Rob Reiner
Marty DiBergi
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A 1984 mockumentary comedy film about a heavy metal band's American tour, directed by Rob Reiner and starring Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer. The film satirizes rock music and documentaries, and features improvised dialogue, absurd situations and the famous "up to eleven" scene.
This Is Spinal Tap: Directed by Rob Reiner. With Rob Reiner, Kimberly Stringer, Chazz Dominguez, Shari Hall. Spinal Tap, one of England's loudest bands, is chronicled by film director Marty DiBergi on what proves to be a fateful tour.
- Comedy, Music
- Rob Reiner
- 1984-03-02
For music biz insiders, This Is Spinal Tap is a vastly amusing satire of heavy metal bands. Mar 26, 2009. This brilliantly crafted and completely on-target satire of the rock 'n' roll industry is...
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- Rob Reiner
- R
- Rob Reiner
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- Rob Reiner
- R
- Overview
- Production notes and credits
- Cast
This Is Spinal Tap, American film comedy released in 1984 that parodies the “rockumentary” film genre via the exploits of the fictional heavy metal band Spinal Tap. Directed by American filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner, the film was largely improvised by Reiner and the core cast members—American actors Michael McKean and Harry Shearer and British-American actor and director Christopher Guest. Its success led to a series of documentary parodies directed by Guest, including Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), and For Your Consideration (2006).
(Read Martin Scorsese’s Britannica essay on film preservation.)
Britannica Quiz
Classic Closing Lines
This Is Spinal Tap purports to document the band—lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel (portrayed by Guest), guitarist and lead singer David St. Hubbins (McKean), bassist Derek Smalls (Shearer), keyboardist Viv Savage (David Kaff), and drummer Mick Shrimpton (R.J. Parnell)—as they tour the United States for the first time in six years in support of their new album, Smell the Glove. The tour starts well, but a series of unfortunate events very quickly sends it into a downward spiral. Performances are canceled, the band’s record company is unhappy with an offensive album cover concept for Smell the Glove, virtually no one shows up for a record store signing, and stage props malfunction. As Spinal Tap performs at increasingly smaller venues, including an amusement park and a weekend social at a U.S. Air Force base, infighting threatens to tear the band apart. When the band’s morale is at its lowest, the members learn that their song “Sex Farm” has become a big hit in Japan, leading to a professional rebirth.
Guest, McKean, and Shearer went to great lengths to make Spinal Tap look like a real heavy metal band, specifically through their flamboyant clothing and hair. The portrayal was so effective that many filmgoers thought they were watching a documentary about a real musical group. American talk show host Joe Franklin also was unaware that the band was a parody when he interviewed the actors in 1984.
•Studio: Embassy Pictures
•Director: Rob Reiner
•Producer: Karen Murphy
•Writers: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Rob Reiner, Harry Shearer
•Music: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Rob Reiner, Harry Shearer
•Running time: 82 minutes
•Rob Reiner (Marty DiBergi)
•Christopher Guest (Nigel Tufnel)
•Michael McKean (David St. Hubbins)
•Harry Shearer (Derek Smalls)
•R.J. Parnell (Mick Shrimpton)
•David Kaff (Viv Savage)
Jan 21, 2001 · “This Is Spinal Tap,” one of the funniest movies ever made, is about a lot of things, but one of them is the way the real story is not in the questions or in the answers, but at the edge of the frame.
Watch Rob Reiner's classic mockumentary about a fictional heavy metal band and their absurd adventures in the music industry. This Is Spinal Tap is a hilarious and quirky satire that ranks among the best films ever made about rock and roll.
