This Is Spinal Tap (1984/MGM Blu-ray)
Picture:
B Sound: B Extras: B+ Film:
A-
Is this
Spinal Tap?
It’s hard
to believe that a film like Rob Reiner’s This
Is Spinal Tap is 25 years old at the time of this review, and perhaps even
harder to believe that in the course of time this rockumentary/mockumentary has
evolved into almost something more. It’s
certain just as relevant now as it was then, it’s just as funny, and it’s
commentary on the music business and record industry is just as hysterical now
as it was then, all the more reason to have this film as part of any serious
collection, especially with the arrival of the film on Blu-ray.
What
makes this particular film so effective is that it blends together a certain
raw believability of what would-be a rock band called Spinal Tap, who has
legitimate songs written and the comedic timing of it’s three front men:
Michael McKean (David St. Hubbins), Christopher Guest (Nigel Tufnel), and Harry
Shearer (Derek Smalls). These three
actors ‘sell’ the film with their ability to not only become Spinal Tap, but to
create larger than life characters who are so enamored with themselves that the
film just becomes one big in-joke after another. Even director Rob Reiner got in on the action
with his made-up Marty Dibergi character playing a documentary filmmaker as he
opens the film up and tells us that he wanted to capture “Tap” on their
farewell tour and this is what he got, the end result is what we see through
the rest of the film, although much of the film it sit down interviews, there
are concert numbers, but also much of the day-to-day moments of life on the
road as a rock musician is captured here, of course this is all fake, but by
creating a documentary-like texture we realize that anything can be believable
in this format, even the outrageousness of a band called Spinal Tap and their
gimmicks.
What
makes the film all the more a tragedy of some sorts is that we realize while we
are on our fake farewell tour with this made-up band that times are changing
and the once ever-popular band is now falling into the “where are they now”
category, fans are moving on, the band can’t book shows, and even a puppet show
gets first billing over them! While
these are all designed to be funny, there is certainly a certain level of truth
and commentary that is being made at this moment as certain ‘fads’ come and go
according to our taxi driver in the film.
We certainly see a transformation from the days of larger than life rock
and roll to the more mainstream pop music during this time, 1984 was certainly
a time when music was at it’s most fluid and bands like Led Zeppelin, The Who,
and Queen were now seemingly a thing of the past, a new era of music had
arrived, but yet no one really bought into the 80’s, it was comprised of so
many one-hit wonders, especially looking back 25 years later. The timing of a film like This is Spinal Tap appears ingenious
all the more.
The film
has had a very interesting history throughout the years as well, it was issued
as a Criterion 12” laserdisc, which was recycled over to DVD for a very short
pressing and fans enjoyed the bands commentary on that set, it went out of
print very quickly and became a hot commodity on things like eBay. Shortly after that it became apparent that the
disc was going to be issued by MGM and that title arrived with supplements as
well, although this time a new commentary was issued with the band, this time
they are in character and it’s just as hilarious as the film!
To date
though none of the releases on home video every really looked that great, the
film contains a very rough documentary like to begin with and is shot with the
appearance of news clips, archived footage, handheld material, and therefore
the 1.85 X 1 framed aspect ratio, even in this 1080p AVC @ 33 MBPS digital High
Definition transfer is by default never going to look pristine. Colors are certainly improved here, overall
resolution is much sharper, but much of the footage still has the grainy
16mm-like appearance that gives the film it’s intended look and that is what we
are most excited about. While the
sharpness is limited, it’s evident very early on that this transfer is about as
good as the film will really ever look for home video, if it were any sharper
or the resolution was tighter, it would take away from the films rawness.
The sound
on the other hand is a greater improvement as we get a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio
track that obliterates all previous versions of the film on any format, the
sound here certainly improves upon the lackluster Dolby Digital 5.1 mix that
was on the MGM DVD, most of the sound here is dialogue in interview-like
fashion, so the audio in those portions is appropriately flatter and more up
front, but then there are the concert sections where the entire 5.1 mix is
utilized and finally we get a fullness and punch that was always missing in
previous versions. Most will notice a
new level of overall clarity and resolution in the vocals, there is also a
depth that is discovered here with low-end presence coming through, especially
on tracks like Hell Hole and Big Botton.
The
extras are taken from the MGM DVD a few years back, including a very hilarious
section of deleted scenes and outtakes that lasts nearly 1-hour, plus the
commentary by the band that is a must-listen, there is also 4 of the bands
music videos, along with several of the other featurettes and
TV-spots/commercials, there is however a bonus DVD (what a DVD?) that includes
“Stonehenge” as a 2007 performance by the band at the Live Earth Concert, plus
a interview with Nigel Tufnel that makes for a nice little addition, why this
wasn’t just throw onto the Blu-ray is beyond me.
Fans do
not need a reason to dump their DVD and take up this new Blu-ray edition of the
film, although the Criterion versions are still valuable for their commentary
as it’s different than the one featured for MGM and will always make that a
collector’s item. The Blu-ray certainly
improves the film to new heights in the picture and sound category and while
the film will always have limitations in that department, it’s still great
having the film in a High Definition version to show your friends and family,
plus the bonus features are funny enough that it makes for a great encore
afterwards.
This IS
Spinal Tap!
- Nate Goss
