| Tropic Thunder | 
 enlarge | Director: Ben Stiller
Actors: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Nick Nolte, Steve Coogan
Studio: Dreamworks Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.98
Buy Used: $7.45
You Save: $22.53 (75%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  126 reviews
Sales Rank: 50
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Running Time: 107 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: PARD350154D
UPC: 097363501541
EAN: 0097363501541
ASIN: B001H5X7I4
Theatrical Release Date: 2008
Release Date: November 18, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 11/18/2008 Run time: 107 minutes Rating: R
Amazon.com
It's not really a knock to say that nothing in Tropic Thunder is funnier than its first five minutes, so sly that--especially for people watching in theaters--you don't realize right away they are the opening minutes of the movie. This outrageous comedy begins with a series of fake previews, each introducing one of the main characters in the film-proper (not that there's anything proper about this film) and each bearing the familiar logo of a different motion picture studio: Universal, DreamWorks SKG, et al. Such playing fast and loose with corporate talismans verges on sacrilege, but it's an index of how much le tout Tinseltown endorses the movie as a demented valentine to itself. The premise is that the cast of a would-be "Son of Rambo" movie shooting in some Southeast Asian jungle get into a real shooting war with drug-smuggling montagnards. Don't ask--though the movie does have an answer--why such highly paid, usually ultra-pampered personnel as superhero Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller), Mozart of fart comedy Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black), hip-hop artist Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson), and five-time Oscar-winner Kirk Lazarus from Aus-try-leeah (Robert Downey Jr.) should be running through the jungle unattended and very vulnerable. It matters only that the real-life cast has a high time kidding their own profession and flexing their comedic muscles. Bonus points go to Stiller for co-writing the script (with Justin Theroux) and directing, and to Downey, brilliant as a white actor surgically turned black actor for his role and utterly committed to staying in character no matter what ("I don't drop character till I done the DVD commentary"). Be warned: The movie, too, is committed--to being an equal-opportunity offender. Its political incorrectness extends not only to Lazarus's black-like-me posturing but also Speedman's recent, Sean Penn-style Oscar bid playing a cognitively challenged farmboy--or, in Lazarus's deathless phrase, "going the full retard." Others in the cast include Steve Coogan as a director out of his depth, Nick Nolte as the Viet-vet novelist whose book inspired the film-within-the-film, Matthew McConaughey as Speedman's sun-blissed agent back home, and Tom Cruise--bald, fat-suited, and profane--as an epically repulsive studio head. Two hours running time is a mite excessive, but otherwise, what's not to like? --Richard T. Jameson
Stills from Tropic Thunder (Click for larger image)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 121 more reviews...
 Repugnant, with Only a Few Laughs to Offer January 6, 2009
This is a "guy's movie." I am not a guy. I think I watched this in error.
What I really expected was some tongue-in-cheek, war-lite movie. It is sort of war-lite. Sort of. It's not really that funny -- I guess I expected some Zoolander antics. Oh, there's some of that, but mostly, this film falls flat.
With that said, there are some pretty funny things in this movie -- no, very, very funny things in this movie. It's unapologetically offensive throughout. I adored the false trailers preceding the film. When Ben Stiller flings Half-Squat and the child crawls out of the river and crosses his arms, I thought I would die laughing. When Stiller accidentally kills a fluffy sweetheart of the animal kingdom, I laughed a lung up my nose. Tom Cruise's unlikable character was delightfully over the top, and his dancing during the credits was simply fabulous. Robert Downey, Jr., was almost always a winner in every single scene.
Have you noticed something here? You know, the fact I mention only two out of the five "actors" who wander into the jungle? Yeah. Unfortunately, that's ultimately what killed it for me. Most of the characters were SO unlikable and unfunny that I found myself wishing they would all die -- even Stiller was not that enjoyable, and Jack Black was downright awful, and "Alpa Chino's" character was just plain bland. With the exception of Downey and Jay Baruchel (the not-star-powered fellow who played the kid in glasses, Keven Sandusky). Indeed, when Sandusky is hurt, I wanted to throw the DVD case at the screen. He was the only redeemable, nice character in the whole film. (I am not exaggerating. It's true.)
The plot is instantly forgettable and inane, which you would expect for any Stiller comedy; but since the movie takes a more serious turn near the end of the film (every single "big-name actor" has to be true to himself and face the lies he has constructed to keep himself afloat... sigh), the silly plot actually becomes a detriment.
Also, although the humor really hits the mark every now and then, it's just that... "every now and then". Most of the time you're busy hating the characters and hoping they find more land mines.
So in the end, I kept wondering... was this an adventure/lite-war movie attempting to be comedic and light-hearted, or was this a comedy that got a little too serious? Either way, it's a bit of a let-down. It's so dark, and the characters are so awful, that you end up leaving the film feeling trashy.
 Not for everyone January 6, 2009
This movie is not for everyone. Some of the blood and guts humor was not funny to me. I know, it is just a movie........just a movie not for me.
Disappointing January 5, 2009
I thought it would be funnier but I was disappointed. Harold and Kumar was much better
 Tom Cruise, all is forgiven January 5, 2009
Tropic Thunder works as a satire on war movies and Hollywood's attempt to reproduce the realities of war. It's a reminder that even behind the greatest of the genre (Schindler's List, The Thin Red Line, etc.) are greedy and manipulative producers. But the movie wants to do too much. It wants to have a discussion about race as well, and while that part of the film is done rather well, it pulls the movie in too many directions.
The cast is quite good: For once, Ben Stiller is consistently funny, Jack Black actually plays a character (and not himself), Nick Nolte does some decent character acting (Matthew McConaughey still hasn't figured out how to do that), Robert Downey, Jr. is in blackface (and black "voice"), and Tom Cruise - well, you'll just have to see Tom Cruise for yourself. Cruise is in no way subtle, he steals focus from the film, and I wouldn't want it any other way.
There is nothing politically incorrect in this film. Political incorrectness is a malicious use of language and images in order to keep a specific population of people in a lower status than the majority. Tropic Thunder is aware of social conventions and prejudices and has zero interest in seriously insulting anyone except bigots. In short, having a discussion or writing a book or making a movie about political incorrectness is not the same as actually promoting it. If you don't understand that, you probably won't like this movie.
There are lots of fun explosions and props straight out of a horror movie. And, thankfully, very little CGI. In the end, Tropic Thunder is one of Ben Stiller's better attempts at advanced humor. I wouldn't call it more mature than his other films, but it is better crafted and directed.
 Tropic Thunder Excellent But Could Offend the Politically Correct January 4, 2009
Tropic Thunder is not for the politically correct and this movie will offend those who are sensitive to jokes about the mentally challenged or handicapped. If this does not bother you then you are going to enjoy Tropic Thunder which is a parody of action movies and the movie industry. If you play along with the premise of the movie, that a Director would be allowed to send Actors in to a real life battle situation, risking their lives then you will enjoy this movie. Tom Cruise, Jack Black, Nick Nolte, Matthew McConaughey, Ben Stiller and Robert Downey JR. are in top form and there are plenty of laughs. Performances by Robert Downey JR and Tom Cruise are reasons alone for seeing this movie. Both actors are over the top and Cruise is like you've never seen him. The quality of the BluRay transfer is fine as it should be but if you are on a tight DVD budget you don't need to see this move in BluRay,
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