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This Is Spinal Tap (1984) Full Length Reaction (Patreon)

Published:
2025-01-28 02:56:21
Imported:
2026-06
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🤘Let's goooo! I am sooo curious if this was scripted or if it was mostly improv. It seems like they had a blast making this!! I've heard there are other mockumentaries by these same guys, should we check some out?

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Movie Runtime: 1:23:06

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T I Sp Ta 1984 Full Length Reaction

Download options: https://www.patreon.com/posts/update-on-full-99864012 Main Channel https://www.youtube.com/@jenmurrayxo

Comments

Geoff S.

Going to home tonight and open some beaujolais and watch! These guys even went on a real tour back in the day and played all over.

Dean

It’s mostly improv. Most of the people involved in this went to make several more comedies like this including Best in Show, For Your Consideration, and A Mighty Wind. They’re hilarious.

rubberkidney

waiting for guffman, one of the most underrated movies ever. please watch it,

Matt

Yes, make sure you turn your speakers up to 11 🤣

Matt

They are making a sequel to this with same actors, I'd bet they must have been through hundreds of drummers at this point 😆

Kristin

Best in Show, about a dog show, is hilarious. All of Christopher Guest's movies are funny. Guest is a truly brilliant writer (and also Jamie Lee Curtis's husband). I'm not sure how much of it is ad-libs, but it seems like it would be alot. And the three main actors co-wrote the songs. Those in the Rock/Metal world (and others) generally love this movie, as it makes them feel nostalgic, as that is often how the music industry goes, especially getting lost back stage.

DarthChef

They each had a page of notes, basically their characters' background, all their characters' common history, highlights and and milestones for the band. Knowing all of these shared facts made it easier for them to adlib so they would avoid talking about contradicting facts. It was very much a free-for-all after that.

Lemurian Jones

The bass player is Mr. Burns/Principal Skinner/Smithers/half the population of Springfield. The songs are original, but each one seems meant to mock some specific cliche, like overtly sexual lyrics, prog-rock excess, barely competent guitar solos, or past-its-sell-by-date psychedelia.

Joe Blankenship

Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, and A Mighty Wind are the other Christopher Guest mockumentaries. I really love Best in Show--it follows a bunch of people and their dogs as they're competing in a big dog show like the Westminster Dog Show.

Daniel Goldberg

And let’s not forget Waiting for Guffman.

Noremac

Most of it is improv. These people made a few more mockumentaries, Best in Show (about a dog show) and A Mighty Wind (about folk musicians) being my favorites. And if you want to see a true documentary that comes off as very Spinal Tap-esque you may enjoy Anvil: The Story of Anvil.

Daniel Goldberg

If I remember correctly the cast outlined each scene of the movie but mostly improvised the dialogue. Billy Crystal was the “Mime is Money” mime. I’m not sure if they were satirizing specific songs, but they were definitely satirizing genres of rock n roll. There actually was a band that got lost backstage at one of their shows, I don’t remember which band. I also picked up some satirization of prog rock bands of the 70’s with their elaborate stage sets. One specific reference that I caught was Nigel using a violin to play his guitar during his solo. Jimmy Page used to play his guitar with a violin in bow on some songs. Also, on Big Bottom they are all playing bass, a nice visual pun. Back at that time there were guitarists who played double neck guitars on songs that needed two different types of guitars, such as six and twelve string, but no one played a double neck guitar where both necks were the same. Christopher Guest is almost unrecognizable between this movie and The Princess Bride, but he (Nigel Tufnel in Spinal Tap) was also the six fingered man in The Princess Bride (also directed by Rob Reiner). Someone already listed most of the films done by various actors in Spinal Tap, I believe that Best in Show is widely considered the best of them. You’ll have to decide for yourself if it’s better than Spinal Tap or not. There are all worth seeing, however.

zynjams

just in time, next week Led Zeppelin will be releasing their rockumentary in theaters

sarCC

A perfect movie, one of my all-time favorites! It's worth getting on disc because the four lead actors do an in-character commentary along to the film as the band members they played. It's actually funnier than the movie, amazingly enough. Also, a spiritual follow-up to this is the equally hilarious Lonely Island movie, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. One of those laugh-every-30-seconds kind of movies.

Jonas

When they released the DVD, the band did a commentary track in character. It's like a second improv documentary, commenting on how they feel about the documentary.

Chris Biebel

And keep in mind that with his character in Princess Bride, that his fingers "went up to 11." ;-)

Toc

Yes! At last!!!! And yes, definitely do "Best In Show"!

Chris Biebel

The actors who played the 3 main characters in the band had all been cast members of Saturday Night Live, so they were well established in comedy and were great improvisers. This was the first movie that Rob Reiner directed. His non-directing credentials go way back (his father (Carl Reiner) was big in Hollywood, too. He was the creator of The Dick Van Dyke show, for instance). I recently found out a wild bit of trivia about Rob Reiner. I was watching a documentary on the old Smothers Brothers TV show (huge hit back in the 1960s, known for cutting edge political humor). They mentioned that they had a pair of young hotshot comic writers on that show. The name of those two young hotshot writers? Rob Reiner and Steve Martin! I'm old enough that every time I see Rob Reiner, I think "Meathead" which was the nickname Archie Bunker gave him on the sitcom "All in the Family." Christopher Guest (who played Nigel) is married to Jamie Lee Curtis. They've been married since 1984. He's an actual British Baron. I'm not sure if you're familiar with the Happy Days spinoff "Laverne and Shirley" (1976-83), but Michael McKean (David St. Hubbins) had a regular part in that one (He played Lenny).

Jason Scade

Awesome! Will watch this very soon. :D 'Best In Show' (2000) for a superb dawg-centered mockumentary. Dir by, starring and co-written by Christopher Guest.

Opti_Frog

As fun as Spinal Tap is, my favourite mockumentary, hands down, is What We Do in the Shadows (the movie).

Jack O

The visitor's center at Stonehenge has a wall of quotes concerning the site and one of them is from Nigel Tufnel. Spinal Tap is immortal.

Opti_Frog

The youtube play button in the middle of the thumbnail almost makes the title look like "Spinal Pap"! 😀

Zapp Rowsdower

I can't decide which is my favorite mock rock documentary, either This is Spinal Tap, or The Rutles: All You Need is Cash. If you don't know about that one, it's a brilliant parody of The Beatles. Eric Idle of Monty Python plays the Paul McCartney parody, Dirk McQuickly, as well as the host/historian. Another Python shows up as well as some early SNL legends and some well-known rock stars.

Major Peril

This is Spinal Tap (Map, Pap, Slap, Trap, etc.) was always my favorite rock mockumentary! SIR DENIS EATON-HOGG has got to be the best character name ever! It's so... well, DELICIOUS! 😁

Zapp Rowsdower

A lot of rock musicians have found this movie to hit a little too close to home. Ozzy Osbourne didn't find it funny because it was "too accurate". - Speaking of Ozzy, his former band Black Sabbath were on the road with another singer (Ian Gillan of Deep Purple). They have an interlude track called Stonehenge and so their manager wanted to have a Stonehenge stage set. The same bit happened to them as in this movie, except he wrote it down in meters when he meant for it to be in feet, so it was way too big to fit it all on the stage.

Toc

I actually have a 4 1/2 hour rough cut of Spinal Tap.....and it doesn't include any of the interviews! This reaction was fantastic! The fact that you already knew a lot about rock history made you catch lots of stuff that many miss. As far as other rock mockumentaries? The one that pre-dates "Spinal Tap" is a sort of Monty Python/1st cast of Saturday Night Live fusion: "The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash" (1978), which is just as brilliant a parody, with equally great songs.... except it's specifically parodying The Beatles' career. Since you already love The Beatles and know basic stuff about them, definitely watch that one day, on or off the channel. Musicians love both movies and quote them all the time.

Toc

That's wrong. McKean was an SNL cast member in the 90s (for a brief time), he was not a cast member before that. And Spinal Tap is Christopher Guest's and Harry Shearer's "claim to fame", that's what put them on the map. Christopher Guest wasn't an SNL cast member until after Spinal Tap. Harry Shearer had been a cast member in the rather forgettable 79-80 season and was in no way a star because of it. The only people who might have known Christopher Guest or Harry Shearer would have been fans of the National Lampoon Radio Show, or The Credibility Gap or stuff like that.

Jason Scade

Fab reaction, timeless 80s comedy classic. I saw Spinal Tap play live at the Queen / Freddie Mercury Tribute concert in 1991, they were great. Further viewing ; Best In Show (2000) Mockumentary / dawgs. The Office [UK version] Mockumentary. 10/10 cringe comedy. Curb Your Enthusiasm 10/10 cringe comedy. Lots of improv. Cunk on Britain 11/10 mockumentary. Painfully funny.

Matt

"Mistaken for Strangers" 2013 is a good comedy documentary about the band The National

Matt

Not documentary but "Inside Llewin Davis" 2013 is a great Coen Brother's film partly based on the folk singer Dave Van Ronk

Matt

"Kenny" 2006 is a great Australian mockumentary about a toilet cleaner

Jason Scade

I totally forgot about The Rutles. Jen would love that, as it's so Beatles orientated. George Harrison was involved with its making.

Geoff S.

Billy Crystal “mime is money” The failed record store promoter Arnie is Paul Schaefer from the David Letterman show

Shawn C

Watched Kenny last night after reading your comment. Very funny, very sweet, and a very fun movie. thanks

John DiGiantomasso

The Rutles are awesome! Look for their performance on Saturday Night Live with a hilarious intro by Lorne Michaels. They were talking about going on tour, but sadly Neil Innes (Ron Nasty) recently passed away :-(

John DiGiantomasso

First. I am a geezer so I saw this debut at an early showing on the big screen. When I got home an 11 o'clock news teaser said "tonight we'll get some first reactions tp the new film 'This is Spinal Tap.'" So obviously I had to tune in. In an interview outside the theater when asked what she thought she said, "It wad pretty good, but I wish the had done a band I had heard of like Van Halen." She thought it was real! Crazy. For other films from these guys I would recommend "Best in Show" next. That will introduce you to a larger cast of players including Eugene Levy. Catherine O'Hara. Bob Balaban. Jane Lynch, Parker Posey. You'll get to see the players from here, along with Fred Willard. A great move, particularly if you are fond of the doggos. Then, after that, do "A Mighty Wind." Guest, McKean, and Shearer play the band "The Folksmen" and you get to see teo other band and hear some really great original folk songs, every bit as convincing as the heavy metal here. And, a last interesting note: Spinal Tap did a few live concerts, and their opening act was "The Folksmen." These guys are SO talented and legit songwriters and musicians!

Lee

The last two Christopher Guest mockumentaries were "For Your Consideration" and "Mascots."

Joe Blankenship

Yeah, though technically, For Your Consideration isn't in the mockumentary style.

Justtired

The woman who built the Stonehenge monument is Angelica Huston. Given your love of music, I think you’d enjoy A Mighty Wind