This Is Spinal Tap

Rock concert movies will never be the same after seeing Rob Reiner's (the 'Meathead' on All in the Family) mock rockumentary of a fading heavy metal band. Loosely patterned after Martin Scorcese's fine film on The Band, The Last Waltz, This is Spinal Tap follows the misfortunes of the titular British trio's final American tour to promote their latest bomb: "Smell the Glove". No familiar rock cliché is left unexplored as the film interweaves hilarious interview footage with on- stage performances of some of the most ludicrous songs ever penned. (The scene where the band performs the heavy metal anthem "Stonehenge" and, due to a serious miscalculation on the part of an artist, is greeted by the lowering of a truly dinky (rather than the expected humongous) model of Stonehedge, is a classic.) But the humor never becomes so outlandish that the joke's obvious; in fact, many patrons may see much of the film before realizing that they're watching satire (and some teenagers may be completely fooled). (Available from Movies Unlimited, 6736 Castor Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19149.) (R. Pitman) [Blu-ray Review—Aug. 4, 2009—MGM, 2 discs, 83 min., PG-13, $29.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1984's This is Spinal Tap sports a great transfer and a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by the members of Spinal Tap (Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer), 'Rare Outtakes' deleted scenes (68 min.), a 'Catching Up with Marty DiBergi' featurette with director/costar Rob Reiner (5 min.), a 'Flower People Press Conference' segment featuring the band (2 min.), a Spinal Tap appearance on The Joe Franklin Show (2 min.), the music videos for 'Gimme Some Money,' '(Listen to The) Flower People,' 'Hell Hole,' and 'Big Bottom,' various TV spots, and trailers. A bonus DVD includes a very funny 'National Geographic Stonehenge Interview with Nigel Tufnel' featuring Guest in character (8 min.), and Spinal Tap's 2007 performance of 'Stonehenge' at the Live Earth concert (7 min.). Bottom line: the two featurettes on the 15-minute bonus DVD could have easily fit on the Blu-ray disc, but aside from that minor quibble, this Blu-ray debut is easily an 11.]