitar room scene, the guitar, with the "old tagger" still on it, and you can't touch it or even look at it is a Fender Bass VI, a six string very short scale bass made in the early 60s. The thing is, fender only made 2 of them in that color. they rented all those guitars from a high end guitar store. That's why he couldn't touch or look at it. it's super super rare. It's actually a wonder they let them rent it.
Now the knobs that go to 11, is extremely funny for us guitarists, because that's not how it works at all.
Nigel tufnel's look is very based on Jeff beck (go look up a picture of him, it's very obvious) also, Nigel reads high performance car magazines, Jeff beck is a car collector, and builds hot rods.
Didn't one amp manufacturer make some amps that "go to 11", in honour of the movie? I can't remember if it was Marshall or not.
@@hedgehog1965uk Of course the guitar collection scene is also a reference to Jimmy Page, and despite his Beck-ish look and mannerisms, the name Nigel Tufnell points to the third ex-Yardbird axeman
The drummer interviewed in the bath was Rick Parnell who sadly passed recently. His father was Jack Parnell, a British band leader and drummer who played the drums for Animal in the Muppet Show.
Fun Fact: The star rating on the IMDB page for this movie goes up to 11.
Yesterday I learned KFC twitter account follows 11 people, who are random men named Herb and members of the Spice Girls (for 11 herbs and spices), and today I learned this. What a time to be alive.
Omg, this is hilarious. I had to check it out and the imdb star rating does indeed go to 11 🤣
@@shannonbryan2191
Well, it goes to 7.9 out of 11. But still, the fact that was done is hysterical.
@@Jay-ln1co Also, the first person to figure it out got a commissioned painting of Colonel Sanders giving then a piggy back ride.
In addition to Fran Drescher, who you did recognize, there were a *ton* of cameo performances in the film:
-Actual director Rob Reiner appears as fictional director Marty Di Bergi.
-Bruno Kirby (City Slickers, etc) plays the limo driver/Frank Sinatra fan.
-Billy Crystal (City Slickers, numerous others) plays the head mime ("Mime is money!").
-A before-he-was-famous Dana Carvey (Wayne's World) plays one of the other mimes.
-Howard Hesseman (comedian best known for the WKRP tv series) plays the snooty manager of the rival rocker they meet in a hotel lobby.
-Paul Shaffer (longtime sidekick & band leader on David Letterman's show) plays Artie Fufkin, Polymer Records.
-Fred Willard played the Air Force officer you thought you recognized (he played small parts in dozens of other popular movies, you might have recognized him from WALL-E).
-Ed Begley Jr (probably best known for the 1980s television drama St. Elsewhere) played former Spinal Tap drummer John "Stumpy" Pepys, who died in the bizarre gardening accident.
Among many other then-up & coming comedians and established musicians.
The first time I showed this to my bandmate, he cried. He legitimately cried in sympathy. I didn't tell him it was a spoof. He still holds a minor grudge against me to this day. Regardless, anyone who has ever been in a band has been there with these situations.
same thing happened to ozzy and other guys in rockbands
they couldnt figure out why it was considered a comedy
Pre-internet days, before you could check anything out, It literally took me over 5 years to figure out that the band aint real.
@@thewkovacs316 They are not exactly renowned for their smarts, are they?
This film is very British in its sense of humour: subtle, sarcastic and constantly taking the p*ss!
Let's be honest, Rock and Roll had this movie coming. These guys are comedy geniuses.
Sting called Rob Reiner to him how much he loved the movie. Sting told Rob he didn't know if he should laugh or cry because it was all so true.
Musicians from my generation can quote every line from this film, and it is all true. Yeah, Rock and Roll did have it coming. When I see old interviews of some of the bands from back then, they can come off just like this. Actually, Christopher Guest, who played Nigel Tufnel in the movie, recounted in an interview that the idea for Spinal Tap came as he was watching a rock band check into a hotel, just like they did in the movie. The bass player had left his bass at the airport, and the conversation about where the bass was, was pure Nigel and Ian. And Spinal Tap was born.
@@Zenbuck2 Oh ya I heard Guest tell that story too.
Ric Parnell that played the unfortunate drummer Mick Shrimpton just passed away last week.
Also everyone in the band is played by an American actor.
She is a Laverne and Shirley fan and yet totally misses that the lead singer is lenny from lenny and squiggy
My little bar band would never fail to yell “Rock and Roll” as we went from any dressing room to the stage.
The reason this movie works so well is because the music is actually good.
If you haven't seen Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story yet, you need to put it on your list. The music is lyrically hilarious, but it is so well performed, the songs could be played on the radio.
YES!! I second this recommendation.
I had the soundtrack.
"Beautiful Ride" is a legitimately fantastic song, and John C. Reilly has a great voice.
She needs to see Walk the Line first though. I mean just like Galaxy Quest and Austin Powers are funny without seeing the source material it helps to get some of the jokes to see Walk the Line first.
HEY! Did you hear the news? Dewey Cox died!
Side notes: the three main band members aren't British :) and you've probably seen them or heard their voices in other shows and movies. Plus the actor who played Nigel is Jamie Lee Curtis's husband. Finally the "band" actually played the gigs in front of a audience. They traveled all over southern California giving free concerts
It must be remembered that Nigel Tufnel is played by Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest. He actually is a Nobleman in England, and ironic to your quote about the "pod", he has been married to Jamie Lee Curtis since 1984.
And as another nod to one more than usual, he is the "Six Fingered Man" in "The Princess Bride".
Finally!! Our long national nightmare is over! AB has not only reacted to Spinal Tap but has given the world a reaction worthy of the subject matter. This was the Spinal Tap of reactions! Now if only someone can convince her to do Deliverance...
Many of the actors (the band, Fran Drescher, and even Billy Crystal’s “mime is money”) were just improvising.
As many mentioned, Christopher Guest made a string of semi improvised mockumentaries with a group of his favorite actors (including Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara)
-Waiting for Guffman
-Best in Show
-A Mighty Wind
The hotel clerk who was just as God made him was in Waiting for Guffman. He was best known as Bentley on 'The Jeffersons.'
99.9% of the movie was ad-libbed. They turned the camera on and started talking. The only thing that was scripted was an outline of a conversation so they knew where to end the scene
I'm surprised all the reactors always miss these movies. All of these mockumentaries by this group are amazing.
You forgot "For Your Consideration," although that's the black sheep of the family. So is "A Mighty Wind" to an extent. Neither match the gold of Guffman and Show.
@@johndrews206 -- That is highly misleading. They didn't just "turn the camera on and start talking." Much like Curb Your Enthusiasm, those outlines you mentioned are highly detailed, and the plot points and many of the jokes are scripted, at least in format. How they were actually spoken is more ad-libbed. But it's not like they just said, "Talk about how great your guitar is...Action!" They knew most of the points of each scene ahead of time. Without that structure, it would have been chaos, and been difficult to form a funny movie in editing.
So many fun facts about this film. Here are some you would appreciate: Most of the dialog was improvised. Nigel (Christopher Guest) is married to Jamie Lee Curtis and was the 6 fingered man in The Princess Bride. David (Michael McKean) has been in a lot of stuff but most recently he played Jimmy's brother Chuck in Better Call Saul. Derek (Harry Shearer) does dozens of voices for The Simpsons, including Mr. Burns, Smithers, Principal Skinner, Ned Flanders and more. There are several hours of cut scenes that fans have re-edited into a 4-hour bootleg cut. The actors were all musicians and wanted the editing to make sure the cuts were showing them playing the correct parts of the songs in the videos. Finally Ozzy Osbourne famously thought the movie was real and thought they should have covered a more famous band.
Michael McKean also playeed Lenny on 'Laverne and Shirley'.
Guest is an actual British Lord as well.
@@dnish6673
Way back when,
Guest made a brief appearance
as a cop in the original "Death Wish" (1974).
Another Princess Bride connection: the same naval baseball cap Marty wears throughout the film can be seen in Fred Savage's bedroom in Princess Bride.
And of course, Marty Dibergi (Rob Reiner) is the son of Carl Reiner (who created and starred in The Dick Van Dyke Show), also played the iconic "Meathead" on the 1970s sitcom "All In The Family."
Spinal Tap is definitely one that requires multiple viewings! There's so many little things going on it's easy to miss. If nothing else, the reference of turning it up to 11 is Spinal Tap's lasting legacy.
This movie is one of those "I have no idea what the hell I just saw, but I loved every second of it" kind of movies.
When you say, "older classic movies," this movie is what you mean. It DID create the trope "Turn it up to 11." The dead drummers gag goes on far longer than it had any right to, and kept being funny. A subtle way to mention that a musician has passed away is to mention that they spent some time as a drummer for Spinal Tap.
The actor who plays the drummer in this just passed away in real life, coincidentally.
“These go to eleven.”
I remember a gag 20 years ago from Buffy the Vampire Slayer about having “the life expectancy of a Spinal Tap drummer.”
@@kentholle2166 I remember that on Buffy! My wife didn't get the joke so we watched This is Spinal Tap together.
"Danny Thomas...did he start Wendy's?" And some of us died a little inside. Dave Thomas founded Wendy's. Danny Thomas was a famous radio, movie, and TV actor (he also sang). He founded the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and actively campaigned for donations. His daughter is Marlo Thomas, who became a famous TV, Broadway, and film actress, as well as a famous writer, and is now the National Outreach Director for St. Jude's. Fun trivia: way back when, during the St. Jude drives (once a year, if I recall), when you went to see a movie, there would be an on-screen appeal by Marlo Thomas just before the movie started, asking you to please donate on your way out of the theater. We always did. Okay, done with the history lesson. I feel so old. lol
Danny also has a son, Tony Thomas, who's an Emmy-winning TV producer. Tony, with the late Paul Junger Witt, worked on hits like "Soap", "Benson", "It's A Living", "The Golden Girls", the original "Beauty And The Beast", and "Empty Nest".
And the Andy Griffith show was a spin off of Make Room For Daddy, Danny Thomas's show.
As a Canadian Dave Thomas to us is a member of SCTV. The greatest thing to come out of Canada. He is also the other half of Bob and Doug McKenzie. His brother Ian Thomas is one of Canada's greatest Singer, Song writers. Check out his music, you might know his songs.
I’m just a youngun compared to you, but ISTR that Marlo Thomas is That Girl?
@@ikarikid Yep!
After the film, Spinal Tap became a real band, played live and released new music over the years.
A lot of the jokes in this are based on reality, Derek Smalls look and stage moves are heavily based on Steve Dawson, who's the bassist for 70's British metal band Saxon, though the facial hair is most likely derived from Lemmy of Motorhead. The scene where Derek gets stuck in his stage pod is based off something similar that happened to the band Yes in the 70's. The rotating cast of drummers is mocking Uriah Heep who changed drummers all the time.
A lot of touring musicians of the era thought it was based on reality, the famous quote being that Eddie Van Halen didn't laugh and couldn't understand why anyone else would either.
"You can't really dust for vomit." I forgot how funny this movie was 😭💀
Fred Willard, who played the military officer, on occasion of his death 2 years ago was called ,"America's Beloved Weirdo"by the LA times, when he's on screen it's a Fred Willard movie no matter how short a time that may be, he worked in the lowest dreck in the depths of TV and in movies considered comedy classics but the whole time he was just Fred Willard. I so hope that you do listen to all the people recommending the Christopher Guest movies in this comment section and you get to see Fred Willard in "Best in Show", he elevated an already wonderful movie while he's playing the dog show announcer who has no clue what a dog show is all about, a true delight.
Love and Miss Fred. He was great as Phil's dad on Modern family, they couldn't have picked a better actor to play Phil's father.
My favorite was his role as Jerry Hubbard on "Fernwood/America 2nite". He was brilliant at being inept.
Loved Fred Willard on "Fernwood 2nite" and "America 2nite."
Ashley, you might recognize Fred Willard as the mayor of the town in "Roxanne." A member of the volunteer fire department and the town mayor, he suggested a cow mascot, and all that. He is so dang good at playing a lovable but completely clueless doof. Love him in every role.
Everybody freaked out when Paul Reubens was caught doing what one does at an "adult cinema", and it cratered his career for over a decade. Many years later when the exact same thing happened with Fred Willard everybody just said "well that seems about right" and promptly forgot about it.
Fred Willard’s appearances in movies is always a delight for me. His delivery of several successive jokes that don’t land is hilarious.
He made Chris laugh a lot :)
Are you (or have you been) a comic? I used to do semi-pro stand-up, and the only people i knew who knew and loved Fred Willard were all comics.
He's so good at being ignorantly smarmy!
@@trekkiejunk We're not all comics! I spoke to him on the phone once during the Fernwood Tonight era. Very kind and screamingly funny.
Fred Williard in ROXANNE (Steve Martin, Daryl Hannah)... Williard plays a small-town wannabe bigwig so well. His ability to deliver "jerk-idiot" characters is refreshing.
The band has released two albums IRL: "This is Spinal Tap" and "Break Like the Wind".
Soooo many great trivia tidbits about this film/band that no doubt will be covered in other comments. A few just off the top of my head: Spinal Tap actually has performed many times and did have a big ol' wold tour to support an album release (yes, they released an album) in the early '90s. One of their first post-film performances was on Saturday Night Live when Christopher Guest (Nigel) and Harry Shearer (Derek) were regular SNL cast members. Michael McKean (David St. Hubbins) was the guest host that night. Christopher Guest has made a career since this film doing "mockumentaries" like this, many of which are really funny. "Best in Show" might be the best one. He's also been married to Jamie Lee Curtis since the '80s and is actual British royalty (the 5th Baron Christopher Haden-Guest). His house used to have a seat in Parliament but was one of many minor ones that were removed when the House of Lords was reduced in size.
If you're interested in an actual "real" version of this, there's "Anvil! The Story of Anvil", a band from Toronto who formed in 1978 (and whose drummer is called Rob Reiner, but is obviously not the one from this film) and essentially just refused to give up.
That is a genuinely amazing documentary, heartwarming in a very fun way
Anvil is one of the three best music documentaries I've ever seen! So emotional in Japan.
@@timandmonica When they walked out on stage in Japan... legit tears
Great documentary
Yes!!! Anvil
What a great documentary about those guys. They seem like genuine dudes who love to rock!!
I love that you're referencing British humor when none of these guys are actually British (well, Christopher Guest is...ish. Born in New York to British parents and a member of the British peerage by heredity). 😀
This is the first "mockumentary" I remember seeing and I was just blown away. This team of men have continued to make hilarious movies.; "Best in Show" and "A Mighty Wind" among others.
I had forgotten how many amazing cameos there were in this movie.
Yes, this is where "crank it up to 11" came from.
Have a great week!
That's actually based on what's known as "The Hendrix settings":
Jimi Hendrix would turn every dail on his amps to maximum.
His father was British, his mother was American.
Yeah, Marshall 's actually go to 11 lol
One of my favorite movies of all time. PLEASE watch it again. The (I understand necessary) commentary stepped on the punchline of SO many jokes. The set up is funny, but the dry drop is the punch. Literally every word in this film is hilarious. Yes, weeds may help. Just watch it again.
Btw, yes, we do need more Rutles reactions on UA-cam. (Specifically the full length version of the film, which doesn't censor out things like the in-studio brawl, the definition of destructo-art, or A Thousand Feet Of Film...but still doesn't explain how old Lemon kept workin' on the railroad after going blind).
Besides this being a satirical take of a documentary following a band through the years it also shows how behind they are as whenever they figure out the trend in the music they are always too late as people have moved on to the next trend.
Also the mime waiters at the beginning were Billy Crystal and Dana Carvey.
The director of this is Rob Reiner who's films you've previously seen on this channel including:
When Harry Met Sally,
The Princess Bride,
Nigel is also the 6 fingered man in the princess bride
Also, Christopher Guest plays the "Six-fingered man" in Princess Bride.
The three main Tap members were also The Folksmen, a folk trio in the same vein. They had their own film, A Mighty Wind, that you HAVE to see. Christopher Guest, who played Nigel Tufnel, made a bunch of movies with a similar semi-improv tone (he's also, married to Jamie Lee Curtis and is a legit peer, a Baron in England).
Yep, that's the 5th Baron Haden-Guest of Saling, Essex. Jamie Lee (Lady Haden-Guest) always turns heads when she attends a ceremony at the House of Lords.
He's also the Six Fingered Man from Princess Bride...
Definitely see A Mighty Wind. Also watch Best In Show, with the same cast. It is another mocumentary about the world of dog shows. I grew up in that world in the 1980s and can tell you IT IS ALL REAL. Everyone I know from that world will swear they know someone from that movie. The humor is also outstanding.
I actually enjoy A Mighty Wind more than Spinal Tap.
No longer a Barron, they changed the rules in the House OF Lords in the late 90's, so children no longer inherit the titles.He did say he brought Micheal Mckean there once and he found it interesting.
Like others, I've been telling you for a while that you'd love this. By now, people have filled you in that it was a Rob Reiner film, maker of When Harry Met Sally, Princess Bride & others. He was married to Penny Marshall, and he was also Michael "Meathead" on All In the Family. Of course Jamie Lee Curtis is married to Christopher Guest. Christopher Guest sort of leads a troop of actors that kind of stick together and they've made several hilarious movies....The troop consists of but is not limited to: Catherine O'hara & Eugene Levy, Michael McKean, ex of SNL and was also "Lenny" of Lenny & Squiggy on the LaVern & Shirley show, Fred Willard, Parker Posey, Jennifer Coolidge, John Michael Higgins, Jane Lynch, Harry Shearer (ex of SNL and also did many iconic voices on The Simpsons), Larry Miller & others. When it comes to the world of mockumentary filmmaking, veteran actor Christopher Guest has become a master of the trade. He's directed five of the best movies of the genre -- Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), For Your Consideration (2006) and Mascots (2016). You should see them all! I'd probably start you out on "Best In Show". Oh, and the guys in the Spinal Tap band write & play all of their own music, and not one of them is British. They're all American guys. It shows up again in other guest movies like "A Mighty Wind", where they're folk singers of th 60's. They're all hilarious and highly recommended.
Christopher Guest may have been born in the US but, his father was a British UN diplomat. When his father died he became the 5th Baron Haden-Guest and a member of The House of Lords so not exactly not British. He was also a guitar player on the Lenny and the Squigtones album. Yes, I have spent entirely too much of the last 30 years on this fictitious band lol.
I have been waiting so long for you to review this film, and you did NOT disappoint. This is one of my favorite musical comedies of all time, and I'm so glad you enjoyed it. One of the great parts of it is that they created their own songs which absolutely KILL. Also check out their album "Break Like the Wind." Oh, and make sure you get the DVD. The menu intro is in character and perfectly sets up the humor that you're in for. They also do the commentary in character, and it feels like a somewhat sequel. The hour-long deleted scenes are also worth checking out and are almost their own movie. This film ALWAYS makes me die laughing, and I am SO glad you checked it out. Wonderful review as always.
I hope you watch the other mockumentaries made by them. Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman, and A Mighty Wind. They are all amazing.
This film was so great. I knew all the songs by heat growing up. There are SOOO many talented and now-famous people in this. And it started the great "Mockumentary" trend. FYI, they all played their own music and wrote their own songs. There is a complete "Spinal Tap" album that has all of the songs from the movie and more. NONE of the band members are British in real life!
Almost ALL of the dialog in this film was IMPROVISED. They write the major beats of the plot and then get their actors together to just be funny about it on camera. This is true of ALL of Guest's movies (see below) and he tends to use the same actors for all of his films. They are all so good!
Christopher Guest as Nigel Tufnel is an amazing creative mind. After Spinal Tap, he was on SNL for a season. He went on to do so many things, including a great set of mockumentaries: Best in Show, A Mighty Winds, Waiting on Guffman, For Your Consideration, and Mascots. You didn't recognize him but he was Count Rugen (the "six-fingered man") in The Princess Bride.
Michael McKean as David St. Hubbins because initially famous from Laverne and Shirley playing Lenny. He is in many of Guests' movies. He was on SNL for two seasons.
Harry Shearer as Derek Smalls co-wrote Spinal Tap. He was on SNL for four years. He has been on the cast of The Simpsons since 1989!
Rob Reiner, who directed "This is Spinal Tap," also plays Martin "Marty" Di Bergi, the director of the fake documentary film within the film. He always plays a great straight man that the comedians bounce their jokes off of and is a great director in real life. He first came to fame on All in the Family. Spinal Tap was the first film he ever directed and he went of to direct so many good movies: Stand by Me, When Harry Met Sally, A Few Good Men, The Princess Bride, Misery to name a few!
NONE OF THEM ARE BRITISH?!?!
Nope. For instance Harry 'Derek Smalls' Shearer is the voice of Mr Burns and Principle Skinner on The Simpsons.
Spinal Tap songs are better than they have any right to be.
@@awkwardashleigh The one proper Brit in the cast is Patrick Macnee, Sir Dennis who's at the launch party!
Count Rugen's fingers go to 11.
"I'm sure I'd feel much worse if I weren't under such heavy sedation." I feel you brother. Having been in numerous bands over the course of my life, that's just the way it is sometimes.
I empathise. Not sure how old you are, but I started in 1972 and only retired due to illness a couple of years ago. There was plenty of 'sedation' in between...
@@Scottie_S I'm 44 and I was 4 the first time I sang on stage. I've had the bug for it ever since and I've been a singer and guitar player for most of my life.
Superb reaction! You might find this info. interesting:
“This is Spinal Tap” was written by Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer who all also star in the film. Guest, McKean and Shearer wrote all the songs and actually played the instruments themselves.
Rob Reiner who directed this mocumentary played the narrator of the film Marty Di Bergi. He also directed the films “The Princess Bride” and “When Harry Met Sally” (Note: the woman who says “I’ll have what she’s having.” was Reiner’s actual mom!) He also played Tom Hanks’ friend in “Sleepless in Seattle”.
Christopher Guest (who is an actual British peer) played Nigel Tufnel. He has written, directed, and starred in his series of “mockumentaries”, including “Waiting for Guffman”, “Best in Show”, “A Mighty Wind” and “For Your Consideration”. He also appeared as Count Rugen (the six-fingered man) in “The Princess Bride”.
Michael McKean (David St. Hubbins) and Harry Shearer (Derek Smalls) also played major roles in many of Christopher Guest’s films.
Billy Crystal who played the mime (“Mime is money.”) went on to star as Harry in “When Harry Met Sally”. Bruno Kirby who played the limo driver went on to play Billy Crystal’s best friend Jess in “When Harry Met Sally”.
You said that the actor playing the Air Force lieutenant looked familiar - he was Fred Willard and he also had roles in many of Christopher Guest’s films.
And finally - yes, that was Fran Drescher as Bobbi Flekman!
Thank you for all your wonderful reactions!
According to J.K. Rowling, the curse of the Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers was inspired by the Spinal Tap drummers regularly dying in bizarre circumstances.
That factoid sounds like a Norm Macdonald joke.
She claims she didn't get the name Harry Potter from the movie Troll.
You 100% HAVE TO watch the rest of Christopher Guest's movies, "Best in Show" and "Waiting for Guffman," in particular. The former is this concept but about people in a dog show and the latter is about a local town putting on a musical. They're... they're just brilliant comedies, through and through. The rest of his movies are awesome, but those are *required*.
I recommended “Best in show”, but after her reaction to this, I’m thinking “A mighty wind” might be better
I like all the ones I've seen (haven't seen some of the more recent ones), but A Mighty Wind is my second favourite of his.
If by this concept you mean a real documentary but about fictional people, I can attest to yes, Best in Show captures the insanity that is the dog show world. Was in it for 9 years and whoooo boy, the Weimaraner couple captured it perfectly. When taking our Golden to the ring, a Weimer lunged at him and the poor pup was like "WTF?!?"
@@Miss_Camel best in show has puppies though.
Ugh you all make such good points!!! Puppies….and songs about terriers….but Ashleigh is a cat person, and I’m voting “a mighty wind” JUST bc I think she’d love the plot about Jane lynch and the color cult. lol
Nigel, the one who left the band, is played by the guy who played the man with six fingers in The Princess Bride. The rockumentary director was played by Rob Reiner, who also directed this movie AND also directed The Princess Bride.
Ashley you darling young lady, you had me with that line "Danny Thomas...is that the guy who made Wendy's?...." That simultaneously made me laugh and cry (that you didnt know) at the same time. Keep being adorable!!
This has also been called a "mockumentary". A lot of big-name stars showing off their musical chops, and several becoming super-stars. The drummer that died on someone else's vomit was Ed Begley, Jr. He was actually a drummer with a group called Every Mother's Son in the 60's. Parody or not, the music was well done.
I once heard Ed Begley tell a story in an interview that he attended a dinner party in the '70s with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. When they were introduced, John asked if they had met before. Ed would have remembered if they had. Then, in the middle of dinner, later in the evening, John Lennon said, "'Mary Hartman! Mary Hartman!'" If you didn't know, that was the name and main character of a popular show in the '70s, and Ed Begley had been on it. He said in the interview that the word "fan" came from "fanatic," and that was certainly what he had been, with respect to the Beatles. That John Lennon had been aware of who he was, was a big thrill.
Billy Crystal and Dana Carvey play waiter mimes.
@@donovanmedieval yeah I forget his character's name, but he was deaf and was Mary's sister's boyfriend
Ed Begley Jr was not in that band.
@@pebblesanddirt I did not know that. That is wild.
Glad you liked this. I was wondering if it would translate to a younger generation.
Fun fact, the sound track is great. All the songs you laughed at. Was actually done by the "band" in the movie. They also toured and performed in character.
I think "The Office" popularizing the mockumentary format helps a movie like Spinal Tap.
I think I agree with Tyler's comment about "The office". I think it would do well with my generation but they would have to enjoy the documentary style in order to like it!
@@awkwardashleigh Of course it was the original BBC's The Office with Ricky Gervais that got the mockumentary movement back in popular demand.
@@dan_hitchman007 Gervais noted to Guest that "Tap" influenced him to create "The Office".
@@Madbandit77 It pays to have a comedic father like Carl Reiner to instill a good sense of funny in you. Plus being influenced by Monty Python. Rob Reiner then influenced people like Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, and then they in turn influenced others.
This film almost certainly inspired the Mock-umentary style shows of the 90’s such as The Office, Parks & Recreation, Trailer Park Boys, and others!!
The Kick my ass guy was Paul Shaffer, Letterman's sidekick for 35 years on NBC and CBS.
How can anybody not love a movie directed by meathead staring a British lord, Lenny, and Montgomery Burns?
I don't like it. My husband has tried to get me to watch this movie. This commentary is about as far as I've gotten.
@@amandamankins1293 If you don't like this movie you would have hated living in the 80's.
@@smylyface I was actually born in 1980
@@smylyface -- I love "This is Spinal Tap", but there was also a lot of terrible comedies in the 80's as well. Just like every decade.I don't see any correlation between liking this movie and "hating living in the 80's." Spinal Tap has a certain dry, offbeat humor that some don't enjoy. And some don't like mockumentaries. Amanda, you go on liking whatever you enjoy, and don't let any naysayers define you.
Thank you sooooooo much I thought I was the only one who didn’t like this.
I have watched a few reactions to this movie and no one ever recognizes or seems to know who Paul Shaffer is (Promoter Artie Fufkin). He has been in and around these actors for ever. Paul was in the SNL band and appeared in several sketches then went on to be the band leader and side kick on the David Letterman show. He has played on several albums for the likes of Robert Plant, Cher, Chicago, Diana Ross, Barry Manilow, Cyndi Lauper and many more. He is an amazing talent.
Paul also co-wrote "It's Raining Men"
He also did all the arrangements for the Blues Brothers. He would have been in the movie but Lorne Michaels refused to let him, out of spite.
Why would they? Most reactors seem to isolate themselves from the world somehow and would've been too young anyway to know much about Paul if they even know him at all beyond the fact he was Letterman's band leader.
Superb editing!!
I love that Derek Smalls, the one with the moustache, is played by Harry Shearer, who went on to become one of the world's most famous voice actors, on The Simpsons. He is the voice of Ned Flanders, Principal Skinner, Waylon Smithers, Montgomery Burns, Kent Brockman, Dr. Hibbard, Lenny Leonard, Rev. Lovejoy, Otto Mann, Kang (the alien), Scratchy (of 'Itchy and Scratchy'), and a whole plethora of side characters...
I was a huge fan of Spinal Tap, and own most of their released music, including "This is Spinal Tap" album on Casette Tape, "Break Like the Wind" album on CD, "Bitch School" single on 7" vinyl, and the "Majesty of Rock" single on 12" purple vinyl, etched on one side, with a "Ye Olde Roast Beef" scratch-and-sniff panel on the back of the cover!
Ashley, if you want to see another mockumentary, I highly recommend you see "What We Do In The Shadows" . Funny as hell like this movie.
The movie NOT the TV show. The show is rubbish although I really love Wellington Paranormal.
Yes!
Honestly, the movie is OK,but the TV show is even better.
Oh look at that. After I post my comment, I see somebody has the exact opposite opinion.
I second this! Great movie!
The show is fucking hilarious
This is many rock bands' favorite movie on the tour bus because of how relatable it is. Every band has had a Spinal Tap moment. Dee Snider has a great story about how his band Twisted Sister got lost trying to find the stage just like Tap did in the movie. You yourself have worked in rock radio, you could ask any of the musicians you've met at your radio station if they've ever had a Spinal Tap Moment and I guarantee you they WILL have a story.
In the Led Zeppelin movie "The Song Remains the Same", Jimmy Page plays a pretty badass guitar solo during the performance of Dazed and Confused where at one point he plays his guitar with a violin bow, and Nigel Tufnel using a violin is a spoof of that. Jeanine is also based on Yoko Ono (who many people blame for breaking up The Beatles) and "Rock Star Wife" tropes.
Also, since you've finally come around on Monty Python and that type of humor, I think it's time you reacted to The Life of Brian. It's a sendup on religion and since both of us come from that particular sort of upbringing, I think you'll love it as much as I do.
I like Life of Brian way more than Holy Grail (which I love).
Life of Brian is my favorite Monty Python film. It is also the one with the strongest plot. Therenis actually a story line you can follow.
I heard Harry Shearer talk about being in the rehearsal hall getting ready for the Spinal Tap Reunion Tour and seeing Paul McCartney, who was rehearsing in the hall next door, standing in the back jamming to their rehearsal. Talk about having an out of body experience. Imagine a rock legend fanboying over your comedy songs.
A side note. Jimmy Page wad far from the first to play with a violin bow. Go check out The creation song Making Time from 1966. There is a live version of it.
@@craigplatel813 You know your Rock Lore!
Derek is played by Harry Shearer . He is best known for playing the voice of Principal Skinner and Mr. Burns in the Simpsons.
Did not catch until just now that "Stumpy Joe Childs" (the drummer in the "1967 TV appearance" with the white man Afro) was Russ Kunkel, who's actually a real drummer, and a very good one. He's one of the leading session men, and played on all sorts of classic albums.
(Per Wikipedia, he's worked with "Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, Jimmy Buffett, Harry Chapin, Rita Coolidge, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Dan Fogelberg, Glenn Frey, Art Garfunkel, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Carole King, Lyle Lovett, Reba McEntire, Stevie Nicks, Linda Ronstadt, Bob Seger, Carly Simon, Stephen Stills, James Taylor, Joe Walsh, Steve Winwood, Neil Young, and Warren Zevon." Quite the list. Still active today, at age 74.)
Also didn't know that Nigel's girl, Belinda, was ex-Bruce Springsteen girlfriend/imminent sex icon Joyce Hyser. (To be fair, she's a lot more covered up here than we remember her.)
Love that Asleigh laughed at the bit where Nigel tunes the violin. I always thought it was one of the best moments from the film, but from my personal experience it seems to slip a lot of people by. No idea why. It always cracks me up.
It's picking on Jimmy Page, who in Led Zeppelin, would play the guitar with a violin bow during his guitar solo. Hence, why Nigel used an actual violin instead. I have a feeling you knew about this, but just in case anyone didn't get the reference, I would mention it!
One great joke for people especially knowledgeable about music history (which doesn't include me, for the record; I just heard about it later) is that all of the band's genre changes come just a bit too late, after the industry had started to move away from that style.
I used to hang out with a lot of bands going back to when I was in high school, being involved in various ways until I finally just started covering music as a journalist. This mockumentary is so true to life that I know several musicians who were convinced it was a real documentary when they first saw it. I was certainly a personal witness to plenty of shenanigans that would have fit the bill.
You'll be happy to know that you can listen to "Sex Farm" all you want, because it was released along with the rest of the soundtrack, and should be available on most streaming services. Back in the day, I bought the soundtrack LP on vinyl, and it indeed came in a completely black cover with a sticker on the cellophane that indicated it was the Spinal Tap album.
The actors, who composed and performed their own songs, also released a couple of more Spinal Tap for records in subsequent years, and have performed live as Spinal Tap on numerous occasions, beginning in 1979, five years before the movie was made. So in a very real sense, Spinal Tap is a real band.
Here they are performing at the 1992 Freddie Mercury benefit concert for HIV research, which was broadcast live over the entire globe: ua-cam.com/video/YxVMajzZUcA/v-deo.html&start_radio=1&rv=jzuxUSab_7c
Fun Fact: Nigel Tufnel character by Christpher Guest, Jamie Lee Curtis husband was first introduced on the back cover of the Squiggy and the Squidtones lp. Which also features Micheal McKean who plays Derek St. Hubbins in this movie. At the time he and Squiggy were on Laverne and Shirley.
The soundtrack for "This is Spinal Tap!" is actually pretty good. They were serious in recreating the sounds and ieas of the late 70s/early 80s metal scene with their Thamesmen (Beatlesque) and their flower power anthem songs as well. Their parodies are so good because they are pretty decent musicians and very funny lyric writers. It is an all black album just like the movie's "Smell the Glove" album. All songs are credited to Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, and Rob Reiner.
And in order to get concert footage for this movie, they actually went out and did a concert tour as Spinal Tap. Their opening act was The Folksmen, who later got their own movie.
They also did a concert tour in 1992. And of course two more albums, Break Like the Wind and Back From the Dead
@@zatoichi1 I remember the MTV special for the Break Like The Wind tour. The special had the Folksmen playing in the lobby. It was a fun little mini-mocumentary in itself.
There is also an inside joke. All three of them are playing bass guitars on Big Bottoms. Bottom is music slang for bass.
4:28 Next to Fran Drescher is the late Patrick Macnee, who was used extensively in the 80s and 90s for both live and voice performances when someone just needed a very very upper-crust Brit. He was the male lead in a long running British TV series called The Avengers - his co-stars included Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg, and Linda Thorson (I personally like the Diana Rigg episodes the most). It was outwardly a spy thriller series, but there were occasional bits of sci-fi mixed in - humanoid robots, alien plants, mind-switching machines, shrink rays, stuff like that.
This film needs a fan to launch a study into these supporting characters/cameos to 'get' just how much fun this was at the time for them. Paul Shaffer is such an annoying twit in most appearances anywhere, and here he's turned that natural ability into a rather long-ish cameo. In fact, if there's a film that rivals MAD MAD WORLD in the sheer quantity of walk-on's and cameo's, this is it. But with research into both, they become infinitely more enjoyable because of that awareness.
@@BuffaloC305 And they all improvised their own scenes. They said Fran Drescher was amazing with her improve.
And of course the indelible John Steed in The Avengers opposite (inter alia) Diana Rigg (RIP)
This was director Rob Reiner's first big movie before the Princess Bride and When Harry Met Sally. His father, Carl Reiner, had a comedy act with Mel Brooks after they both wrote for the Sid Caesar TV show. Then he created the Dick Van Dyke Show, directed the Steve Martin movies The Jerk, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, All Of Me, and The Man With Two Brains. Rob Reiner was also Meathead - the son in law on All In The Family , and it was his mother who he got to say the famous "I'll have what she's having" line in When Harry Met Sally. Christopher Guest (Nigel Tufnel and 6 Fingers from The Princess Bride used cast members from the Canadian SCTV Show in his later movies - like Catherine O'Hara and Eugene Levy (both later in Schitt's Creek). See Y.Tube clips of the SCTV show to see a lot of early work by John Candy, Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, and Martin Short.Martin Short also had a hilarious SNL sketch about synchronized swimming with Harry Shearer (the bass player in this movie). Harry Shearer also plays 8 characters on The Simpsons - like Mr.Burns and Ned Flanders.
I love that the band name is spelled with an umlaut over the n, which is not a letter in any language.
This movie is extremely relatable to anyone who's ever played in a band, regardless of whether they were in professional, working band or were small time.
I've been playing with folks in one capacity or another for over 20 years, so needless to say, this movie speaks to me.
I did for a short time. We never had a drummer explode. But we did have one pull a MIA Dad. He went out for a cigarette right before we were supposed to start. He didn't come back.
In his defense, he did manage to get himself arrested in the time it takes to smoke a cigarette.
Sting told Rob Reiner he loved the movie, but didn't know if he should laugh or cry because it was so true.
youre gonna love "Best in Show". most of the same actors, and some others that you'll love (Katherine Ohara), same kind of mockumentory comedy.
I saw Spinal Tap in concert in 92. They did go to 11!
In 2007, they played at Wembley Stadium in London. They played "Big Bottom" with a LOT of bass players, including bass drums; when they introduced the drummer, they said "Pray for him." Just keeping that drummer-having-a-tragic-accident running gag going.
Harry Shearer (Derek) is best known as Ned Flanders and Mr. Burns on The Simpsons. Michael McKean (David) is best known as Lenny from Laverne and Shirley; he was also Mr. Green in Clue.
If you have the Rock Band game, you can download a lot of their songs to play.