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

Brandon T. Jackson's "Booty Sweat" commercial was the final scene filmed in the movie. On the DVD commentary, Ben Stiller remarked they shot it in the early morning hours of Thanksgiving. Once the filming wrapped, Jackson was escorted to the airport to catch a flight to Detroit to spend the holidays with his family.

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Goofs

Tugg Speedman is seen throwing a round M67 "baseball" grenade, which was introduced in 1975. For 1969, the correct grenade would be the oblong M26 "lemon" grenade.

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Quotes

Jeff Portnoy: [running in his underwear holding the Flaming Dragon leader] Don't judge me!

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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

There is a director's extended cut which is available on the 3-disc special edition in the UK which contains more footage - runtime of overall film is 116 minutes on back of DVD case.

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Connections

Referenced in There's Something About Movies: Episode #2.4 (2019)

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Soundtracks

Low
Written by Flo Rida, Dj Montay, Korey Roberson, Howard Simmons & T-Pain (as T-Pain)
Performed by Flo Rida featuring T-Pain (as T-Pain)
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
By arrangement with Warner Music Group & TV Licensing
T-Pain appears courtesy of Jive Records
By arrangement with Sony BMG Music Entertainment

User Reviews

Funny spoof of every war film ever made

Saw this at the Washington, DC screening on the 10th.

And Got Some I did. A comedy that is not Apatow's is refreshing nowadays. A relentless hard R comedy that fuses elements of practically every famous war film ever made. Beginning with trailers a la Grindhouse for every major character was already a sign of a hilarious film. While most of the humor was "funny-but-i'm-not-laughing" the same amount of laugh out loud humor and gags was provided as well, courtesy of mostly Stiller and Downey Jr. Who I wholeheartedly feel - stole the show. I can't say I've ever seen any character like his in a film of this genre, which already I feel will enter the classics. What's refreshing about Thunder is that it's actually original in certain aspects of the storyline; such as when they decide to shoot the film guerilla style in the jungle only to have the director of the film....- I'll leave this at that. A spoof of war films that isn't tireless or idiotic like the recent Epic/Date films... which do not even deserve to be called "spoofs". And be prepared for Cruise, who plays the most radical role of his entire career.

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, 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