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 ...Written by
Huggo
The film's title is a play on "Tropic Lightning", the nickname of the 25th Infantry Division, which has seen action in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Southwest Asia and Iraq (among others). The division was the subject of The Thin Red Line (1998) and Platoon (1986). Famous members included Oliver Stone, Ice-T, and Track Palin, Sarah Palin's eldest son. See more »
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. See more »
Quotes
[Tugg has just killed a panda]
Tugg Speedman:
I killed one, Rick... the thing I love most in the world.
Rick Peck:
A hooker. Alright, you killed a hooker. Calm down. Here's what you're gonna do: Get your hands on some bleach, some hydrogen peroxide, and a shit load of lime.
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Crazy Credits
Tom Cruise (as Les) dances and the end credits start. Scenes from the movie are mixed in. See more »
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. See more »
I just got out of a midnight showing and I was absolutely blown away. I fully expect this to be a mediocre movie at best, but it surprised me in all aspects. It was well directed, acted, the action scenes were actually very well done and pretty epic, and most of all it was hilarious. I doubt I stopped laughing for more than a minute or two. I don't want to give anything away so I will keep it brief, but do yourself a favor and see this in theaters with friends.
PS. As a black man, I did not find Robert Downey Jr.'s character offensive at all. He was probably the most hilarious character in the movie.
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I just got out of a midnight showing and I was absolutely blown away. I fully expect this to be a mediocre movie at best, but it surprised me in all aspects. It was well directed, acted, the action scenes were actually very well done and pretty epic, and most of all it was hilarious. I doubt I stopped laughing for more than a minute or two. I don't want to give anything away so I will keep it brief, but do yourself a favor and see this in theaters with friends.
PS. As a black man, I did not find Robert Downey Jr.'s character offensive at all. He was probably the most hilarious character in the movie.