This Is Spinal Tap

Have you ever wondered what rock musicians are like when not on stage or on TV? What they are like in their private lives: Personal habits, interests, tendencies, characteristics. Well fear not movie fans, there is 1 film that explores each and every one of these aspects; Rob Reiners note-perfect Rock/Mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap.

Released in 1984, This Is Spinal Tap was Rob Reiner's (When Harry Met Sally, Misery, A Few Good Men) directorial debut. While the film was not a box office success, and received a lukewarm critical reception, it has since gone on to become a cult classic, and in 2002, was selected for preservation in the U.S National Film Registry. Siskel & Ebert gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, calling it: 'One of the funniest, most intelligent, most original films of the year.' Trust me, it's THAT good.

The film features a director called Marti DiBergi (Reiner) who joins heavy metal band Spinal Tap on their American tour of their new album Smell The Glove. He conducts interviews with the bands 3 central members: Guitarist & Lead Vocalist David St.Hubbins (Michael McKean), Lead Guitarist Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) and Bass Player Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer). In the first interview with the band, DiBergi discovers that the band has been through dozens of drummers, all of whom died under mysterious and very unusual circumstances, such as choking on another person's vomit, being killed in a 'bizarre gardening accident' and possibly the most surreal, exploding on stage.

DiBergi joins Spinal Tap on their tour across the United States, where it appears that public interest in the band is dwindling, with them being booked into smaller and smaller stadiums, as well as many of their gigs being cancelled altogether. After several unfortunate events and occurrences, the bands come up with an idea to rejuvenate their reputation. While this leads to one of the funniest scenes in the film, it backfires drastically for the band, continuing their ever continuing downward spiral into obscurity and mediocrity.

The infamous Stonehenge scene

That's all I really want to say about the plot. It's about the decline and triumphant resurgence of the 'World's Loudest Rock Band'. The result, one of the smartest, most original and laugh-out-loud hysterical films ever made. Not only does it satirise the pretensions of rock stars, it also mocked the tendencies of documentaries of the time, especially their propensity to portray musicians as being almost Godlike, as if they had no flaws whatsoever.

Many prominent rock star, including Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen, Glen Danzig and Ozzy Osbourne have been quoted as saying that the film is closer to reality than Reiner may have realised, stating that many facetious incidents in the film have actually happens to them during their careers. Stephen Tyler of Aerosmith was allegedly unable to laugh when he seen the movie, awestruck by how accurate it was.

Since its release, describing a band as being 'Like Spinal Tap' has become a common insult among musicians, used to describe a band who displays ostentatious and often infantile traits.

Everything that I could say about this film has already been said a million times before. Memorable scenes, timeless characters, great musical numbers, countless quotable lines, and a startlingly accurate exposé into the personalities and escapades of the people who rock our world.