Tropic Thunder DVD Review
Any time major movie stars can poke fun at themselves, I’m all for it. And Tropic Thunder is all about poking fun—at actors, producers, directors, extras, agents and pretty much everyone else in Hollywood.
The film was co-written and directed by Ben Stiller, who also stars in the film as action star Tugg Speedman. Speedman has hit a bit of a rough patch after riding the tide of a fizzling action movie franchise and a turn as a severely mentally handicapped man in Simple Jack. He’s now tapped to play a lead role in a huge war film.
His co-stars are Jack Portnoy (played by Jack Black), an actor with a large drug problem and a slew of roles in films about, among other things, farting; five-time Oscar winner Kirk Lazarus (played by Robert Downey, Jr.), method actor extraordinaire who underwent radical surgery to have his skin color altered to play an African American in the film; first-timer Sandusky (played by Jay Baruchel of “Undeclared”), who was the only member of the cast who bothered to show up for the requisite boot camp prior to filming; and rapper Alpa Chino (played by newcomer Brandon T. Jackson), who’s more interested in hawking his product line than acting.
The motley crew make up the cast of Tropic Thunder, a film within a film about the Vietnam War, which (the film within the film) was adapted by first-time director Damien Cockburn (played by Steve Coogan) from a book by Vietnam veteran “Four Leaf” Tayback (played by Nick Nolte). The movie also stars Tom Cruise (who, if it weren’t for his voice, would be totally unrecognizable) as the film’s producer, Les Grossman; special effects guy Cody (played by Danny McBride), and Matthew McConaghey as Speedman’s agent Peck. Also look for SNL’s Bill Hader as a studio executive, and Tyra Banks, Christine Taylor, John Voight, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jason Bateman, Lance Bass and Alicia Silverstone as themselves.
Stiller also directed Reality Bites, The Cable Guy and Zoolander (which he also wrote), and acted in Reality Bites, The Cable Guy, There’s Something About Mary, Meet The Parents, Zoolander, Duplex, Along Came Polly, and The Heartbreak Kid. Co-writer Justin Theroux also acted in “Sex And The City”, Mullholland Dr., and “Six Feet Under.” In short,, these guys know their way around Hollywood and its cast of characters.
Tropic Thunder is presented in 2.35:1 aspect ratio, with audio in optional English, Spanish and French Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks, and subtitles available in English, Spanish and French, along with closed captioning.
Extras include audio commentaries with Stiller, Theroux, producer Stuart Cornfeld, production designer Jeff Mann, cinematographer John Toll and editor Greg Hayden; and an additional audio commentary with Stiller, Black and Downey, Jr.
Featurettes include “Beyond the Thunder,” the usual behind the scenes with interviews and on-set footage; “The Hot LZ,” which covers the opening battle scene; “Blowing S#!t Up,” about, well, blowing stuff up in the film; “Designing the Thunder,” which covers set design; a seven-part, 22-minute series on the main cast; a 30-minute “faux” documentary, “Rain of Madness,” starring documentarian Jan Jurgen (played by Theroux) following the production of the film within the film; and Jurgen pops up again in “Dispatches from the Edge of Madness,” with more clips from the filming of “Rain of Madness”; four deleted/extended scenes and an alternate ending; “Full Mags,” half an hour of improvisational footage; Cruise’s make-up test for the film; and lastly, the segment the film within the film’s stars did for the MTV Movie Awards.
Tropic Thunder is rated R for foul language, sexual references, violent content and drug material. It’s not for kids, despite the fact that Black and Stiller seem to act like kids most of the time.
I give Tropic Thunder 3 out of 5 stars. It’s enjoyable, and fans of parodies should enjoy it tremendously.