November 25, 2004

Let's discuss the rockumentary/mockumentary, This is Spinal Tap. This is a great movie...as I'm sure I don't have to tell anyone who's wise enough to visit this website. What you may not know, however, is that the film is even better on DVD, and that the current DVD release is quite different from the first DVD release. The first one came out in 1998 from the Criterion company, recycling material from their 1984 Laserdisc. It included the following special features along with the movie...

• Audio commentary by writers/performers Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer
• Another audio commentary by director Rob Reiner, producer Karen Murphy and film editors Robert Leighton and Kent Beyda
• 79 minutes of deleted scenes
• 20 minute documentary, "Spinal Tap: The Final Tour"
• 4 minute promo film, "Cheese Rolling" (This is a strange, not-all-that-funny clip from a travelogue.)
• 1:35 minute TV promo, "Heavy Metal Memories
• 3 minute music video, "Hell Hole"

It all made for a terrific package but it was only available for about two years before it went out of print and was replaced by the new, currently-available DVD release from MGM/UA. This has what I'm told (I haven't compared them directly) is a superior audio transfer. It also has...

• 70 minutes of deleted scenes (most but not all of which were on the Criterion edition)
• 5 minute short, "Catching Up with Marty DiBergi" (the director played by Rob Reiner)
• Shorter version of "Cheese Rolling"
• 1:35 minute TV promo, "Heavy Metal Memories
• 3 minute music video, "Hell Hole"
• 2 minute music video, "Gimme Some Money"
• 3 minute music video, "Listen to the Flower People"
• 4 minute music video, "Big Bottom"
• 6 additional short TV spots
• Theatrical trailer for This is Spinal Tap
• 2 minute segment of Spinal Tap appearing on The Joe Franklin Show

But the main difference is that the MGM/UA DVD has one commentary track and it's not by Guest, McKean and Shearer. It's by Nigel Tufnel, David St. Hubbins and Derek Smalls. In other words, Guest, McKean and Shearer play their characters from the film commenting on the film, and it is wonderful. If you love this movie, you must see it with this commentary track. Come to think of it, I'd suggest you watch the movie again without the commentary track, then view it with the three of them discussing it. It truly adds another layer to a movie that already has about a dozen of them.

Obviously, if you really like this film, you'll want to own both DVDs since each contains stuff that's not on the other. The MGM/UA one is easy. You can order it here from Amazon for a little over eleven dollars. The Criterion version is long out of print and soaring in price. Amazon sells used copies for $125 and up, and it turns up often on eBay where it usually goes for somewhere between $60 and $100. You might also find it in some DVD rental shops, though people have a tendency to rent it and then pay the "lost DVD" fine so they can keep it.

Your complete Spinal Tap DVD collection would also include The Return of Spinal Tap, which features the group's 1992 concert at Royal Albert Hall, interspersed with backstage footage that extends and updates the original film. This DVD was also released under the name, A Spinal Tap Reunion: The 25th Anniversary London Sell-Out. I was a bit disappointed in this but there are some priceless moments.

Lately, I've enjoyed a number of commentary tracks on DVDs. The one Mike Nichols did for Catch 22 caused me to consider the entire movie in a new and more favorable light and was probably the best I've heard. The one for the MGM/UA Spinal Tap actually manages to extend the film and is a most worthy addition to your video library. Especially if your DVD player goes to 11.