- Release Date: November 18th, 2008
- Publisher: Dreamworks Video
- Price: $22.99 on Amazon (Buy It
)
- Rating: Unrated
- Runtime: 120 Minutes
- Special Features: Filmmaker and Cast Commentaries, Before the Thunder, The Hot LZ Blowing S#%t Up, Designing the Thunder, The Cast of Tropic Thunder, Rain of Madness Dispatches from the Edge of Madness, Deleted and Extended Scenes, Alternative Ending, MTV Music Awards-Tropic Thunder, Full Mags, Video Rehearsals
- Starring: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Cruise, Matthew McConaughey, Nick Nolte, Steve Coogan, Jay Baruchel, Danny MsBride, Brandon T. Jackson, Bill Hader
- Genre: Comedy
When I first saw promos for Tropic Thunder, I was intrigued by the movie. I thought it could be a good movie but I never ended up watching it in the theaters. So I was excited to see the movie on DVD. The problem is that Tropic Thunder did not live up to my expectations.
Story:
For those of you who don’t know, Tropic Thunder tells the tale of a bunch of stuck up Hollywood actors that get more then they ever bargained for. While shooting a war movie, the actors actually get into a war of themselves as they have to fight off Vietnam rebels in order to save themselves and also their careers.
You would think the concept for this movie could lead to a hilarious movie. I was disappointed though. The story isn’t bad but I was actually expecting more since with such an original concept the movie could have been hilarious. The movie is only somewhat funny though. It has its moments but it also misses on quite a few of it’s jokes.
As far as the story itself, I thought it was decent. It is entertaining enough to watch but it really isn’t one of those movies that you will remember for a long time after you watch it. Since Tropic Thunder was an R rated movie (this version is actually unrated) I have to address the rating. To put it simply the movie definitely deserved the rating it got. It pretty much deserves a R rating for everything you can possibly get an R rating for. While I have seen much worse R rated movies, if you aren’t a fan of R rated movies I can’t imagine you enjoying Tropic Thunder.
Acting:
One of the strong points of the movie in my opinion was the acting. The acting overall was pretty good. What do you expect when you have so many big names on board though. With a cast of Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Cruise, Matthew McConaughey, and Nick Nolte you had better have some good acting. Of all the actors I would have to say that Robert Downey Jr. was the star of the movie. The rest of the big names also were great except for Tom Cruise. While a lot of people liked his character, I thought his character was just plain annoying.
Special Features:
Since this is a special edition after all I need to address the special features before wrapping up this review. I wouldn’t say the special features are anything special but fans of the movie should enjoy them. Most of the special features are your typical behind the special features. You also have your deleted scenes and an alternate ending. The one special feature that does stand out though is a special feature which is a documentary about the making of the movie inside the movie (confusing isn’t it). To clarify it is a documentary about the movie that you are watching being made in Tropic Thunder. While I think it could have been funnier, I think this is the best special feature in this DVD set.
Final Thoughts:
While I was disappointed by Tropic Thunder, it is still a decent movie. Some people will most likely like the movie more than I did and some will like it less. The best recommendation I can give is based on how much you typically like R rated comedies. If you usually like R rated comedies I would recommend you check it out. If R rated comedies aren’t your cup of tea I would recommend that you pass on Tropic Thunder.
