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Tropic Thunder
2008
Ben Stiller. Jack Black. Robert Downey, Jr. Comedy fans can start drooling immediately at the thought of these three funnymen joining forces in TROPIC THUNDER. The men star as a trio of actors whose filming experience in southeast Asia gets a little too real as they must become as tough as the characters they play to get out of .. Read more
| Starring | Ben Stiller, Trieu Tran, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black |
|---|---|
| Director | Ben Stiller |
| Run time | 107 mins |
| Genres | Comedy |
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Critics' reviews (2)
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Shooting difficulties don’t get much more serious than the myriad problems that afflict Vietnam war movie “Tropic Thunder”. The big conflagration scene, in which British director... read more »
- LOVEFiLM
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Most helpful member's review
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150 out of 152 people found this review helpful
The funniest film you'll see this year
Tropic Thunder was always going to be a Marmite movie - the crude humour, the gore and the Hollywood in-jokes are not to everyone's taste. But, as any filmmaker will tell you, the films that split people down the middle are the ones worth the effort.
There isn't much of a plot, but that's of little importance. The film is best viewed as a series of jokes, most of which hit the mark in spectacular fashion.
Stiller makes an able leading man, but he's overshadowed by his amazing supporting cast, particularly the brilliant Danny McBride as an explosives expert, the wonderful Brandon T Jackson as the token black guy, an unrecognisable Tom Cruise as a potty mouthed, balding Producer and of course, Robert Downey Jr as Kirk Lazarus as the Australian method actor who during the entire movie is in black face. This was a risky career move - but RDJ not only pulls it off - he MAKES the movie. In what is the best comic performance EVER and the best overall performance of this year (second only to Ledger's Joker), RDJ gets 75% of the laughs, namely through the hilarious dialogue between him and Jackson's Alpa Chino (great name!). This is also a credit to the writers who have created a wonderfully intelligent script. Those who understand the inner workings of Hollywood and the film making process will have an enhanced experience and get much more out of this film.
Those who protested against the 'offensive' material in the film simply showed that they've missed the point. It is not mentally handicapped people that are the butt of the jokes - its the actors attempting to portray them, its Hollywood's exploitive nature. Similarly with the 'offensive' gore - its a comment on Hollywood excess and insensitive attitude to war and death.
This is the most expensive comedy ever made and iy shows - the film not only boasts a quality script and cast but it looks brilliant too with some awe-inspiring explosions.
Two thumbs up for reminding us what 'comedy' really means and an extra thumb for RDJ's performance alone. Leave your politically correct attitude at home and go see this film! -
Most recent members' review
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Damp squib
My wife and I didn't even get further than the first 15 minutes - excessive, unnecessary swearing and no real plot seemed to be forming... quite disappointing given the favourable reviews that I had read when it was in the cinema!
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News and features
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Tropic Thunder dominates UK box office
- 24 Sep 2008
Tropic Thunder has taken the number one slot on the UK box office chart after just one week on release. The comedy - starring Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr - pulled in nearly £2.5 million to become the nation's top film of the week. A satire on Hollywood, the film features Stiller as Tugg Speedman – an egotistical movie star involved in the shooting of a new Vietnam biopic. Elsewhere, Abba musical Mamma Mia is refusing to go queitly, clinging onto second place after 11... Read more
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