This Is Spinal Tap, the movie that singlehandedly popularized the concept of “things going up to 11”, turned 41 this year. To celebrate, a 4K restoration of the classic rock mockumentary is coming to theaters thanks to Fathom Events, complete with a new intro from director Rob Reiner. Not only that, but the release comes with a first look atSpinal Tap II: The End Continues,which is set to be released in September.
Despite often being mistaken for aChristopher Guest moviethanks to the fact that Guest and many of his collaborators star and feature in the film,This Is Spinal Tapwas the directorial debut of beloved filmmaker Rob Reiner. Reiner would go on to helm a string of classics includingStand by Me, The Princess Bride,andWhen Harry Met Sally…all of which remain much beloved and discussed to this day. Reiner, along withThis Is Spinal Tap’s original cast, return for the sequel.
ScreenRant’s Joe Deckelmeier interviewed Rob Reiner about the 4K release ofThis Is Spinal Tap.The director shared his fondest memories from the first film and reflected on how real rockstars reacted to the movie. Plus, Reiner dropped some information aboutSpinal Tap II: The End Continues.
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues Will Explore A Massive Falling-Out
Beginning July 5 and lasting just a few days,This Is Spinal Tapcan be seen in theaters thanks to Fathom Events. But just as exciting is the fact that screenings will include footage from September’s sequelSpinal Tap II: The End Continues,a sequel 41 years in the making. And, once again true to its rock and roll inspirations, it explores the breakup of Spinal Tap.“They haven’t played together in 15 years,”Rob Reiner revealed,“there is a lot of bad blood, and they haven’t talked to each other, so that’s what we’re going to explore.”
The movie will also dive into the phenomenon of second- and third-wave rock n’ rollers continuing to tour, said Reiner, and will feature real-life musical icons like Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich and even a Beatle.“What is it like for rockers at that age?”Reiner said, continuing,“They’re all in their seventies; to get up on stage and do this… Paul McCartney is in the movie, and so is Elton John, and I asked Paul McCartney, ‘Well, what is it? … What is it about? Do you love the music?’”
“I’m not going to tell you what he says,”Reiner said of McCartney,“but he improvises it.”Still, he said,“He’ll give you the reason why they’re still doing it: because they love playing. They love the music.”It’s likely then, that a big part of why Spinal Tap gets back together in the sequel is a shared love for songs like “Big Bottom” and “Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight”.
Rob Reiner Reflects On Revisiting The Movie He Thought Everyone Would Forget
“It’s Like An Old Friend”
This Is Spinal Tapwas not a box office hit when it hit theaters in 1984, but it has since infiltrated the vernacular to the point where people may reference turning things up to 11 without realizing they are repeating a joke from the film. And Rob Reiner knows it.“It’s taken years,”he said,“but over the years, people have caught onto this thing, and it’s become part of the vernacular, [especially with phrases like] ‘These go to 11’ and ‘fine line between stupid and clever.’”
On the occasion ofThis Is Spinal Tap’s 4K re-release, Reiner said,“to revisit it, to me… it’s like an old friend. You could be away from an old friend for years, and then when you see each other, if you’re close, you pick up right where I left off.”Not only is that how the director feels about the movie’s return to theaters, but he also stated that“that’s what I [felt] like when we did the sequel.”
But he’s as surprised as anyone thatThis Is Spinal Tapis as beloved as it is.“Listen,”he said,“we thought everybody [was] going to go, ‘Hey, forget this film. Who cares?’ People didn’t even understand it,”he added. In fact, when the film was first screened in Dallas, Reiner revealed, audiences thought it was an actual documentary:“[People] came up to me and said, ‘Why would you make a movie about a band that nobody ever heard of? That one is so bad. Why wouldn’t you make a movie about The Beatles or The Rolling Stones?’”
This Is Spinal Tap Got Mixed Reviews From Rock Icons
Black Sabbath Were “Furious” About One Beloved Bit
Audience members may not have originally “gotten”This Is Spinal Tap, but many musicians sure did.“All these rockers would come up to us and tell us stories about how ‘This is exactly what happens to us on tour.,’”Reiner shared, adding,“I remember Sting coming up, telling me that it was a staple on his tour bus. He’d watch it over and over, and every time he watched, he said, ‘I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. It’s so real.’”
AndThis Is Spinal Tapwas, very often, pretty real.“We took from real life,”the director said, continuing,“we took actual stories that we knew about. We knew about Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers getting lost backstage, and Van Halen having these crazy demands for what was backstage. We knew all those stories.”
It’s poetic, then, that the bit that drew the most ire from real-world rockers was one that was–at the time–totally made up.“We had this Stonehenge idea that was written years before we shot,”Reiner said.“Chris [Guest] and Michael [McKean] wrote it.”That idea led to one ofThis Is Spinal Tap’s most memorable scenes, in which the band orders a recreation of Stonehenge for their stage show, only for the final product to be at a hilariously small scale.
The problem?“About two or three weeks before”This Is Spinal Tapreleased, Black Sabbath (without Ozzy Osbourne, Reiner clarified) went on tour with their own Stonehenge set.
“They saw our film, and they were furious that we had stolen the Stonehenge theme from them.”
“To me, it was the best thing,”Reiner said,“because what morons. What did they think? They [thought] that we shot the film, edited it, [and] got it into the theaters in two weeks? I mean, it is ludicrous,”he said.“But to me,”the director added,“that was the great, perfect heavy metal moment: that they were so dumb that they thought that we stole it from them.”
There Will Be A Spinal Tap Book Released Alongside The Sequel
The Title Is Based On Reiner’s Favorite Line
For those who still can’t get enoughThis Is Spinal Tapafter its re-release and upcoming sequel, never fear, as Reiner revealed there is also a book on the way titled after his favorite line.“My favorite line in the movie is when they say there’s a fine line between stupid and clever, because, to me, that’s the whole movie, and it’s said by three people.And we have a book from Simon & Schuster that’s going to come out at the same time as the sequel, and it’s called The Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever.”
“It’s the making of Spinal Tap,”Reiner continued,“and it’s written by me and the guys.”Of course, nothing about Spinal Tap can be that straightforward, so“if you flip it over to the other side [and] you open it this way,”Reiner said,“it’s called Smell the Book,”and that is the history of the band. So, you get both the history of the band and the history of the making of the movies.”
What Makes Rob Reiner Go To 11?
“This Is Going To Sound So Clichéd”
Rob Reiner still has a lot of appreciation forThis Is Spinal Tap,especially the fact that“It’s all improvised. The whole film–there’s no script. We had a story and we knew what was going to happen in each scene, but all the dialogue was improvised. That’s something different, and that, to me, is energizing.”
But something else also energizes the director these days. When asked what makes him go up to 11, the director quipped,“At my age, I’m lucky to get to two.”The real answer, though, is sweeter:“You know what makes me go to 11–and this is going to sound so clichéd and dumb–[are] my wife and children.”
This Is Spinal Tapcomes to theaters for a limited run on July 5 courtesy of Fathom Events.Spinal Tap II: The End Continuesis set to hit theaters September 12.
