12 This Is Spinal Tap

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Martha
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12 This Is Spinal Tap

#1 Post by Martha » Sat Feb 12, 2005 10:09 pm

This Is Spinal Tap

[img]http://criterion_production.s3.amazonaws.com/release_images/212/12_box_348x490_w100.jpg[/img]

Rob Reiner’s directorial debut has developed into a cult phenomenon. The film that invented the “rockumentary” has now outlasted most of the bands it mocked. Following the ill-fated American comeback tour of an aging heavy-metal group, this film has joined the ranks of the greatest comedies ever made.

DOUBLE-SIDED DISC:

SIDE 1 FEATURES
- The complete 82-minute movie, with dual commentaries: Track 1: Spinal Tap’s Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer; Track 2: Rob Reiner, producer Karen Murphy, and editors Robert Leighton and Kent Beyda

SIDE 2 FEATURES

- Original industry and theatrical trailers
- Twenty-minute demo reel, Spinal Tap: The Final Tour
- Promotional shorts: Heavy Metal Memories and Hell Hole
- The Cutting Room Floor: More than one hour of deleted scenes, abandoned subplots, and alternate takes

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Godot
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#2 Post by Godot » Thu Oct 27, 2005 10:47 pm

This is only tangentially related, but I still found it humorous.
In a profile of Bauhaus in today's L.A. Times, guitarist Daniel Ash describes his favorite amp:

"I still use the same old amps ... that I used then because I haven't found anything that is as sharp and piercing as this little old amplifier. It's an H&H IC 100S, which is something they used to use in the ... mid-'70s."

And it's loud.

"We were setting up in a theater [last week] and — this is very 'Spinal Tap' what I'm gonna tell you," he said, in a quasi-Nigel Tufnel accent, "but I just had my amp on, it wasn't even — it goes from 1 to 10, OK, it doesn't go to 11, it goes from 1 to 10, but I didn't even have it on 1, I had it on 1/2 of 1, and the guy out front was going, 'Can you turn your amp down? It's insane. What have you done to that amp?' That's how loud this old amp is.

"That's what I use for all the Bauhaus stuff and all the Love and Rockets stuff, and I just use those amps because nothing else cuts through like these old amps. I can't believe it myself just how damn loud it is."

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#3 Post by Cinesimilitude » Sun Jan 15, 2006 1:05 am

Anyone ever seen this?

Criterion was first called voyager, right? and this is all the stuff on criterions spinal tap dvd, just in low res for quicktime.

Is this old news, could someone fill me in?

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#4 Post by godardslave » Sun Jan 15, 2006 1:15 am


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denti alligator
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#5 Post by denti alligator » Tue Jan 17, 2006 11:34 am

Authentic copies of this seem to be going for around $100, which is more than I remember. Weren't they floating around $60-80 for a while? I'd love to get my hands on a copy in this price range. Over $80 is hard to justify.

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#6 Post by toiletduck! » Tue Jan 17, 2006 11:48 am

I picked one up about a year ago for $50, and I remember it being a hella deal even then, but you're right, they weren't going for more than $75-80 at most...

But I'm keeping a firm hold on mine, so I guess I'm really of no help.

-Toilet Dcuk

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Galen Young
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#7 Post by Galen Young » Fri Jan 20, 2006 2:34 am

SncDthMnky wrote:Criterion was first called voyager, right?
Mentioning Voyager made me remember ye olde dot com days and an old email I kept from a guy who used to work there -- a part of which, is kind of funny:
From: Andrew Zipern [zipern@voyagerco.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 07, 1996 12:16 PM

>(BTW, is voyager preparing itself for the DVD revolution?)

... Lessee, Voyager will be there if the DVD revolution happens, but everything I've heard leads me to believe that it probably won't. Apparently Sony and MCA and all the others can't agree on a standard, and there's all this pirating paranoia...
As William Goldman is fond of saying: "Nobody knows anything."

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denti alligator
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#8 Post by denti alligator » Sat Feb 11, 2006 12:13 am

The commentary by Guest, Shearer and McKean is fantastic one this disc! So here's the million dollar question: has anyone seen the 4 1/2 hour version of the film that Shearer mentions twice in the commentary? The first time he mentions it I figured he was just referring to the fact that there are many more hours of outtakes, deleted scenes, etc. But later he says that they had recently watched the 4 1/2-hour version and that it can be had as a bootleg. Would love to get my hands on that.

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dx23
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#9 Post by dx23 » Sat Feb 11, 2006 12:41 am

I thought that he was just messing around with us. He is known to be the type of comedian who tell you the joke in serious fashion, that you almost take him seriously on what he is saying.

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#10 Post by LightBulbFilm » Sat Feb 11, 2006 12:48 am

I thought that he was just messing around with us. He is known to be the type of comedian who tell you the joke in serious fashion, that you almost take him seriously on what he is saying.[/quote]

Yeah, seriously... A 4 1/2 version of the film is a little far fetched.

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denti alligator
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#11 Post by denti alligator » Sat Feb 11, 2006 12:54 am

Not at all far fetched. They filmed a total of 40 hours and edited it down to 1 1/2 for theatrical release. An extra hour's worth of deleted scenes are on the DVD, so the existence of two more hours of edited material is not at all unimaginable. Shearer did not sound like he was making a joke. He speaks very factually. "We just recently watched it..."

From imdb:
Several versions of this film exist. A 4 hour bootleg is rumored to exist. The DVD and laserdiscs include some of this in a hour of deleted scenes, subplots, and alternate takes. Included: More with Bruno Kirby; A subplot with Spinal Taps opening act; Derek's legal troubles with his wife and much, much more.
or, a writer at img.com:
December 9, 1999 - A few years ago, at the height of my Spinal Tap fetish, I found a bootleg video site selling a 6-hour version-- 3 VHS tapes-- of This is Spinal Tap. Of course, I hurriedly sent the guy the $60 he wanted for the treasured, coveted material. Imagine: more than five times as much Tap as we have now, all filmed at the time of the original movie! Sadly, though the tapes had the promised four-and-a-half extra hours of uncut Tap, they were of a video and audio quality I had previously not imagined possible.
Or, from wikipedia:
A 4½ hour bootleg version of the film exists and has been traded among fans and collectors for years.
Not clear whether there are four-and-a-half extra hours (making six total), or that there's a four-and-a-half hour version. Anyway, I'd love to see it.

Cinesimilitude
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#12 Post by Cinesimilitude » Sat Feb 11, 2006 1:24 am

I've seen the 4 hour plus version of Tap on sale on ebay for about 30-35 bucks, but its always quickly removed, being a bootleg and all. next time I see one I'll post here, If anyone wants to take the plunge... as it were...

EDIT: Sean Wright-Anderson (one of the guys who worked on the spinal tap cd-rom and laserdisc) had this to say:

It started as a laser disc, then it was turned into a CD-ROM after most of the production on the laser disc was done. We received some material from Karen Murphy, the film's producer, and we had about four-and-a-half hours of outtakes on three-quarter-inch tape. A lot of scenes didn't work, so we chose about an hour and 20 minutes for the laser disc and an hour for the CD-ROM.

I think it would be safe to assume that that same roll of bloopers got out to someone, and they either stuck it in and it's incredibly incoherent, or attempted to edit it in to the structure of the film, which would be awesome.

the interview can be found here

yumitree
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#13 Post by yumitree » Sat Feb 11, 2006 2:41 am

i have a 3vcd set of the longer version that i downloaded from a p2p site a year or two ago. it used to be available on some of the bootleg dvd sites as well. the quality is pretty garbage, but it contains (obviously) entire plotlines that aren't in the theatrical version and is a completely different film. due to the length and nature of the film, it certainly isn't as successful as the cut down version, but is definitely something a fan should search down if they're interested in seeing things that got cut.

Cinesimilitude
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#14 Post by Cinesimilitude » Sat Feb 11, 2006 11:17 am

If you can find a link or something, pm me, or maybe you could burn a copy of it and send it my way? PM me.

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manicsounds
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#15 Post by manicsounds » Sat Jul 19, 2008 10:17 pm

Seems that MGM has lost the rights to this film overseas. The UK disc is OOP, so is the Australian etc. Just happened to look for a copy with English subtitles and it seems all of them are out of print.

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dx23
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Re: 12 This Is Spinal Tap

#16 Post by dx23 » Mon Feb 16, 2009 2:49 pm

Spinal Tap is recording new material. Hopefully, this will be included in the Blu-ray release.

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Re: 12 This Is Spinal Tap

#17 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Tue Mar 03, 2009 10:40 pm


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manicsounds
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Re: 12 This Is Spinal Tap

#18 Post by manicsounds » Tue Mar 03, 2009 10:44 pm

Still think Criterion made a big mistake releasing this as spine # 12.
Should've been 11....

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Re: 12 This Is Spinal Tap

#19 Post by Antoine Doinel » Fri Apr 24, 2009 7:52 am

Michael McKean chats about the origins of the songs.

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Person
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Re: 12 This Is Spinal Tap

#20 Post by Person » Sat Apr 25, 2009 7:58 am

Antoine Doinel wrote:Michael McKean chats about the origins of the songs.
The lyrics to most Tap tunes are worth Googling. "Sex Farm" is such a great song. If I find out that someone I'm with hasn't seen Tap, then at some point, I will spontaneously sing "Sex Farm" and it always gets a WTF? reaction! Then they will want to see the film that week.

xanman

Re: 12 This Is Spinal Tap

#21 Post by xanman » Thu Jan 20, 2011 12:31 pm

I just picked up a sealed copy of this off ebay for about 45 bucks. It has the original stickers on the cover but I found it odd that it did not have the factory THIS IS SPINAL TAP sticker on the top underneath the wrapping, did these DVDs come without that sticker? It seems as though Criterion has stopped using them on the newer DVDs and Blus but I was under the impression that all of the old ones had it. Either way, I am a bit screwed on finding out more about this one because I want to keep it sealed lol

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Re: 12 This Is Spinal Tap

#22 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Fri Jan 21, 2011 12:33 pm

Is the commentary track by the three leads in character on this version?

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matrixschmatrix
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Re: 12 This Is Spinal Tap

#23 Post by matrixschmatrix » Fri Jan 21, 2011 12:49 pm

No, this is the one that uniquely has the actors talking about it out of character- the in character one's on pretty much every other release (as I recall, anyway.)

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Napier
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Re: 12 This Is Spinal Tap

#24 Post by Napier » Fri Jan 21, 2011 12:49 pm

flyonthewall2983 wrote:Is the commentary track by the three leads in character on this version?
No, that's the MGM version. The CC commentary is wonderful as well. It also has some deleted scenes that are not on the MGM. Making both a must own.

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Re: 12 This Is Spinal Tap

#25 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Fri Jan 21, 2011 9:56 pm

I'm familiar with the MGM one. I would think hearing from the three guys as themselves about the film would be more interesting to me at this point, as well as the other track. I have the CC version on my Amazon wish list so I'm sure once I can afford it I'll snatch it up.

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