"This is Spinal Tap" The 4-Hour Workprint - Rough Cuts
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
- We all know and love the comedy masterpiece that is Spinal Tap, but did you know in the early stages of editing the film exceeded four hours in length? Here we analyze the qualities of both versions of the film and decide which version goes to 11.
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I would happily watch the 4 1/2 hour version of 'This Is Spinal Tap'.
I's available in all the usual places and in terrible quality... hard to see.
“Making a big thing out of it would have been a good idea.”
This has to be the funniest films ever made!!!EVER!!!
this should have a million views more
If you liked this rockumentary you should watch this one, it's in the same kind of spirit, underground bands diy, this is the 1st episode, you can see the 2nd one too and there are another 6 to come out in the next few weeks : th-cam.com/video/e6haCJdDDks/w-d-xo.html
Having hours and hours of footage and then editing it down and adding interviews is exactly how a real documentary is done. That's one reason it seemed so genuine.
It's true, some people did/do think they're a real band! Back in the 80s, when they were on SNL performing and being interviewed, they were talking about how they were into devil worship. My aunt, who's really religious, was visiting us, and she gasped and told my mom "I can't believe they put that on TV!" I told her it was a joke band, I even pointed out how David was Lenny from Laverne & Shirley, and she answered with "No, I remember these guys from the 60s." True story.
But not every member of the group was outspoken about Devil worship. "My relationship with Satan is a very personal thing" said Derek.
Hahaha
My partner watched it thinking it was a documentary until I told her otherwise after it finished.
Then again a friend of mine watched Werner Herzog's "Grizzly Man" with me and thought it was fiction.
A viewing of "The Story of Anvil" shows the wafer-thin difference between satire and reality.
I showed it to my little brother many years ago, and I've never seen him laugh so hard... And then there was some kind of disclaimer at the end of the tape, revealing that it was a work of fiction, and my brother suddenly stopped laughing about it and gave me a stare like I was some kind of a traitor to have fooled him into thinking it was real. But I didn't. I had just said, "Let's watch this." Eventually, he forgave me, and even bought his own copy. But he was thoroughly fooled. For a long time, he told me that the disclaimer on the end was a mistake because he had seen this band perform live on TV, so they must be real. All that to say that this film totally nailed what they were going for.
Great video! Here's my opinion: if you wanna judge Spinal Tap as movie, with a story arc and a cohesive plot, of course the theatrical cut works best. The problem is that many many, MANY of my favorite Spinal Tap moments come from the deleted scenes, and some can only be seen in the workprint: with that different perspective, it's more like watching multiple episodes of a great comedy show, and the more you have, the better. I still think that This is Spinal Tap is one of the very few movies that desperately need an extended cut alongside the original one. It would still work, just in a different way, and you could condense all the best stuff in much less than three hours.
Malice? "One of these bands is not like the others...."
Yeah should have been Quiet Riot or even The Sweet.
That's the joke...
This is in my top 5 comedy movies of all time. I'm from the UK, and when I first saw this I just assumed that these guys were British. It was some time later that I discovered they were American, that just made the movie seem even more awesome. Not only did they nail the whole heavy rock band thing, but they totally nailed the accents.
Christopher Guest actually IS British (OBE in fact). McKean and Shearer are American, as is Rob Reiner.
I have it. As much as I love Tap, it’s a bit much. Watched it once and never again.
The Criterion Collection disc with the bonus footage is the way to go for me. The cut stuff is just as good as anything in the theatrical version.
Why the crew never put together an extended edition is beyond me. Nigel being replaced, David reuniting with his son, Nigel and David playing the same acoustic - all gold.
Why? Lawyers.
The rights were a mess and only got sort of sorted a few years ago.
At least now the guys own the music.
And yeah, Nigel and David playing the acoustic is touching on multiple levels. My favorite Spinal Tap moment by far.
Let's just say that they ended up cutting 90% of all the fascinating footage showing Nigel's and David's relationship, that's what bums me out the most. And yet we STILL got the gist of it in the final version, lol. I love the 4 and a half hour long workprint, no matter how poor the picture quality is because like you said, it stops being funny at some point and just starts looking like a genuine documentary of a struggling band on the road, with the quintessential relationship within that band tragically falling apart. What we need is for Peter Jackson to come in and perform his magic on the footage, then add the interview bits in there - perhaps find all the "lost footage" as well and do a Beatles-style Get Back extravaganza out of it all! Have fiction ones again imitate reality! One can dream... And now they are apparently making Spinal Tap II as well, after all these decades, lol. Perhaps we'll get a mega boxset along with it.
Yoko Ono + Sharon Osbourne= Jeanine Pettibone (actually she's a lot more mellow than Sharon lol)
Her name is positively Dickensian. :D
the "problem" with the 4 hour version is that..it's actually more tragic than funny!
Closer to real life for some bands when you think about it.
doubly digital... nicely done.
It's a shame this extended workprint is no longer available anywhere.
I think in reality Rob felt that "mine is money" and needed to make the cuts to fit that. The guys in Quiet Riot said that this film really hit home for them and it's why they hated it. By the way back in the 90s during the Pop Mart tour, U2 got stuck in a giant lemon (yup Spinal Tap moment). This is one of my all time favorite films and it's comedy gold.
What I wouldn't have given to be a fly on the wall when Reiner was pitching this to the movie executives! Just to see the bewildered looks on their faces would have been priceless! I'm so happy that they stayed true to their original concept; it's a groundbreaking, hilarious film!
Excellent thorough review and analysis. Well done mate! 🤘🙂
I don't ever get tired of watching this movie.. I could leave it playing on loop everyday.
StarSn1per many famous bands did just that on their tour bus
Kudos for adding MALICE to the list of metal rockers 😉👍.
Good job on this video film, even though it's not in Dubly.
It's all about Editing.
Not David and Nigel. Its Dave and Nige. At this point they feel like family lol.
I had to laugh much more than I wanted at Derek's "acting gig". 😄 22:34
Spectacular talents,those guys!Thank you,now I love them twice as much!
"Julius" Priest? LOL.
Nice job with this - thank you
Give me some money is a good parody of 60s rock.
Also of Kursaal Flyers "Pocket Money". KF did a real life "rockumentary" which bears some odd similarities to This is Spinal Tap.
th-cam.com/video/YCa3uLUimB4/w-d-xo.html
Very thorough, thank you. Watched every second left a more informed tap fan.
Actually, over 50 hours were filmed, not 10.
You did a great job on this. Thank you very much.
Even when I was a younger, 13-year-old rocker in 1985, I watched This is Spinal Tap and quoted it religiously, but I don't recall it being out on VCR tape: maybe we taped it from HBO or whatever. Spinal Tap may have been what pushed me into Punk culture and music. Mocking Heavy Metal bands in spandex and makeup, made me appreciate Punk. I like your 30 minute bio, biography of the extra film and will likely watch this 100 times!
Did he say "the Troggs"?
Just came across the 20min demo film and this popped up as "watch next" and I'm glad I watched it. Appreciate you taking the time to go thru all of this.
My favorite part of the Spinal Tap mythos is the film’s end, showing they have a chance to rise back to the top. Pair that with their live set at Wembly Stadium many years later and you see they did indeed make it to the top. They play to a sold out Wembly Stadium and get the crowd to genuinely rock out.
I was at a tap concert in 1977 where kiss opened for spinal tap after tap opened for kiss. I caught Nigel and Gene doing it in a Porta potty....it looked very awkward.
This video was very illuminating for how essential editing is to a film, and you shared some great insights into the film's arc and structure. I especially like your thoughts on how the overall theme deals with maturity, and that might not have emerged if it hadn't been edited the way it was. And agree about the second set of deleted scenes, it really does feel like an entire movie on its own. The people who cut that reel together knew their stuff. Great job!
Excellent review of the whole shebang. I saw Tap live at the Paramount in Denver when they hit the road for real in the early nineties to promote their new album. It was a blast, the whole audience going in on the act, though not hard to do with this singular band of actors-musicians-clowns.
Well done. Excellent analysis. 11 out of 10. 😉
Wait, who is that with Ozzy at 0:11? Is that Tony Iommi without his 'stache? Doesn't look like him, but I'm terrible with faces.
Yup. It's Tony.
Thanks, love it. Great synopsis of the resource. Cheers to the imagination that launched an arm of entertainment culture.
41 years and it still holds up. An absolute masterpiece!
12:33 He means Dolby, alright? He means Dolby, you know? You know what he means.
i got the 4 1/2 hr version in 1992 or so, it came from Martin Scorsese's collection. Years later when more DVD versions came out with alt footage i edited a little movie about The Dose that is on my youtube. the 4 1/2 hr version i tried to use less cause it was the worst quality, but it have the chandelier bit and the power going out etc. It mostly revolves around the herpes. only Mick didn't get it and knows the cure.
8:35 “……maybe there was a reason so much of the footage was cut ……”
Some things are best left unsolved really …….
Thank you very much !!
There's a clip in the 41/2 cut when they're at the labels tour party. It makes Nigel look a little like he's ready to jump Davids bones. But in the next scene his in bed with a groupie.
should have been recorded in Dublin.
You don't do rock in Dublin.
well done. some great background stuff I didn't know.
I watched the workprint and the humour is diluted. A couple of scenes I wished were back in but on the whole shortening it made it far funnier.
It makes it a a stronger narrative in the WP and it’s fascinating seeing the scenes play out longer and actually follow on from each other.
Missed the talking heads scenes and there are still deleted scenes not in the WP (don’t recall the zoo scene being in there).
On the whole great to see once but over four hours is a real challenge.
You really shouldn't have had any nagging thoughts about what wasn't included. The four hour bulge has nothing to do with quality. Improvised content has more leftovers than scripted content. It's the nature of the style. Vérité.
Ten minutes in and we've got the original film and schlock 'analysis'. I'm out.
I heard that Rob hailford of " judus preast" thought the band was real,from the part where they got lost back stage.he said that it happens sometimes at real shows.
"One of the greatest comedy films ever made".
I mean, it's good, but come on.
Check out Comic Strip's Bad News...
I own the the Directors cut
23:53 did Nigel say what I think he said?
Bloody hell! He sure did
the full corruption of tommy the limo driver scene is incredible.
Man is it ever. What a treat!
I have all 16 spinal tap albums.
4:25 Led Zeppelin
Thanks great video.
Smell the glove.
'Well whatever the fuck she is' 🤣
Nicely done! Love this movie! ❤️
Spinal Tap kicks butt.
I saw the working print a very long time ago. More than 20 years ago. It was interesting and gave some insights that were otherwise left out. The cucumber in foil made sense only after the directors rough cut. The rest was not material to getting the story. Our thoughts when it was over was this, "Rob Reiner really got the gems and did an incredible job editing this film." So that's my take. The best is the movie. Director cut is very poorly lit and mostly throw away, but it's always fun to see these guys do their thing, but no gems in it.
BEST
R N' R
FILM
EVER
!!!!!!!
Horrendous
my fav band and my fav movie
Well i found longer mono double lead vocals and other different odditys
Oh w the song.(listen to the) Flower People .
This is an excellent analysis. This should have more views and you should have more subscribers.
McKean's accent fails him a couple of times, especially when they're going through the zodiac looks for the band, and David says 'KAHN-suh' instead of 'KAN-suh'. "Hullo Janine."
Malice????
Dude, ....who????
If you claim to be a musician and have NOT seen
Spinal Tap…. You’re a phony !
Any person that ever wants to be in a rock band should be required to watch this film. Thx for this TH-cam Video, I loved it and just had to rewatch Spinal Tap for the at least 100th time.
Another really good example of how much positive effect editing can have on a movie, I highly recommend this video called, "How Star Wars Was Saved In The Edit", here: th-cam.com/video/GFMyMxMYDNk/w-d-xo.html About 18 minutes long. It REALLY shows how expert editing can turn disorder and slow pace into compelling and fun cinema.
Also, I'm sure someone else has already said this, but just in case: If you go to the IMDB page for "This Is Spinal Tap", it is rated out of a possible 11 instead of 10. True story! Check it out: www.imdb.com/title/tt0088258/
PAY THEM!!!!!!!!!!
Malice? Lol....
There are one or two scenes when the camera anticipates the action, instead of following it in pure doc style. One reverse on Nigel backstage at the end as he watches David take the stage. And it's been a while since I've seen it, but I know there's coverage elsewhere in the movie. It doesn't take away from the movie's brilliance, it's just a little note that yes, in one or two instances, they break the documentary form.
A couple of little tid bits Christopher Guest is English. Christopher Guest also introduced Nigel Tufnel to the world as a member of Lenny and the squigtones on Laverne & Shirley where Michael mckean plays Lenny. I have the special edition DVD where you can watch over 2 and a 1/2 hours of extra footage and you can also insert it into the film.
These guy's were probably the quintessential example of a British Rock and Roll band there could ever be..........?
Got the same torrent, is rough as hell but worth watching through once.
Mick, the drummer, has got to be pulling off Venom's drummer Abaddon in one way or another. Wishfully one way and not the other.
Funny seeing Billy Crystal and Bruno Kirby together in the workprint, later to work together in City Slickers and Harry met Sally
There is a real life version of the film, If you think the Tap situation was bad, look at Anvil and the film made about them, difference is, Anvil is a real band and the film is a real documentary (Or rockumentary). The events in there were all genuine and not fictitious.
Thanks for the explanation of the Workprint. I much prefer the final film.
The first time I saw it (unknowingly) It took a while for me until the Absurdity had me rolling. The girlfriend attempting to take over is textbook along with other shit made it believable.Total clowns. Funny shit.
The final cut is the best version, but I did like the complete alternate version on the MGM disc, which among other cool things includes a complete tally of Ferguson Jenkins' career shutouts by season.
Just stumbled across this video. It was a great watch. Nice work.
If you liked this rockumentary you should watch this one, it's in the same kind of spirit, underground bands diy, this is the 1st episode, you can see the 2nd one too and there are another 6 to come out in the next few weeks : th-cam.com/video/e6haCJdDDks/w-d-xo.html
thank you so much for this I love the 4 hour version it is a very tough but there are so many gems in it it's hard to hear hard to see hard to smell but really well worth it. Bruno Kirby scenes the Rickey subplot the radio show how's the traffic on i-90 today I might throw it on now
I am extremely troubled that there is mention of the band's punctuality in this intro. Unacceptable.
Gotta Love it when someone mocks a mockumentary better than the mockumentary ... so believable.
I want to say Steven Fry for the mokumentory part of this. but yeah still a very young form. I love this (dont hate me)
Fascinating. I have seen the outtakes and yes, there is a complete second movie in there.
Wow. Looking forward to enjoying all this. Thank you!
You are either ignoring or not being aware of The Comic Strip presents: Bad News On Tour. It aired 1 year prior to Spinal Tap. Though it has pretty much the same story none ripped of the idea of the other, it just happened that almost at the same time, two film crews, completely unaware of each other, had the same idea and shot the same film. And I swear Bad News is just as funny, and what's even better, it has a 2nd part: Comic Strip presents: More Bad News. Last time I checked the 2nd part can be found on TH-cam. Bad News also continued to play as a band afterwards. The cast is legendary. I hope so much you don't know the films already, because if you don't you'll probably fall in gay love with me for the rest of your life, which is fine by me. You shouldn't hesitate to track down the first part in the www as we speak. Vim Fuego's "It's in the lyrics" is equally funny to Spinal Tap's eleven moment
indepedent??? Michael McKean was in it
Apparently they had been doing short scenes for a year or 2 before they made this film..
The 20-minute Spinal Tap film shopped to producers in lieu of a script had already been made before Bad News started filming for the TV show.
Both take their inspiration from the Kursaal Flyers documentary.
Lovingly rendered. Thanks, Dude.
Awesome! So much I didn't know :)
"Malice". You owe me a keyboard!
Good work! You nailed it! Tap are genius!
This guy has done a twelve hour review of a one hour movie.
im sure i would be upset if i wasnt so medicated
Oh..... it's a 30 minute advert ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, bye bye
11 out of 10 for this one! Thanks ;0)