It's 2025 And I Just Watched This Is Spinal Tap For The First Time - These Are My Honest Thoughts

After checking off legendary comedy "The Naked Gun," and then finally getting around to watching beloved musical "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," it feels fitting that musical mockumentary "This Is Spinal Tap" gets cleared from my watchlist in time for "Spinal Tap II: The End Continues" arriving later this year. My encounter with the loudest band in the U.K. goes as far as their guest appearance on "The Simpsons," in which the band does a gig in Springfield, and Otto complains that the audience is too loud and ruining it for everyone. As it turns out, though, Spinal Tap predates even their big-screen outing. The band was a creation of Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and would-be director Rob Reiner as part of a pilot sketch show named "The T.V. Show" in 1979.

Flash forward eight years, and the gang reunited to tackle one of the most groundbreaking and boldest big-screen ventures of the time, marking an incredible directorial debut for what would lead Reiner to become one of the most versatile filmmakers, maybe ever. Somehow, the man behind "Stand By Me," "When Harry Met Sally..." and "A Few Good Men" managed to discuss songs like "Lick My Love Pump" with a straight face. But therein lies perhaps the standout detail of "This Is Spinal Tap" that has stood the test of time, because while there are still some well-quoted gags that have lasted over 40 years, the greatest asset is the sheer realism of it all.

While there's no doubt that "This Is Spinal Tap" found an audience upon its initial release that has only grown over the decades, it feels less like a comedy and more like a documentary for real-life musical giants to relate to. Ozzy Osbourne was stunned into silence on his first viewing of the film. In a packed and laughing movie theater, he was the only one not giggling as the jokes landed on everyone else, because he related far too much to what he saw on the screen. "I was the only person that wasn't laughing because it really felt like a documentary to me," he explained during an appearance on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien."

It's the pitch-perfect realism of the film that still holds up, even more than the jokes sprinkled throughout. Aside from Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) removing a cucumber wrapped in tin foil from his trousers while going through customs, it's the debates over the right album cover (which Metallica even paid homage to with their own black album), or the band struggling to find the stage (which Ozzy Osbourne also admitted to experiencing), that showed just how close to the truth Spinal Tap had come. More importantly, this comedy set in the realm of reality became the benchmark for many other mockumentaries to follow. "Popstar," "Borat," and perhaps even "The Office" should all acknowledge their roots in Spinal Tap's influence. This is also why now is a better time than ever to reunite the band in their upcoming sequel, which features supporting talent who are deadpan comedians themselves.

In a time when rock god Ozzy Osbourne went out on an incredible high before his passing and the Gallagher brothers put aside their feud and reformed Oasis after 16 years, a golden era of music is returning when perhaps it's needed the most. With this in mind, it feels almost poetic that the artists behind "Sex Farm" and "Stonehenge" join in on the act and dive back into the comedy sub-genre that they helped to build, with backup laugh magnets that, in some way or another, have Spinal Tap to thank for where they've ended up.

Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer are reprising their roles for the titular band, along with director Rob Reiner playing the befuddled fly on the wall, Marty DiBergi. "Spinal Tap II" will see Chris Addison join the rock band's realm as part of their management team, in addition to Kerry Godliman, who were both briefly seen on the trailer. While not necessarily well-known names beyond the U.K., Addison starred in the political satire show "The Thick Of It" as well as directing 13 episodes of "Veep," while Godliman, who appeared in "After Life," also starred in Ricky Gervais's last mockumentary show, "Derek." With talent so used to balancing between laughs and real-life, and occasionally awkwardly looking at the camera, it's reassuring that the sequel is planning to mix the old with the new, like any good musicians would. You can see what new sound is heading our way when "Spinal Tap II: The End Continues" hits theaters on September 12, 2025.