This Is Spinal Tap

"Prepare to crank those amps up to eleven."

1984 1h 22m EN

👍

7.4

SOLID

★7.4TMDB · 1,709

ComedyMusic

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

"This Is Spinal Tap" shines a light on the self-contained universe of a metal band struggling to get back on the charts, including everything from its complicated history of ups and downs, gold albums, name changes and undersold concert dates, along with the full host of requisite groupies, promoters, hangers-on and historians, sessions, release events and those special behind-the-scenes moments that keep it all real.

“Prepare to crank those amps up to eleven.”

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Cast

Christopher Guest
Nigel Tufnel
Michael McKean
David St. Hubbins
Harry Shearer
Derek Smalls
Rob Reiner
Marty DiBergi
June Chadwick
Jeanine Pettibone
Tony Hendra
Ian Faith
Bruno Kirby
Tommy Pischedda
Ed Begley Jr.
John 'Stumpy' Pepys

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Rob Reiner
Writers: Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean
Languages: English, Japanese
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

82 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

42 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Japanese.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "This Is Spinal Tap Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Rob Reiner, shot by Peter Smokler. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Christopher Guest. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Kent Beyda shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Rob Reiner directs. Peter Smokler behind the camera. Christopher Guest scores. Kent Beyda cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

182 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $2.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
342 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Japanese.
5Part of the "This Is Spinal Tap Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6Directed by Rob Reiner, shot by Peter Smokler. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Christopher Guest. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Kent Beyda shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Christopher Guest and Michael McKean and Harry Shearer carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Prepare to crank those amps up to eleven.".
11IMDB entry: tt0088258 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 17 themes, including "rock 'n' roll", "rock star", "groupie", "parody".
13Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Peter Smokler
Original score: Christopher Guest
Editing: Kent Beyda
Production design: Bryan Jones
Makeup / hair: Michele Payne
Sound: Gregg Rudloff
Runtime: 82 min · 1h 22m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $2,500,000
Box office: $6,051,884
Return: 242% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

Part of

This Is Spinal Tap Collection

This Is Spinal Tap shines a light on the self-contained universe of the titular metal band struggling to get back on the charts, including everything from its complicated history of ups and downs, gold albums, name changes and undersold concert dates, along with the full host of requisite groupies, promoters, hangers-on and historians, sessions, release events and those special behind-the-scenes moments that keep it all real.

Also by

Rob Reiner

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Andre Wilfred Sanders2023-07-29
★ 3/10
Am I the only one getting bored or not? It's probably because I don't like that loud noise
CinemaSerf2024-02-02
★ 7/10
So the legendary British rockers "Spinal Tap" are on the comeback trail. After a dry spell in the USA, they determine to take their provocative new album and their film-faking fan "Marty" (Rob Reiner) and re-establish themselves as superstars. "Marty" has access to all aspects of their activities as he makes the ultimate fly-on-the-wall documentary depicting the ups and downs, warts and all, of this band of musicians who epitomise just about everything good, bad and excessive in the industry at which this film takes an entertaining swipe. Interspersed with some decently staged rock numbers that could easily have been seen on MTV, we are exposed to the extremes of venality and avarice, some completely bonkers lyrics and their gradual realisation that the grand stadium days are maybe long gone, now. The bickering always stays on the amiable side of toxic, but squabbles about their racy album cover being banned in Walmart, their shrinking appeal narrowed now to just to stoned-out students and their own peccadilloes deliver an enjoyably authentic looking and frequently quite funnily written analysis of life on the downward side of the showbiz mountain - and it's quite scathing of those who make a living out of it with little or no talent but a solid belief in what they see in the mirror. This is British sarcasm and irony at it's cinematic best, disguised in a faux environment that even now, after forty years, is still often laugh out loud.
Filipe Manuel Neto2024-03-05
★ 6/10
Interesting, remarkable for its subgenre, credible… but I didn't find it funny. I'm not a specific admirer of mockumentaries, but I recognize their value if they're funny. The film reports on the tour of a British rock band called Spinal Tap, and shows the enormous difficulties and crazy things they carry out on and off the stage. It's supposed to be a comedy... but, to be honest, it didn't make me laugh. I recognize the value that this film had for the cinematographic subgenre it launched, and the interest that the film has for cinema students and others who deepen their knowledge of the seventh art in greater detail. For me, as I'm just a guy who watches films because he likes them, it's different: it's harder to convince me to watch this a second time because of the many technical arguments they might use. Being a comedy, it has to be funny. If it doesn't, it failed as a comedy (even considering the fact that I may not be the target audience, that would just be a sign that it's not a film for me). Although it didn't make me laugh, I recognize that Rob Reiner does an interesting job and manages to give his film enormous authenticity on all levels. I wonder what fieldwork he did to prepare for the project, whether he spoke to journalists who follow the music industry, with bands or music artists, because in fact the film captures quite well the bizarre things that can happen on a rock tour. And the work of the main actors (Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest) is equally worthy if we consider that much of what they say is improvised at that moment, not previously written. The film looks cheap and this is perhaps even intentional: the cinematography resembles a “found-footage” film, with the image shaky, poorly calibrated, full of grain at times. The sets are very good and the soundtrack, made for the film, is absolutely believable.