# This Is Spinal Tap

11 Hacker News commenters recommended This Is Spinal Tap and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend this comedy for its lasting influence on humor and its place among a strong run of films by its director.

## Why people recommend it

- Lasting influence on comedy and humor (3 comments): "Nothing had as large an impact on my sense of humor growing up as This is Spinal Tap." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46272502)) "the greatgranddaddy of stuff like Parks and Recreation and the Office" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46272526)) "an unusually strong and culturally-resonant line of movies" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46271162))
- Strong run of films by Reiner (2 comments): "Three great movies that he directed that everyone around my age would be relatively intimately familiar with" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46270878)) "an unusually strong and culturally-resonant line of movies" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46271162))
- Widely regarded as a masterpiece (3 comments): "count Spinal Tap, Misery and Stand by Me among my favourites" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46272483)) "Spinal Tap is a great film, but he did so much more." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46272532)) "What an eclectic set of masterpieces." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46270957))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Idiocracy](https://hackerapproved.com/p/idiocracy.md): 43 recommend
- [Coyote v. Acme](https://hackerapproved.com/p/coyote-v-acme.md): 27 recommend
- [Office Space](https://hackerapproved.com/p/office-space.md): 23 recommend
- [Don't Look Up](https://hackerapproved.com/p/don-t-look-up.md): 14 recommend
- [Thank You for Smoking](https://hackerapproved.com/p/thank-you-for-smoking.md): 7 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "This Is Spinal Tap", https://hackerapproved.com/p/this-is-spinal-tap/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).