This Is Spinal Tap
The overall record undersells This Is Spinal Tap. 46% across 168 head-to-head matchups looks average until you look at how the numbers shift as a tournament progresses. The mockumentary that invented the form is also the one nobody has surpassed, and "these go to eleven" alone has kept it in the cultural conversation for four decades. Voters who love it don't just prefer it — they evangelize.
Synopsis
"This Is Spinal Tap" shines a light on the self-contained universe of a metal band struggling to get back on the charts, including everything from its complicated history of ups and downs, gold albums, name changes and undersold concert dates, along with the full host of requisite groupies, promoters, hangers-on and historians, sessions, release events and those special behind-the-scenes moments that keep it all real.
The opening number doesn't capture it. 42% early, 43% in the semis, 79% in the final — This Is Spinal Tap builds as the competition gets tougher, a trajectory most films can't sustain.
The closest rivalry is with When Harry Met Sally... at 47% — a matchup tight enough that a handful of votes could flip the lead. On the other end of the spectrum: Misery at 86% is a comfortable win, while The Sure Thing at 33% is the matchup This Is Spinal Tap can't crack.
Inconceivable! Rob Reiner's Golden Age: This Is Spinal Tap clears Stand by Me in the opening round and dispatches Misery at 86% in the final. A convincing start-to-finish run.
Rob Reiner's 8 films span a wide range: The Princess Bride at 65% to The Sure Thing at 34%. This Is Spinal Tap sits at #5.
#5 of 8 in Inconceivable! Rob Reiner's Golden Age.
Where should it rank? Cast your vote.
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