DVD Review: 'This is Spinal Tap: Special Edition'

The line between clever and stupid has never been clearer than on the stupendous rerelease This is Spinal Tap: Special Edition. Incorporating some of the best supplementary stuff from the now-out-of-print Criterion DVD (director Rob Reiner’s trailer/presentation reel of cheese-rolling — you have to see it — is a priceless holdover), and adding some newly unearthed footage (the deleted scene where the Tapsters pontificate on the bread-eating origins of primates is a giggle grenade), this edition adds what may well be the best commentary track ever. Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer reprise their Brit-rocker roles as lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel, guitarist-singer David St. Hubbins, and bassist/produce smuggler Derek Smalls for a dissertation on why Marty DiBergi’s rockumentary is a slanderous attempt at portraying them as inept losers. Whether the commentary was written beforehand or totally improvised on the spot, it’s a hysterical reminder of just how funny truly funny people can be. A