This is Spinal Tap director has harsh words for Black Sabbath before farewell show

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It’s quite amusing that Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath are performing their final concert on the same weekend when “This is Spinal Tap” is being shown in cinemas again, paving the way for “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues” in September. In many ways, the rock mockumentary mirrors the real-life antics of ’70s heavy metal bands.

Interestingly enough, Director Rob Reiner, known for “This is Spinal Tap”, has recently made some critical remarks towards Black Sabbath band members. It should be noted that while Reiner’s assessment of the situation isn’t off base, his choice of harsh words might be a bit excessive.

In 1982, the filmmakers filmed a scene featuring Spinal Tap with a miniature Stonehenge prop on stage for their movie. However, contrary to the intended size of 18 feet, this prop stood at a mere 18 inches tall. This was done deliberately as a funny mistake.

Rob Reiner addresses the This is Spinal Tap and Black Sabbath controversy

1983 saw the proposal for a Black Sabbath film concept being conceived at least a year earlier. However, during this period, Don Arden – their manager at the time – suggested an innovative idea: a Stonehenge replica should be part of the movie. Unfortunately, the execution of this idea also fell short.

In his original blueprint, he used feet as a unit of measurement, yet model builders relied on meters. Consequently, the rocks intended for Stonehenge ended up scraping the ceiling of arenas rather than soaring to the upper levels of the stage. At least one Black Sabbath member later watched “This is Spinal Tap” and believed that the movie scene featuring Stonehenge was a satire on Sabbath’s blunder.

The events depicted in the movie likely took place before the Black Sabbath incident, given that the film’s script and production were completed prior to it.

In an interview with Screen Rant, Rob Reiner shared the moment he discovered that Sabbath felt irritated towards the makers of ‘This is Spinal Tap’ due to an unintended similarity.

As a devoted fan, I’d rephrase it like this: “Black Sabbath was on tour when our movie released, approximately three weeks prior. They watched our film and were enraged, believing we had pilfered their Stonehenge theme. To my mind, it was a stroke of genius, for who in their right mind would think that we could produce, edit, and screen the film within mere weeks? Yet, to me, that moment encapsulated the epitome of heavy metal: their sheer ignorance, thinking we had stolen it from them.

To clarify, although it might not make a significant difference, the Black Sabbath band during that period was no longer fronted by Ozzy Osbourne. It’s speculative to say if the Stonehenge incident would have transpired similarly with the band, but they may have responded differently, or perhaps not.

It’s truly disappointing that Black Sabbath didn’t opt for an accurately scaled Stonehenge replica at their final performance instead of the one that was there.

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2025-07-05 18:00