Deleted Scenes/Outtakes, Audio Commentary by Spinal Tap, Catching up with Marty DiBergi, Flower People Press Conference, Joe Franklin Show appearance, Music Videos, Trailers/TV Spots, Mock Commercials, Live Earth performance, Nigel's Stonehenge Interview

This is Spinal Tap is directed by Rob Reiner (Stand By Me, The Bucket List.) The film stars Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest (The Princess Bride), Michael McKean (Short Circuit 2), and Harry Shearer (The Simpsons.) Co-stars include David Kaff, Anjelica Huston, Fran Drescher (The Nanny), Bruno Kirby (The Godfather Part II), Billy Crystal, Dana Carvey (Wayne's World), Paul Shaffer (David Letterman band), and Paul Shortino. ***

This is Spinal Tap, originally released in 1984, is Rob Reiner's feature film directorial debut. He plays Marty DiBergi, a filmmaker on tour with Spinal Tap, a (fictional) aging rock band who can't see that their days in the spotlight are dwindling. McKean, Guest, and Shearer play the three main members of the group, who have endured everything from onstage theatrics gone horribly awry to tons of drummers dying under mysterious circumstances. The film follows the band's 1982 tour across America, as they play their hits - including Hell Hole, Stonehenge, Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight, and Heavy Duty. ***

This is Spinal Tap has maintained a solid reputation as a cult classic over the years. While it bombed theatrically, it was quickly rediscovered on the home video market, and gained legions of fans. The film is to concert documentaries what Dr. Strangelove is to films about nuclear war - and I truly can't think of a greater praise than that. ***

The stars of Spinal Tap are the film's greatest assets. McKean, Guest, and Shearer all wrote and performed their own music for the films. The music contains innuendo-laden lyrics that are laugh-out-loud hilarious, but one of the greatest ironies is that these songs, intended to MAKE FUN OF heavy metal, are actually better than much of the material being spoofed. And best of all, the actors “play it straight” and take this farce of concert films completely seriously. Reiner's directorial debut is a classic, no doubt about it. On an interesting note, Penelope Spheeris (Decline of Western Civilization, Wayne's World) was offered the chance to direct, but turned it down, thinking it wasn't possible to make fun on heavy metal music. ***

Spinal Tap must be seen to be appreciated. Comedies this great are few in number, and it's far superior than any “mockumentary” that has come since. ---

Image And Sound:

As a mock documentary, This Is Spinal Tap is not the kind of movie that's ever going to go to 11 video-wise, even in 1080p. Most likely MGM reused the transfer they used for their most recent DVD release. That said, though, throughout most of the film the video is an upgrade from its standard DVD counterpart. I was able to pick out small details I certainly wasn't able to on my old DVD. Just don't expect crystal-clear video on par with modern-day blockbusters. The movie was never meant to look that way, and for what it is, this Blu-Ray release isn't half bad. As far as the audio end of thing goes, it's great to finally have this film with lossless. The dialogue scenes definitely get a slight upgrade here, but it's the music sequences that stand out the most. No surprise there. From the hard-rock guitar riffs of Sex Farm to the low bass of the aptly titled Big Bottom, it's got all the bases covered. Again, the audio here (like the video) isn't going to compete with a recent film's audio, but it gets the job done and then some. Shortcomings aside, the film looks and sounds very good for what it is. I can't imagine the movie looking or sounding much better than it does here. ***

One more thing before we move on - MGM scores major points on this release for re-applying the subtitles that were missing from their DVD release (introducing band members, locales, events, etc.) Great to have them back. ---

First off, the bad news. Despite what you may have heard in the original press release for this Blu-Ray several months ago, THE CRITERION COLLECTION EDITION COMMENTARIES ARE NOT INCLUDED ON THIS BLU-RAY. If anyone from MGM is reading this, shame on you for even implying that they would be included. Also MIA is the original 20-minute short that they marketed the potential film with. I sold my Criterion DVD under the assumption that the commentaries would be on this disc. Now I'm going to have to hunt down another copy, which won't be easy considering it's out of print, expensive and rare. ***

On a similar note, the 1992 concert film The Return of Spinal Tap is missing as well. And disappointingly, the menu screen was changed (gone is the comical “band chatter” menu from the old DVD version.) Considering MGM's recent habits of including standard DVD versions of films with the Blu-Rays, I was a bit surprised to see they didn't include one this time around. But, enough on what wasn't included. ***

As for the good news, we get all of the features that were on MGM's DVD release of the film (still presented in standard definition, sadly enough.) Over an hour's worth of deleted scenes/alternate scenes/outtakes are included, and they are truly the highlight of the bonus features. While it's not hard to see why a lot of this stuff got cut, there are a few real gems to be had here. Also included is a commentary that features the band members in character, commenting on how Marty DiBergi did a “hatchet job” and made the band look bad. Funny stuff. A plethora of other featurettes are included on the disc as well, most of which feature the band in character, and these serve as nice supplements to the film. ***

There are two new featurettes exclusive to this set on the second disc (which is on a DVD, not a Blu-Ray.) These are the band's Live Earth performance, and a comical Nigel Tufnel interview about the origins of Stonehenge. I was hoping for more new features exclusive to the set, as what is included in this set is probably all familiar to fans of the film already.

Final Words: