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Actors: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Paul Simon, Patrick Macnee, Billy Crystal, Dana Carvey, Anjelica Huston
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about This is Spinal Tap |
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This amazingly funny mocumentary follows a fading British 80's heavy metal group Spinal Tap as they try to make their latest album break in the States. On tour, the relationships naturally get weary and things never seem to go the way they're planned...
--Tero Hakulinen, Resident Scholar
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Documentary filmmaker Marti DiBergi (Reiner) takes a break from shooting dog food commercials to do a film about "the world's loudest band," Spinal Tap. They're a 20-year-old heavy metal outfit from England (although they went through pop and flower-power phases, among others), getting a little long in the tooth and none too bright to begin with, and they've lost a string of drummers to bizarre deaths. But their amps go up to 11! Fronted by Nigel Tufnel on lead guitar and vocals (Guest), David St. Hubbins on guitar and lead vocals (McKean), and ably supported by really dim-witted bassist Derek Smalls (Shearer), the band stumbles through tours, album mixups, squabbles, booking errors, and an 18-inch replica of Stonehenge. Reiner shot this brilliant parody "mockumentary" in 1984, before going on to "Stand By Me" two years later and "The Princess Bride" a year after that. The actors did all their own singing and playing (even going on tour some years later), and Paul Simon, Patrick Macnee, Dana Carvey, Billy Crystal, and Anjelica Huston did cameos.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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A mock documentary of a fictional heavy metal band from England. In apparently the last throes of an unremarkable career, these ageing rockers go on a problem-filed tour of the US. A cutting, occasionally brilliant parody of the "Rockumentary" genre and a biting satire of the heavy metal rock & roll scene that careens madly along the "fine line between stupid and clever." Shot without a script, a special edition has been released recently with many scenes that had been edited out. A sequel, "The Return of Spinal Tap" aka " A Spinal Tap Reunion: The 25th Anniversary London Sell-Out" is available on video.
--Zorikh Lequidre, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of This is Spinal Tap |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about
books by breaking them down into many different literary
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Comedy, primarily
Yes
Time/era of movie:
- 1980's-1999
Kind of comedy
- musical
Job/Profession/Poverty Story?
Yes
Job:
- musician
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- singer/musician
Age:
- 40's-50's
Eccentric:
Yes
- eccentric
Hair color?
- blonde
Hair type
- (man) short/standard wavey
Body type
- (man) average
Events of movie makes character more...
- sad
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
Dumb?
Yes
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair style
- (man) short/standard wavey
Body type
- (man) average build
How much in movie?
- 90%-100%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
Main Adversary
Identity:
- general circumstances
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 90%-100%
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- West
- Northeast
- Midwest
- California
Asia/Pacific/Middle East
Yes
Asian country:
- Japan
City?
Yes
City:
- New York
- Los Angeles
Small town?
Yes
Small town people:
- nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee
Misc setting
- resort/hotel
- fort/military installation
- theater
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Movie makes you feel...
- full of laughter
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references only
- kissing
Any profanity?
- Some foul language
If lots of song/dance...
- lot of singing
If soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE...
- Modern rock/pop
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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