Tropic Thunder (2008)

Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.

Director:

Ben Stiller

Writers:

Justin Theroux (screenplay), Ben Stiller (screenplay)

Stars:

Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr.

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 10 wins & 46 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeff Kahn	...	Snooty Waiter - Fatties Trailer
Robert Downey Jr.	...	Kirk Lazarus - Hot LZ
Anthony Ruivivar	...	Platoon Sergeant Shot in Head - Hot LZ
Jack Black	...	Jeff Portnoy - Hot LZ
Jay Baruchel	...	Kevin Sandusky - Hot LZ
Brandon T. Jackson	...	Alpa Chino - Hot LZ
Ben Stiller	...	Tugg Speedman - Hot LZ
Eric Winzenried	...	Chopper Pilot - Hot LZ
Steve Coogan	...	Damien Cockburn - Vietnam Crew
Valerie Azlynn	...	Damien's Assistant - Vietnam Crew
Matt Levin	...	Cameraperson - Vietnam Crew
David Pressman	...	First Assistant Director - Vietnam Crew
Amy Stiller	...	Script Supervisor - Vietnam Crew
Danny McBride	...	Cody - Vietnam Crew
Dempsey Silva	...	Special Effects Assistant - Vietnam Crew

Storyline

Action movie star Tugg Speedman is on the downslide of his professional career. He wants to be considered a serious actor, but his latest serious role as the title character in "Simple Jack" resulted in negative reviews and ridicule. Comedian Jeff Portnoy is best known for his leading roles in sophomoric comedies, and may be less well known for his rampant drug use. Five time Oscar winner Kirk Lazarus is a serious method actor, who immerses himself in whatever the role. On location in southeast Vietnam, they are the stars of "Tropic Thunder", based on Vietnam war veteran 'Four Leaf' Tayback's memoirs of his rescue during the war, that rescue which was considered a near suicide mission for the assigned army force and resulted in him losing both hands. For his role, Caucasian Australian Lazarus even went through a controversial surgical skin dying procedure so that he could convincingly play a black man. Production is not going well since rookie director Damien Cockburn is unable to ...

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Plot Keywords:

film within a film | vietnam | parody | helicopter crash | jungle | 

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Taglines:

The movie they think they're making... isn't a movie anymore.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive language including sexual references, violent content and drug material

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ben Stiller and Steve Coogan appeared in Night at the Museum (2006), Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009), and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014).

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Goofs

Before the climax, Chino and Sandusky enter the pond with plastic wrapped around their rifles' muzzles. Next shot, the plastic is gone for the rest of the film.

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Quotes

Rick Peck: You can't be serious?
Les Grossman: You kick in the door to my house all ants in your pants, sucking my left nut to get a TiVo scrap for the 3rd runner-up "sexiest man alive" 1998... And you're asking if I'm SERIOUS?

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Crazy Credits

Tom Cruise (as Les) dances and the end credits start. Scenes from the movie are mixed in.

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Alternate Versions

Tugg Speedman spitting multiple times at Byong (Reggie Lee) isn't on the region 4 (Australia/New Zealand) DVD. Also Robert Downey Jr's monologue about actors going full retard is slightly edited. The region 4 DVD for some reason doesn't include the line referring to Peter Sellers in Being There.

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Connections

Spoofs The Secret (2006)

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Soundtracks

Music
from Star Trek (1966) episode Arena (1967)
Written by Alexander Courage
Courtesy of CBS Studios Inc.

User Reviews

RDJ should've won the Oscar nods - Legendary comedy!

Originally saw "Tropic Thunder" in theaters, that was fun! Gargantuanly hilarious and witty; quite memorable too. Tom Cruise was gold, so was Danny McBride, Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr, Matthew McConaughey, Nick Nolte, and Jay Baruchel. Almost never get tired of watching this epic movie probably seen it 30 times since release! Hope this gets remembered for many years, sorry I didn't review it sooner.

Details

Official Sites:

DreamWorks / Paramount [France] DreamWorks [United States]

Country:

USA UK Germany

Language:

English Mandarin

Release Date:

13 August 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tropic Thunder

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$92,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$25,812,796, 17 August 2008

Gross USA:

$110,515,313

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$195,702,811

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dreamworks Pictures, Red Hour Films, Goldcrest Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min 121 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1