Subtitles: English for the Hearing Impaired, Spanish
Widescreen: 1.85:1
16:9-Enhanced: Yes
Macrovision: Yes
Disc Format: DVD 9
Price: $26.98
Extras: Commentary from Spinal Tap Band Members in Character,
Interview with Rob Reiner: Catching up with Marty DiBergi,
Outtakes and Rare Footage, Television Appearance on "The Joe Franklin Show,"
Flower People Press Conference, Music Videos: "Hell Hole," "Listen to the Flower People,"
"Big Bottom," and "Gimme Some Money.",
Theatrical Trailers, TV Spots, Commercials.
Director:
Rob Reiner
Cast:
Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Rob Reiner
Writers:
Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer
Cast:
I'm thinking hard here, and I'll tell you, I'm convinced that This is
Spinal Tap must be one of the funniest movies I've ever
seen - undoubtedly, as the blurb reads, the funniest about Rock N' Roll.
It definitely helps that I cut my musical teeth on the type of band
Spinal Tap pokes fun at - helps now I should say. Back in the
'80s I tended to take this kind of thing a tad too seriously. It was
music after all, a sort of sacred cow to almost any teen. But
fortunately, what once felt like a slap in the face now tastes like a
breath of fresh air.
This is Spinal Tap collected their material from the concert film art
(ahem) form of the '70s and '80s: Led Zeppelin's "Song Remains the Same"
and Bob Dylan's "Don't Look Back" to name a few. Filled with pretense,
arrogance, hedonism, and plain old selfishness, these movies - along with
Rock N' Roll in general - must have provided an endless source of
inspiration. Reiner and crew took the myth that Rock music - and people
playing it - was larger than life, and then they turned that myth flat on
its ear.
Good thing, too. Because I can't help but look at my past musical
tastes and experiences through Spinal Tap colored lenses. And I must
say, the view from here is far clearer - and a lot funnier - which is
exactly as it should be.
As the DVD goes, it doesn't look great, but this is Spinal Tap after all!
It was intended to look like a documentary (and with a budget that
probably helped get them that look). There's a lot of grain and just
general "scratchiness" to the image. Nowhere near demo material for
sure!
The sound, on the other hand, is a bit of a different matter. MGM
decided to give the movie a 5.1 treatment, and from a technical point of
view, it sounds really clean. But on from a hardcore Rocker's point of
view, it, well, sorta sucks.
First off, Heavy Metal (even when fake) often needs that raw, distorted,
umph to communicate the angst (even when fake) that it's so famous
for. But, unfortunately, MGM's engineers stripped a lot of that away
when they cleaned up the sound. It sometimes felt like Smalls, St.
Hubbins, and Tufnel were striking chords with wet noodles instead of
guitar picks. And all the cranking it up to 11 in the world couldn't save
them. Or, as even St. Hubbins' ditsy girl could tell you: "You don't do Heavy
Metal in Dubly, you know."
One other problem with the 5.1 sound: it's stupid. Witness the drum roll
circling the room during the opening fan interviews. What was that? Did
I mention this was a documentary? The whole 5.1 thing is just completely
inappropriate for this type of flick. (Please refer to item #9 below.)
The coolest thing about the DVD, though (beside the movie itself) are the
supplements. I actually consider this one of the best DVDs out there, if
not the best, it's certainly in the running.
MGM actually took an unusual approach here. With the exception of the
trailers, every single supplement on this disc enforces the myth that
Spinal Tap was a real band! The hilarious commentary is done by Guest,
Shearer and McKean, all in character as Tufnel, Smalls and St. Hubbins.
Maybe not as funny as the movie, but still great stuff anyway. And the
intro commentary as the menus load just, well, rocks! ("Black.") I
must've ejected and re-inserted the DVD five times in a row.
But the real treat on the DVD is actually the "Outtakes and Rare Footage"
section. When Reiner and crew filmed This is Spinal Tap, they actually
had a six hour movie on their hands! Needless to say, a lot of that
ended up on the cutting room floor. MGM restored about an hour of that
footage, editing it onto the disc chronologically. So it's essentially
like getting a whole new movie with the movie.
Primarily these outtakes go into more detail about things already in the
film. The opening-tour party runs quite a bit longer, with Billy Crystal
taking his bitter mime act to the limit. You also see how that cucumber
got into Derek Smalls pants in the first place, and you spend a lot more
time with Tufnel introducing his guitars. There's also stuff that's
entirely new, like a sequence where the band's Sinatra-obsessed chauffeur,
a tad tipsy on pot, croons for the band his undies, or a scene between
St. Hubbins and his New Wave son (and I thought Shearer looked like a
geek!).
No matter how they cut it, these outtakes are all as good as the
original, and by far the best I've seen on any DVD, period!
The only real bummer was the inclusion of the Cheese Rolling promo. Or,
I should say, the inclusion of the wrong one. Reiner made two of
these little gems, and the longer of the pair, which appears on the
Criterion version of This is Spinal Tap, far outshines the tidbit
MGM decided to throw on here. Oh well.
It's a minor gaff really, and won't halt me from singing praises (however
out of tune) for Spinal Tap on DVD. There's so much great stuff on this
disc, you'll undoubtedly take something away. Now, just in case you're
not sure what that might be, I've compiled my own list - and it doesn't
just go to 10!
(Insert from DVDfever editor Dom Robinson)
Before we get to Mark's Top 11, here's a quick mention on the UK edition
(right).
While the Region 1 DVD comes on a single disc, for some reason our release
is available as a 2-disc set and I only received disc one which contains
the film and commentary track. I can concur with the comments on picture
and sound quality and, as far as I know, the extras are the same, but
for an analysis of what I think of the film content, check out my review
of the
Spinal Tap: original release
(left).
The Top 11 Things I Took Away from the Spinal Tap DVD
11. When you're Derek Smalls, you really are Derek Smalls!
10. "5.1? But I thought our amps went to 11."
9. Sideburns can turn even the dorkiest lookin' dweeb into a bass
player.
8. Cheese Rolling looks fun.
7. Career as Rock Star provides great springboard to the X-Files.
6. Career as Rock Star provides great springboard to the Simpsons.
5. Career as Rock Star provides great springboard to Jamie Lee Curtis.
4. Okay, I have to admit it... "Big Bottom" kinda grows on you.
3. When listing your previous band incarnations during a filmed
interview, conveniently forget to mention your stint in "Lenny and the
Squigtones."
2. Average Rock Star intelligence is approximately equal to that of
Planet of the Apes astronaut.
1. It didn't take St. Hubbins' affair with Jeanine to prove that love is
blind. John already did that by marrying Yoko.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
(Insert from DVDfever editor Dom Robinson)
