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This is Spinal
Tap, Special Edition
(MGM Home Video 2000; list $14.95),
82 minutes
This remastered video version of TIST includes five
minutes of outtakes and the Bitch School video banned by MTV.
This Is Spinal Tap, Standard Edition
(Embassy Home Video, October 1984;
New Line Home Video, April 1992), 82 minutes
The 1992 reissue (cover on right) includes Hell Hole and Bitch
School videos as well as the infomercial
for Heavy Metal Memories. The original release from Embassy (on
left) includes an odd "Easter Bunny" message at the
end of the film. Both editions are out of print but copies are
sometimes available at eBay. The
box cover shown at left is the PAL version available in Europe,
the Middle East and Japan. You can order this video from Amazon UK.
The Return of Spinal Tap
(MPI Home Video, 1992), 110 minutes
Footage
of the final performance of Tap's 1992 tour, which took place
at the Royal Albert Hall in London on July 7, 1992. The footage
is interspersed with interviews in which celebrities discuss
the influence of Tap on their lives. There also are visits to
spots in England that played a role in the band member's formation.
The video is an expanded version of A Spinal Tap Reunion: The
25th Anniversary Sell-Out, a television special that aired December
31, 1992, on NBC. It features live performances of Tonight I'm
Gonna Rock You Tonight, Cash on Delivery, Hell Hole, America,
The Majesty of Rock, Just Begin Again, Sex Farm, Stonehenge,
Rock and Roll Creation, Bitch
School, (Listen to the) Flower People, Rainy Day Sun, Gaelic
Blues, Clam Caravan, All the Way Home, Break Like the Wind, Diva
Fever, Stinkin' Up the Great Outdoors, Christmas with the Devil,
Big Bottom and Now Leaving on Track 13. The box cover shown at
the top of this section is the North American release; the box
cover immediately above is the PAL version. You can buy it at
Amazon. Copies
also are available via eBay.
Break Like the
WindThe Videos
(UNI Distribution, 1992), 15 minutes
Bitch School (censored by MTV and uncensored) and The Majesty
of Rock, plus interview footage. You can buy the video at Amazon.
This is Spinal Tap, Director's Cut
(circa 1985, 3 tapes, 4.5 hours)
The best deleted scenes made their way into the supplemental
material on the Criterion and MGM DVDs, but if you're a glutton
for punishment, the entire 4.5 hours of footage is circulated
among fans. The bootleg has predictable quality problems. It's
a VHS recording of a 16 mm film, so you get occasional jumps
and breaks in the film. The sound is fine and the video is what
you'd expect from a third-generation tape. It's not pristine
but very watchable. If you're interested, I compiled a list of
my favorite scenes.
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