When A Fake War Story Movie Goes Bad, Hilarity Ensues
Tropic Thunder features a star-studded cast. Ben Stiller, who was also a writer and director, leads actors Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Jay Baruchel, and Brandon T. Jackson, with large supporting roles that include Tom Cruise, Nick Nolte, Danny McBride, and Matthew McConaughey.
Ben Stiller plays Tugg Speedman, an action movie star whose career is on the decline. Robert Downey, Jr. plays the very controversial, but very successful Australian actor Kirk Lazarus. Jack Black is Jeff Portnoy, a comedian whose success on the big screen is attributed to his embarrassing fart humor movies know as The Fatties, where he plays every role in this flatulent-prone family. Brandon T. Jackson, an actor who I have not seen before, did a great job as the hip-hop artist behind the Booty Sweat energy drink and Bust-A-Nut candy bar. Jay Baruchel, also an actor who I hadn’t previously seen but who did a fine job in Tropic Thunder, plays the role of Kevin Sandusky, an honest young man trying to get his acting career started.
This group of five actors have set out to make a movie called Tropic Thunder, based on a book written by Nick Nolte’s character, Four Leaf Tayback, a disabled war veteran (or so we think at the start of the film). Tom Cruise plays the hilariously angry businessman Les Grossman who bought the rights to the story to create this ‘blockbuster’ film. Pressure from Grossman on director Damien Cockburn, played by Steve Coogan, to get the film done drives Cockburn to take the five actors out into the wild, away from the comfy set to make ‘the best war movie, ever!’ The idea is supported by McBride’s character, the on set special effects guy Cody, and Tayback, who are watching the unfolding of this endeavor from afar. Cockburn’s idea goes bad when he is inadvertently killed by a real land mine.
The actors don’t immediately realize the magnitude of the situation they’re in: in foreign territory, dressed as Vietnam soldiers, with no communication or transportation back to the set or to the US for that matter. Tugg Speedman (Stiller) is the last to realize that this is more than just a movie, and eventually gets himself captured by a local drug cartel. The other four, with help from Tayback and Cody, as well as Speedman’s agent (McConaughey), have to free Speedman and get themselves back home.
Tropic Thunder On Blu-ray
This Blu-ray release includes the Unrated Director’s Edition of the film that features a handful of more scenes and a bit more nudity that the original theatrical release saw. There are also a host of extra features, let’s take a closer look:
Film Commentary – Six folks, include Ben Stiller and five members of the crew, chime in for an audio commentary.
Cast Commentary – Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey, Jr., teamup for this hilarious audio commentary track. Downey, Jr., in character, earns most of the laughs.
Before the Thunder – A five minute, HD feature that includes Stiller talking about original concepts for the film that he and writer Justin Theroux first talked about a decade ago. There is also footage of a table reading of the script with much of the cast and crew present, it’s funny and interesting.
The Hot LZ – A six minute HD feature that takes a closer look at the work done for the opening battle scene in the film.
Blowing Shit Up – Another six minute HD feature that focuses on the pyrotechnics involved in the film. The lead special effects director and other crew talk shop about what was involved in getting some of the explosions to come alive on screen, like the large fire wall created by the jets in the first few minutes of the film. CG was used as sparingly as possible.
Designing the Thunder – At about seven and a half minutes, in HD, Designing the Thunder is about building the sets and working with the Hawaiian locales. Stiller once again includes some input as well as a Dreamworks executive.
Cast of Tropic Thunder – You can select from several of the cast members, or just Play All for a twenty-two minute HD presentation that features interviews, scenes, and various thoughts about the cast.
Rain of Madness – This thirty minute, HD ‘fake documentary’ is narrated and is about the fake movie, Tropic Thunder. The characters in the film, including the director and Les Grossman (Tom Cruise), are all presented as though they are real actors/crew. It’s clever and rather funny.
Make-Up Test With Tom Cruise – Some of the funniest scenes in the film belong to Tom Cruise’s character, the loud, angry, funny looking Les Grossman. Ben Stiller provides a brief video introduction to a two minute recording of Tom Cruise, in character, dancing like he does in the movie. We learn that it was actually Tom’s idea that his character dance.
Deleted, Extended Scenes and Alternate Ending – There are two deleted scenes in HD that are first introduced by Ben Stiller and Film Editor Greg Hayden. Two extended scenes totaling about eight minutes are also in HD and introduced by Hayden and Stiller. Lastly, an Alternate Ending in HD with introduction is included.
Full Mags – Includes an intro in HD with Stiller and Hayden. This is an interesting feature, I can’t say I’ve seen something quite like this, but basically what you have is an HD feature that is a split-screen view of Robert Downey, Jr.’s character and Ben Stiller’s character during one of the latter scenes in the film. For about eleven minutes, the two seem to almost improv their way through the scene. It’s a little long in the tooth, but worth a watch.
MTV Movie Awards Viral Video Promo – This is the only SD piece of content on this disc and it runs about four minutes. This content was originally aired at the MTV Movie Awards sometime this year I suppose, and features Ben Stiller, Robert Downey, Jr., and Jack Black. Stiller is trying to convince the other two that they need a viral video to promote Tropic Thunder, and the three together come up with some hilarious sketch comedy.
BD Live Features – More Full Mag features and other goodies are on the way, but at this time of review none of these are yet live.
That does it for the extras, but how about the presentation? Frankly, everything from the box art to the menu is done very well. The movie looks outstanding, and the variety of scenes in the film help bring out some superb visuals. The sound package is fantastic too in its Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Lossless form.
Let’s wrap up…