This Is Spinal Tap is a mockumentary comedy directed by Rob
Reiner in his feature film debut. It follows fictional British heavy
metal band Spinal Tap as they embark on a disastrous American comeback
tour in support of their new album, Smell the Glove. Reiner
plays Marty DiBergi, an earnest documentary filmmaker chronicling the
band's every move.
The tour quickly unravels: shows are cancelled, the record label
rejects their album cover as offensive, virtually no one shows up to a
record store signing, and elaborate stage props malfunction
spectacularly. Meanwhile, tensions flare between lead guitarist Nigel
Tufnel (Christopher Guest) and frontman David St. Hubbins (Michael
McKean), partly fueled by the influence of David's girlfriend Jeanine.
The band breaks up mid-tour, only to reunite when their song "Sex
Farm" unexpectedly becomes a hit in Japan. The film is famous for
its deadpan humor, including a running gag about the band's many
drummers dying in bizarre circumstances, and the iconic scene where
Nigel explains that his amplifier "goes to eleven."
The film holds a 98% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is widely
regarded as one of the greatest comedies ever made.
5 Production Facts
1. Almost entirely improvised. Reiner, Guest, McKean,
and Shearer wrote the screenplay, but most of the dialogue was
improvised and dozens of hours of footage were filmed.
2. Made on a tiny budget, filmed entirely in Los
Angeles. The film's budget was set at $2.2 million, and due
to that limited budget, the five cities represented in Spinal Tap's
U.S. tour were all filmed in Los Angeles.
3. The idea originated from a TV sketch in 1978.
Reiner and the cast created Spinal Tap for a 1979 ABC-TV sketch comedy
effort called The T.V. Show. After the pilot generated poor
ratings, they devised a way to bring the group back in a motion picture.
4. A 20-minute demo was made to sell the concept.
Harry Shearer, Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, and Michael McKean were
given $10,000 to write a script. They made a 20-minute version of the
film to better demonstrate the improvisation they had in mind, and
several scenes from the demo made it into the finished movie.
5. It fooled audiences - and celebrities - into thinking the
band was real. The portrayal was so effective that many
filmgoers, including Ozzy Osbourne, 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.
This Is Spinal Tap is a mockumentary comedy directed by Rob Reiner in his feature film debut. It follows fictional British heavy metal band Spinal Tap as they embark on a disastrous American comeback tour in support of their new album, Smell the Glove. Reiner plays Marty DiBergi, an earnest documentary filmmaker chronicling the band's every move.
The tour quickly unravels: shows are cancelled, the record label rejects their album cover as offensive, virtually no one shows up to a record store signing, and elaborate stage props malfunction spectacularly. Meanwhile, tensions flare between lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) and frontman David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), partly fueled by the influence of David's girlfriend Jeanine. The band breaks up mid-tour, only to reunite when their song "Sex Farm" unexpectedly becomes a hit in Japan. The film is famous for its deadpan humor, including a running gag about the band's many drummers dying in bizarre circumstances, and the iconic scene where Nigel explains that his amplifier "goes to eleven."
The film holds a 98% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is widely regarded as one of the greatest comedies ever made.
5 Production Facts
1. Almost entirely improvised. Reiner, Guest, McKean, and Shearer wrote the screenplay, but most of the dialogue was improvised and dozens of hours of footage were filmed.
2. Made on a tiny budget, filmed entirely in Los Angeles. The film's budget was set at $2.2 million, and due to that limited budget, the five cities represented in Spinal Tap's U.S. tour were all filmed in Los Angeles.
3. The idea originated from a TV sketch in 1978. Reiner and the cast created Spinal Tap for a 1979 ABC-TV sketch comedy effort called The T.V. Show. After the pilot generated poor ratings, they devised a way to bring the group back in a motion picture.
4. A 20-minute demo was made to sell the concept. Harry Shearer, Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, and Michael McKean were given $10,000 to write a script. They made a 20-minute version of the film to better demonstrate the improvisation they had in mind, and several scenes from the demo made it into the finished movie.
5. It fooled audiences - and celebrities - into thinking the band was real. The portrayal was so effective that many filmgoers, including Ozzy Osbourne, 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.
Sources: Britannica, Wikipedia, AFI Catalog, IMDB Trivia, Reelviews