This Is Spinal Tap Reviews

The amp might go to 11, but this movie sure doesn’t.

I saw this in the theater and while there were a few funny moments, as a die hard metalhead found it extremely annoying. You could just as easily mock any music genre and I'm tired of people quoting this dumb thing as if it's a real documentary.

I had no idea that this band even existed which is quite strange considering they have a documentary, but after watching I now understand. They have an amazing and unique sound.

The hurdles that they overcame as a band is really impressive. Great documentary.

One of those films that I’ve always meant to watch, but never got around to it. Until now. I’m not 100% but I think this is the original mockumentary. I was actually surprised how funny this was.

A great satire and mockumentary. Without it we wouldn’t have Dewey Cox. Love the bit about them trying to get to the stage and maintain their energy

this is real metal posers 🥱

6.0

I hate to give this a lower rating, but besides a few laughs and good band performances, these mockumentaries barely work for me.

Spontaneous combustion of drummers and foot guitar solo made me laugh, but the movie as a whole is not something I don’t think I’d watch again. Glad I watched it, but probably not again.

8.8

Rating: 9/10 ⭐️

I expected a standard music doc, but the absolute absurdity totally caught me off guard.

What Worked:
Reiner’s handheld cinéma vérité style sells the illusion perfectly. The raw framing makes the improvised dialogue feel so grounded you forget it’s a parody. Seeing the band blindly follow their massive egos is a hilarious reminder of what happens when we lose our grounding, beautifully mirroring my Methodist beliefs about prioritizing genuine community over worldly excess.

The Cuts:
The middle part really dragged for me when Jeanine takes over management, slowing the momentum. The muddy audio in live scenes made it super hard to catch subtler jokes. Also, the abrupt ending gave me total whiplash, rushing into the Japan tour just to wrap things up.

Verdict:
An iconic satire that invented the mockumentary. Super fun if you love dry humor, but skip if you need a structured comedy.

Favorite Line: “These go to eleven.”

Pretty great

Between meh and like

wildly fun and fast-paced rockumentary that’s paved the way for all kinds of musical comedies since. solid performances and witty writing, surprisingly funny and fleshed out for its runtime while entertaining the whole way through. crank it to eleven

Hilarious

Not really my movie but also not a bad one. It was fun at moments, but it didn’t really keep my attention the whole way through and the characters weren’t funny enough to keep me invested personally. Still, this is definitely a classic and worth a giving a shot if you haven’t.

8/10 🎸

I know it’s satire and a cult classic, but I just can’t get behind this one. It was slow, boring, and felt like it was trying too hard. Sorry not sorry.

4.5/5 - i love this movie, it’s maybe a little outdated but still so fucking funny - a great parody of one of the best genres of music.

saw for the second time in the cinema and it just really made it for me :-)