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Spinal Tap Special Edition –
Marshall Stack Packaging (France)

written by Juice / photos by Juice

Nigel Tufnel: The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and...

I love this movie. Full of excellent one liners, fantastic dialogue, and some random cameos, it's a cult classic that deserves an upgrade from a standard DVD release. It appears France realized this and decided to release this special 4 disc edition.

The set is only slightly larger than a standard DVD, and is shaped like a minature Marshall half-stack. Half-stack meaning it replicates the Marshall head and has a single cabinet (the speakers) below. It's interesting that Marshall signed and allowed to have their name used for this set, but makes sense, since for Marshall it's pure marketing to a genre and fan based that for the most part is obsessed with rock n' roll and guitars.

The case is actually a cardboard box with a plastic front, which is glued onto the box. Look closely at the last image of the 5 below, you can see where the plastic comes off the box a bit. If you gave it a hard tug, I'm sure you could peep it back and off.

The cabinet part of the front has the name of the movie and band written, or I should say stamped out across it. Raised silver lettering shouts "This is Spinal Tap". The background of this area is textured to mimic the cloth used on Marshall cabinets.

Above this is the "head" part of the half-stack. This portion has raised nubs that are supposed to mimic the dials. A black sticker with white writing pasted across it reads "Marshall". Not very fancy, but it gets the job done. I'm not sure why the Marshall name isn't stamped like the Spinal Tap title is. Since it isn't, and is just a cheap sticker, it reduces the overall feel of the box, and appears like it was a last minute decision stuck on (no pun intended) at the last second.

The case holding the DVDs slips out of the box. It fits nicely, and is a thick, clear plasic case with a double sided partition in the middle that holds two discs. The partition swings back and forth for easy access to the discs. The chapter list fits between the DVD case and the outer box.

The first two discs are the DVDs that come with the set, and the second two discs are CDs; a cd full of interviews and the OST "Break Like the Wind."

Available for roughly $50, this isn't a bad set to own. You get two DVDs and two CD's, which includes that OST.

If you're an avid Spinal Tap fan, you should pick it up. If you're a DVD collector, just be sure you realize this set isn't fantastic. In my opinion, the pictures make it look nicer than it is. The plastic front isn't very detailed and has a cheap feel to it. The sticker looks a bit sloppy, and even though it's a nice design element, the entire "Marshall Stack" casing could have been made from higher end materials.

- Juice's Verdict -

- Build Quality: 5 -

Not bad. Not good. Servicable. Nice to see that they designed in the Marshall look, but the plastic is a tad flimsy. The edges on mine are curled up a bit, revealing what might be a poor glue job.

- Content and Extras: 0 -

Since I'm not including the CDs as extras, this set only comes with a chapter list.

- Overall Rating: 6 -

5+0=6? Overall I give this a 6 because even though it doesn't have any extras, and the build isn't all that great, they still did a good job of trying to appease collectors by designing a four disc set housed in the fake little Marshall half-stack. From a few feet away, people who see this sitting on your shelf will like it.