Tropic Thunder
Encyclopedia
Tropic Thunder is a 2008 American action
satire
comedy film
written, produced, and directed by Ben Stiller
, and starring Stiller, Robert Downey, Jr., and Jack Black
. The main plot revolves around a group of prima donna
actors who are making a Vietnam War
film. When their frustrated writer and director decide to drop them in the middle of a jungle, they are forced to rely on their acting skills in order to survive the real action and danger. Also written by Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen, the film was produced by Red Hour Films
and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures
through Paramount Pictures
.
Stiller's idea for the film originated while playing a small part in Empire of the Sun
, and he later enlisted Theroux and Cohen's help to complete the script. After the film was green-lighted
in 2006, filming took place in 2007 on the Hawaiian island
of Kauai
over thirteen weeks and was later deemed the largest film production in the island's history. Tropic Thunder had an extensive marketing promotion, including faux websites for the main characters and their fictional films, airing a fictional television special, and selling the energy drink
advertised in the film, "Booty Sweat". Prior to the film's release, it was met with criticism from disability advocacy groups for its portrayal of mental retardation
.
The film received generally favorable reviews with critics approving of the film's characters, story, and faux trailers while criticizing its offensive content. The film's soundtrack and score debuted on August 5, 2008, before the film's theatrical release. In its North American opening weekend, the film earned US$26 million and retained the number one position for the first three weekends of release. The film and its cast were nominated for several awards by various groups including the Screen Actors Guild
, Broadcast Film Critics Association
, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
. Tropic Thunder grossed $180 million in theaters before its release on home video on November 18, 2008.
John "Four Leaf" Tayback's (Nick Nolte
) memoir, Tropic Thunder, is being made into a film. With the exception of newcomer supporting actor Kevin Sandusky (Jay Baruchel
), the cast—fading action hero Tugg Speedman (Stiller), five-time Academy Award-winning Australian method actor
Kirk Lazarus (Downey, Jr.), rapper
Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson
), and drug-addicted comedian Jeff Portnoy (Black)—behave unreasonably. Rookie director Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan
) is unable to control the actors during the filming of a large war scene and just five days into shooting the production is reported to be one month behind schedule. Cockburn is ordered by studio executive Les Grossman (Tom Cruise
) to get filming back on track, or risk the cancellation of production.
Acting on Tayback's advice, Cockburn drops the actors into the middle of the jungle, where he has installed hidden cameras and rigged special effects explosions to film "guerrilla-style
". The actors have guns that fire blanks
, along with a map and scene listing that will guide them to a helicopter waiting at the end of the jungle route. Unbeknownst to the actors and the production, the group have been dropped in the middle of the Golden Triangle
, the home of the heroin-producing Flaming Dragon gang. Shortly after the group set off, the five actors are stunned to see Cockburn blown up by an old land mine
. Speedman, believing Cockburn faked his death, persuades Chino, Portnoy, and Sandusky that Cockburn is alive and that they are still shooting the film. Lazarus is unconvinced, but joins the other actors in their trek through the jungle.
When Tayback and pyrotechnics
operator Cody Underwood (Danny McBride
) attempt to locate the dead director, they are captured by Flaming Dragon, at which point Tayback reveals that he fabricated his memoir and that he has hands. As the actors continue to forge through the jungle, Lazarus and Sandusky discover that Speedman is leading them in the wrong direction. The four actors, tired of walking through the jungle and hoping to be rescued, leave Speedman, who goes off by himself and is captured by Flaming Dragon and taken to their heroin factory. Believing it is a POW camp
from the script, he continues to think he is being filmed. The gang discovers that he is the star of their favorite film, the box office bomb
Simple Jack, and force him to reenact it several times a day. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Speedman's agent Rick Peck (Matthew McConaughey
) is trying to negotiate with an uninterested Grossman an unfulfilled term in Speedman's contract that entitles him to a TiVo
. Flaming Dragon calls the two and demands a ransom for Speedman, but Grossman instead berates the gang. Despite the threats he made to the Flaming Dragon, Grossman expresses no interest in rescuing Speedman and attempts to convince Rick about the benefits of allowing Speedman to die and collecting the insurance. Grossman also offers Rick a Gulfstream V
and money in return for Rick's cooperation.
Lazarus, Chino, Portnoy, and Sandusky discover Flaming Dragon's heroin factory. After seeing Speedman being torture
d, they plan a rescue attempt based on the film's script. Lazarus impersonates a farmer towing a captured Portnoy on the back of a water buffalo
, distracting the armed guards so Chino and Sandusky can locate where the captives are held. After the gang notices inconsistencies in Lazarus' story, the actors open fire on the gang, temporarily subduing them. When the gang realizes that they are being guarded by actors, they gather their guns and begin firing.
The four actors locate Speedman, Tayback, and Underwood, and cross a bridge rigged to explode to get to their helicopter. Speedman asks to remain behind with the gang which he considers his family, but quickly returns with Flaming Dragon in pursuit. Tayback detonates the bridge, allowing Speedman to reach safety, but as the helicopter takes off, the gang fires an RPG at the machine. Rick unexpectedly stumbles out of the jungle carrying a TiVo box and throws it in the path of the RPG, saving them all. The actors and crew return to Hollywood, where footage from the hidden cameras is compiled into a feature film, Tropic Blunder, which becomes a major critical and box office hit. The film wins Speedman his first Academy Award, which Lazarus presents to him at the ceremony.
Various actors and celebrities portray themselves, including Tobey Maguire
, Tyra Banks
, Maria Menounos
, Martin Lawrence
, The Mooney Suzuki
, Tom Hanks
, Sean Penn
, Jason Bateman
, Lance Bass
, Jennifer Love Hewitt
, Alicia Silverstone
, and Jon Voight
. Christine Taylor
, Mini Anden
, Anthony Ruivivar
, and Yvette Nicole Brown
have roles as minor characters in the film. Justin Theroux, the writer of the film, appears in two brief roles as a helicopter gunner and a disc jockey
(shown in a deleted scene).
, in which he played a small part. Stiller wanted to make a film based on the actors he knew who, after taking part in boot camps to prepare for war film roles, became "self-important" and "self-involved" and appeared to believe they had been part of a real military unit. Co-writer Theroux revealed that the initial script concept was to have actors go to a mock boot camp and return with posttraumatic stress disorder. The final script was developed to satirize Vietnam War films such as Apocalypse Now
, Platoon
, Full Metal Jacket
, Hamburger Hill
, and The Deer Hunter
. Theroux pointed out that since viewers had an increased awareness of the inner workings of Hollywood due to celebrity websites and Hollywood news sources, the script was easier to write. Dialogue for unscripted portions of the storyboard was developed on set by the actors or was improvised.
. Downey said on CBS
' The Early Show
that his first reaction was, "This is the stupidest idea I've ever heard!" and that Stiller responded, "Yeah, I know — isn't it great?" In another interview, Downey said that he accepted the part but, having no idea where or even how to start building the character of Lazarus, eventually settled on a jive-esque
speech pattern and a gruff, ragged bass voice; he then auditioned Lazarus' voice over the phone to Stiller, who approved the characterization immediately. Downey revealed that he modeled the character on actors Russell Crowe
, Colin Farrell
, and Daniel Day-Lewis
. The initial script was written for Downey's character to be Irish
, but was altered after Downey stated he could improvise better as an Australian (he had previously played a similar outlandish Australian character in the film Natural Born Killers
). Downey's practice of remaining in character between takes and even off the film set was also written into the script for his character to perform. Downey required between one and a half to two hours of make-up application. According to Downey, "One makeup artist would start on one side of my face and a second makeup artist would start on the other side, and then they'd meet in the middle."
Downey acknowledged the potential controversy over his role: "At the end of the day, it's always about how well you commit to the character. If I didn't feel it was morally sound, or that it would be easily misinterpreted that I'm just C. Thomas Howell
[in Soul Man
], I would've stayed home." Jackson stated: "When I first read the script, I was like: What? Blackface
? But when I saw him [act] he, like, became a black man ... It was just good acting. It was weird on the set because he would keep going with the character. He's a method actor." Stiller commented on Downey's portrayal of a white actor playing a black man: "When people see the movie — in the context of the film, he's playing a method actor who's gone to great lengths to play a black guy. The movie is skewering actors and how they take themselves so seriously." Stiller previewed the film before several black journalists and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
, who reacted positively to the character.
Cruise was initially set to cameo as Stiller's character's agent, Rick Peck. Instead, Cruise suggested adding a studio head character, and the idea was incorporated into the script. Stiller and Cruise worked together to create the new character, Les Grossman, as a middle-aged businessman. The role required that Cruise don a fatsuit
, large prosthetic hands, and a bald cap. It was Cruise's idea to give the character large hands and dance to "Low
". Stiller intended to keep Cruise's role a secret until the film's release. In addition, Paramount Pictures
refused to release promotional pictures of Cruise's character to the media. In November 2007, images of Cruise wearing a bald headpiece and a fatsuit appeared on Inside Edition
, as well as on the Internet. Cruise's attorneys threatened a lawsuit if photos showing Cruise in costume were published. They approached various sites that were hosting the image and quickly had it removed. A representative for Cruise stated: "Mr. Cruise's appearance was supposed to be a surprise for his fans worldwide. Paparazzi
have ruined what should have been a fun discovery for moviegoers." The photography agency INF, who first debuted the image, responded with a statement: "While these pictures were taken without breaking any criminal
or civil laws
, we've decided to pull them from circulation effective immediately."
Serving as a last-minute replacement, Tobey Maguire was only available to be on set for two hours to film his scenes in Satan's Alley. Downey said he was amazed Maguire would agree to do the film and felt like they were creating a "karmic
pay-off" for their scenes together in the 2000 film Wonder Boys
, where Downey's character has a one-night-stand with Maguire's character. After Cruise vacated the role of Rick Peck, Owen Wilson
was cast to play the part. Following his suicide
attempt in August 2007, Wilson dropped out of the film and was replaced by Matthew McConaughey
.
(where Stiller has a home) was selected for the majority of the shooting. Kauai was chosen over Mexico because a tax credit for in-state spending was negotiated with the Kauai Film Commission. John Toll
, the cinematographer, stated the island was also selected for its similarity to Vietnam, based on its dense foliage, variety of terrains, and weather. Kauai was first scouted as a possible location to film Tropic Thunder in 2004. Stiller spent more than 25 hours over 6 weeks exploring the island, using all-terrain vehicle
s, boats, and helicopters. After the film was greenlit
by DreamWorks in 2006, pre-production lasted for six months, most of this time spent on scouting additional locations for filming. Filming for the Los Angeles and interior scenes occurred on sets at Universal Studios
in Hollywood.
Tropic Thunder was the first major studio production on Kauai in five years. After filming was completed, it was deemed the largest production filmed on the island to date, and contributed more than $60 million to the local economy. Tim Ryan, the executive editor of Hawaii Film & Video Magazine, commented on the filming on the island: "I think Tropic Thunder will give Kaua'i much needed and long idled publicity in the production arena ... It should put Kaua'i back on the production consideration radar." Preliminary production crews were on the island starting in December 2006 and principal photography
began in July 2007, with filming lasting thirteen weeks over seven separate locations on the island. Much of the filming took place on private land as well as conservation status
designated areas. Casting calls on the island sought 500 residents to portray the villagers in the film. Two units shot simultaneously on the island from the ground, and an aerial unit shot from helicopters. Many of the sets and the bridge used for one of the final scenes were built in three months. The island's erratic weather hampered filming with rain and lighting issues. The crew also faced complications in moving the equipment and cast due to the difficult terrain.
The film advising company Warriors Inc.
was enlisted to ensure the war scenes, including the attire worn by the actors, looked authentic. Former members of the U.S. military taught the actors how to handle, fire, and reload their weapons, as well as perform various tactical movements. The opening war scene was filmed over three weeks and required fifty stuntmen. Animatics were used to map out the necessary camera angles for filming.
in the film. These were at times altered weekly due to the reactions of test audiences in screenings. CIS Visual Effects Group assisted with the Scorcher VI faux trailer and twenty additional shots for the home media release. To expand on the comedy in the film, some of the explosions and crashes were embellished to look more destructive. The visual effects supervisor Michael Fink reflected on the exaggerated explosions: "We worked really hard to make the CG
crashing helicopter in the hot landing sequence look real. Ben was adamant about that, but at the same time he wanted the explosion to be huge. When you see it hit the ground, it was like it was filled with gasoline! It was the same thing with Ben's sergeant character, who almost intercepts a hand grenade ... Now, I was in the Army for three years and no hand grenade would make an explosion like that ... But it was a big dramatic moment and it looks really cool ... and feels kind of real."
Filming the large napalm
explosion in the opening scene of the film required a 450-foot (137-meter) row of explosive pots containing 1,100 gallons (4,165 liters) of gasoline and diesel fuel. All the palm trees used in the explosion were moved to the specific location after the crew determined the impact of the lighting and necessary camera angles. Due to the size and cost of the 1.25-second explosion, it was only performed once and was captured by twelve cameras. For the safety of the crew and cast, the detonators were added one hour before the explosion and nobody was allowed to be within 400 feet (121.9 m) during detonation. The explosion was made up of twelve individual explosions and resulted in a mushroom cloud
that reached 350 feet (106.7 m) in the air. For the scene in the film, Danny McBride's character, Cody Underwood, was the only actor shown in the shot of the explosion. All the other characters were added digitally. The explosion of the bridge in one of the final scenes used nine cameras to capture the shot, and the crew was required to be 3000 feet (914.4 m) away for their safety.
gave it a rating of 3/5, commenting: "This could either be good or very, very bad." Gary Susman of Entertainment Weekly
questioned whether the film would "... turn into precisely the kind of bloated action monstrosity that it's making fun of." The trailer received the "Best Comedy Trailer" award at the 9th annual Golden Trailer Awards
. DreamWorks
also released a red band trailer, the first of its kind used by the studio to promote one of its films.
Stiller, Downey, and Black appeared on the seventh season finale of American Idol
in a sketch as The Pips
performing with Gladys Knight
using archival footage of her. The three actors also later performed a sketch at the 2008 MTV Movie Awards
which featured the actors attempting to create a successful viral video
to promote the film with awkward results. In September 2008, Stiller and Downey attended the San Sebastián International Film Festival
to promote the film. A screening was shown, but it was not chosen to compete against the other films at the festival.
Between April 2008 and the film's commercial release in August 2008, the film had over 250 promotional screenings. On August 3, 2008 Stiller, Downey, and Black visited Camp Pendleton
, a California Marine Corps base, to present a screening to over a thousand military members and their families. The screening was on behalf of the United Service Organizations
and included the actors heading to the screening by helicopter and Humvees
. On August 8, 2008, a special 30-minute fictional E! True Hollywood Story
aired about the making of Tropic Thunder. In video games, a themed scavenger hunt was incorporated into Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
, and Stiller allowed his likeness to be used in the online Facebook
application game based on the film.
As a tie-in for the film's release, Paramount Pictures announced it would market the energy drink known in the film as "Booty Sweat". Michael Corcoran, Paramount's president of consumer products, commented on the release: "We're very excited, because it has the potential to live for quite a while, well beyond the film." The drink was sold in college bookstores, on Amazon.com
, and at other retailers.
In mid-July 2008, a faux trailer for the mockumentary
Rain of Madness was released. The mockumentary was a parody of Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
. It follows co-writer Justin Theroux as a fictional documentarian named Jan Jürgen documenting the behind-the-scenes aspects of the film within the film
. Marketing for the faux documentary included a movie poster and an official website prior to Tropic Thunders release. The mockumentary was released on the iTunes Store
after the film's release and was also included on the home video release. Amy Powell, an advertising executive with Paramount Pictures
, reflected on the timing of the release of Madness: "We always thought that people would be talking about Tropic Thunder at the water cooler, and that's why we decided to release Rain of Madness two weeks into Tropics run—to keep this positive buzz going."
, two days before its wide release. Members of several disability groups picketed before the premiere, protesting at the portrayal of mental retardation
shown in the film. The groups revealed that it was the first time that they had ever protested together at an event. As a result of the protest, the normally unobstructed views of the red carpet leading to the premiere were blocked off by 10-foot (3-m)-high fences and there was an increase in the number of security personnel present. No protests were held at the United Kingdom's September premiere.
The North American release was scheduled for July 11, 2008, but was delayed until August 15, before being brought forward to August 13. As a result of the move from July, 20th Century Fox
moved its family comedy
Meet Dave
in the open slot. The August 13 release date was also the opening weekends for the animated family film Star Wars: The Clone Wars
and the horror film Mirrors
. Studios consider the third week of August to be a weaker performing period than earlier in the summer because of students returning to school. Previous R-rated comedies such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin
and Superbad were released in mid-August and performed well at the box office. Reacting to Tropic Thunders release date, Rob Moore, vice chairman of Paramount Pictures, stated: "For a young person at the end of summer, you want to have some fun and forget about going back to school. What better than a crazy comedy?"
reported that 83% of critics gave the film a positive review based on a sample of 221 reviews, with an average score of 7.1/10.
Metacritic
, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 from reviews by mainstream critics, gave a film rating of 71/100 based on 39 reviews.
After attending an industry screening in April 2008 Michael Cieply
from The New York Times
stated that the film was "... shaping up as one of [DreamWorks]'s best prospects for the summer." Claudia Puig of USA Today
gave the film a positive review, writing "There are some wildly funny scenes, a few leaden ones and others that are scattershot, with humorous satire undercut by over-the-top grisliness. Still, when it's funny, it's really funny." A review in Variety
by Todd McCarthy was critical: "Apart from startling, out-there comic turns by Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise, however, the antics here are pretty thin, redundant and one-note." Rick Groen of The Globe and Mail
gave the film a negative review, calling it "... an assault in the guise of a comedy—watching it is like getting mugged by a clown." J.R. Jones of Chicago Reader stated "The rest of the movie never lives up to the hilarity of the opening, partly because the large-scale production smothers the gags but mostly because those gags are so easy to smother."
The faux trailers before the film were also critiqued. David Ansen
of Newsweek
approved of the trailers, writing "Tropic Thunder is the funniest movie of the summer—so funny, in fact, that you start laughing before the film itself has begun." Christy Lemire, writing for the Associated Press
, called the trailers "... the best part of the trip." Robert Wilonsky of The Village Voice
was critical, saying that the trailers' comedy "... resides in the land of the obvious, easy chuckle."
The cast received mixed critical reception. Downey was praised by many critics, claiming that he "stole the show", was "... off-the-charts hilarious ...", and would bring viewers "... the fondest memories of [his] work." Scott Feinberg, of the Los Angeles Times, criticized the concept of Downey's portrayal of an African-American, writing "... I just can't imagine any circumstance under which a blackface performance would be acceptable, any more than than I can imagine any circumstance under which the use of the N-word would be acceptable." Sara Vilkomerson said Cruise did "... an astonishingly funny and surprising supporting performance." Logan Hill of New York
argued against Cruise's cameo saying that it "... just makes him look a little lost and almost pathetic—shucking and jiving, trying to appeal to the younger moviegoers who are abandoning him."
Several critics commented on the controversy over lines in the film talking about the mentally disabled. Duane Dudek of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
wrote that the film "... is just sophomoric enough to offend. And while it is also funny, it is without the empathy or compassion to cause us to wonder why we are laughing." Christian Toto of The Washington Times
argued against the opposition, "Tropic Thunder is drawing fire from special interest groups for ... its frequent use of the word 'retard', but discerning audiences will know where the humor is targeted. And they'll be laughing too hard to take offense." Kurt Loder
of MTV contrasted the opposition to the lines with Downey character portrayal of an African American, "The scene in which the derisive Alpa Chino [Brandon T. Jackson] nails Lazarus' recitation of black-uplift homilies as nothing more than the lyrics to the Jeffersons theme is funny; but the one in which Lazarus quietly explains to Speedman that his Simple Jack character failed because he made the mistake of going 'full retard'—rather than softening his character with cuteness in the manner of Forrest Gump—is so on-the-nose accurate, it takes your breath away."
included Tropic Thunder in its list "25 Great Comedies From the Past 25 Years" for its "spot-on skewering of Hollywood." The film also appeared on several critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008. Stephen King
placed it at the fourth position, calling the film "the funniest, most daring comedy of the year." The Oregonian
s Marc Mohan, placed it sixth, and several critics placed it seventh: Elizabeth Weitzman of the New York Daily News, Premiere
magazine, Mike Russell of The Oregonian, as well as Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle
. David Ansen of Newsweek placed it eighth and Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly included the film in the tenth position.
, which earned $129 million in the U.S. and Canada and $260 million worldwide. The Dark Knight
had been the number one film at the box office for the four weeks prior to the release of Tropic Thunder. Bob Thompson, a writer for the National Post
, speculated that Tropic Thunders opening weekend would outperform The Dark Knight for the weekend. In a list compiled prior to the summer's film releases, Entertainment Weekly predicted that the film would be the tenth highest grossing film of the summer at the American box office with $142.6 million.
Tropic Thunder opened in 3,319 theaters and, for its first five days of American and Canadian release, earned $36,845,588. The film placed first in the weekend's box office with $25,812,796, surpassing Star Wars: The Clone Wars
and Mirrors
, which debuted the same weekend. Reacting to the film's opening receipts, DreamWorks spokesman Chip Sullivan stated "We're thrilled, quite frankly. It played out exactly how we hoped." In foreign markets for the film's opening weekend, it was released in 418 Russian and 19 United Arab Emirates
locations earning $2.2 million and $319,000, respectively.
The film maintained its number one position at the American and Canadian box office for the following two weekends, making it the second film in 2008 (after The Dark Knight) to hold the number-one position for more than two consecutive weekends. The film's widest release was in 3,473 theaters, placing it in the top 25 widest releases in the U.S. for 2008. For 2008, the film was the fifth-highest-grossing domestic R-rated film. The film's U.S. and Canada gross of over $110 million made Tropic Thunder Stiller's most successful film as a director. The film has had gross receipts of $110,515,313 in the U.S. and Canada and $77,557,336 in international markets for a total of $188,072,649 worldwide.
. In a November 2008 issue by Entertainment Weekly, Downey's film role was considered one of the three contenders for Best Supporting Actor. As a way of extending the film-within-a-film "universe" into real life, there have also been at least two online "For Your Consideration" ads touting Downey's character, Kirk Lazarus, for Best Supporting Actor; one of these contains "scenes" from Satan's Alley that were not in the trailer as released in theaters. At least one of the ads was produced by Paramount Pictures and intended for early For Your Consideration awareness for Downey's role. On January 22, 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
nominated Downey for Best Supporting Actor. At the 81st Academy Awards
, Downey lost to Heath Ledger
.
With the onset of the annual Hollywood film award season at the end of 2008, Tropic Thunder began receiving nominations and awards starting with a win for "Hollywood Comedy of the Year Award" at the 12th annual Hollywood Film Festival
on October 27, 2008. The film was nominated for Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical, for the Satellite Awards
. In addition, Downey was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. The Broadcast Film Critics Association
nominated Downey for Best Supporting Actor and awarded Tropic Thunder Best Comedy Movie at the BFCA's Critics' Choice Awards. Both Downey and Cruise received nominations from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association
for Golden Globes for Best Supporting Actor
. The Boston Society of Film Critics
recognized the cast with its Best Ensemble award. Downey was also nominated by both the Screen Actors Guild
and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts
for Best Supporting Actor awards.
s, an alternate ending, and the Rain of Madness mockumentary.
For the film's first week of release, Tropic Thunder placed on several video charts. It reached second place on the Nielsen
VideoScan First Alert sales chart and Nielsen's Blu-ray Disc chart, earning $19,064,959 (not including Blu-ray sales). In rentals, it placed first on the Home Media Magazine
s video rental chart. The DVD sales in 2008 totaled $42,271,059, placing it in 28th for DVD sales for the year. By September 2009, 2,963,000 DVD units have been sold, gathering revenue of $49,870,248.
. A spokesman for DreamWorks said, "We heard their concerns, and we understand that taken out of context, the site appeared to be insensitive to people with disabilities." A coalition of more than 20 disability advocacy groups, including the Special Olympics
and the Arc of the United States
, objected to the film's repeated use of the word "retard". DreamWorks offered to screen the film for the groups on August 8 to determine if it still offended them. The screening was postponed to the same day of the premiere on August 11. After representatives for the groups attended the private screening and were offended by its content, the groups picketed outside the film's premiere. Timothy Shriver, the chairman of the Special Olympics, stated, "This population struggles too much with the basics to have to struggle against Hollywood. We're sending a message that this hate speech is no longer acceptable."
Disability advocates and others who previewed the film reported that the offensive treatment of individuals with mental disabilities was woven throughout the film's plot. Disability advocates urged people not to see the film, claiming it is demeaning to individuals with mental disabilities and would encourage bullying. Stiller defended the film, stating "We screened the movie so many times and this didn't come up until very late ... in the context of the film I think it's really clear, they were making fun of the actors and actors who try to use serious subjects to win awards." Co-writer Etan Cohen echoed Stiller's rationale: "Some people have taken this as making fun of handicapped people, but we're really trying to make fun of the actors who use this material as fodder for acclaim." He went on to state that the film lampoons actors who portray mentally retarded/autistic
characters such as Dustin Hoffman
in Rain Man
, Tom Hanks
in Forrest Gump
, and Sean Penn
in I Am Sam
. A DreamWorks spokesman did not directly respond to the criticism, claiming that Tropic Thunder "... is an R-rated comedy that satirizes Hollywood and its excesses, makes its point by featuring inappropriate and over-the-top characters in ridiculous situations." The film's advertising was altered, but none of the scenes in the film were edited as a result of the opposition. In response to the controversy, the director's cut of the DVD (but not the Blu-ray) includes a public service announcement in the special features that discourages use of the word "retard".
and soundtrack
were released on August 5, 2008, the week before the film's release in theaters. The score was composed by Theodore Shapiro
and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony. William Ruhlmann of allmusic gave the score a positive review, stating it is "...an affectionate and knowing satire of the history of Hollywood action movie music, penned by an insider." Thomas Simpson of SoundtrackNet
called it "...a mixture of fun, seriousness, rock n' roll and great scoring."
Five songs, "Cum On Feel the Noize
" by Quiet Riot
, "Sympathy for the Devil
" by The Rolling Stones
, "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield
, "Low
" by Flo Rida
and T-Pain
, and "Get Back
" by Ludacris
, were not present on the soundtrack, yet did appear in the film. The soundtrack features songs from The Temptations
, MC Hammer
, Creedence Clearwater Revival
, Edwin Starr
, and other artists. The single "Name of the Game
" by The Crystal Method
featuring Ryu
has an exclusive remix
on the soundtrack. The soundtrack debuted 20th on Billboard
s Top Soundtracks list and peaked at 39th on its Top Independent Albums list. James Christopher Monger of allmusic compared the music to other film's soundtracks such as Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, and Forrest Gump and called it "...a fun but slight listen that plays out like an old late-'70s K-Tel
compilation with a few bonus cuts from the future."
. On June 9, 2010 it was announced that a spin-off film would be developed centering on Grossman. A script has been written by Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
screenwriter Michael Bacall
. According to Bill Hader, the script is finished but no release date has been given.
Fictional websites created for the film
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
written, produced, and directed by Ben Stiller
Ben Stiller
Benjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....
, and starring Stiller, Robert Downey, Jr., and Jack Black
Jack Black
Jack Black , is an American actor and musician, notably of Tenacious D.Jack Black may also refer to:* Jack Black , late 19th - early 20th Century author and hobo* Jack Black , drummer for 1970s UK punk band The Boys...
. The main plot revolves around a group of prima donna
Prima donna
Originally used in opera or Commedia dell'arte companies, "prima donna" is Italian for "first lady." The term was used to designate the leading female singer in the opera company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. The prima donna was normally, but not necessarily, a soprano...
actors who are making a Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
film. When their frustrated writer and director decide to drop them in the middle of a jungle, they are forced to rely on their acting skills in order to survive the real action and danger. Also written by Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen, the film was produced by Red Hour Films
Red Hour Productions
Red Hour Films is an American motion picture production and distribution company. Ben Stiller and producer Stuart Cornfeld run the company. The name was derived from an episode of Star Trek -- The Return of the Archons -- that features a scheduled, alien riot...
and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures
DreamWorks
DreamWorks Pictures, also known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC, DreamWorks Studios or DW Studios, LLC, is an American film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming...
through Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
.
Stiller's idea for the film originated while playing a small part in Empire of the Sun
Empire of the Sun (film)
Empire of the Sun is a 1987 American coming of age war film based on J. G. Ballard's semi-autobiographical novel of the same name. Steven Spielberg directed the film, which stars Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, and Nigel Havers...
, and he later enlisted Theroux and Cohen's help to complete the script. After the film was green-lighted
Greenlight
To green-light a project is to give permission or a go ahead to move forward with a project. In the context of the movie and TV businesses, to green-light something is to formally approve its production finance, thereby allowing the project to move forward from the development phase to...
in 2006, filming took place in 2007 on the Hawaiian island
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
of Kauai
Kauai
Kauai or Kauai, known as Tauai in the ancient Kaua'i dialect, is geologically the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of , it is the fourth largest of the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, and the 21st largest island in the United States. Known also as the "Garden Isle",...
over thirteen weeks and was later deemed the largest film production in the island's history. Tropic Thunder had an extensive marketing promotion, including faux websites for the main characters and their fictional films, airing a fictional television special, and selling the energy drink
Energy drink
Energy drinks are beverages whose producers advertise that they "boost energy." These advertisements usually do not emphasize energy derived from the sugar and caffeine they contain but rather increased energy release due to a variety of stimulants and vitamins....
advertised in the film, "Booty Sweat". Prior to the film's release, it was met with criticism from disability advocacy groups for its portrayal of mental retardation
Mental retardation
Mental retardation is a generalized disorder appearing before adulthood, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors...
.
The film received generally favorable reviews with critics approving of the film's characters, story, and faux trailers while criticizing its offensive content. The film's soundtrack and score debuted on August 5, 2008, before the film's theatrical release. In its North American opening weekend, the film earned US$26 million and retained the number one position for the first three weekends of release. The film and its cast were nominated for several awards by various groups including the Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
, Broadcast Film Critics Association
Broadcast Film Critics Association
The Broadcast Film Critics Association is the largest film critics organization in the United States and Canada , representing approximately 250 television, radio and online critics....
, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
. Tropic Thunder grossed $180 million in theaters before its release on home video on November 18, 2008.
Plot
Hook-handed Vietnam veteranVietnam veteran
Vietnam veteran is a phrase used to describe someone who served in the armed forces of participating countries during the Vietnam War.The term has been used to describe veterans who were in the armed forces of South Vietnam, the United States armed forces, and countries allied to them, whether or...
John "Four Leaf" Tayback's (Nick Nolte
Nick Nolte
Nicholas King "Nick" Nolte is an American actor whose career has spanned over five decades, peaking in the 1990s when his commercial success made him one of the most popular celebrities of that decade.-Early life:...
) memoir, Tropic Thunder, is being made into a film. With the exception of newcomer supporting actor Kevin Sandusky (Jay Baruchel
Jay Baruchel
Jonathan Adam Saunders "Jay" Baruchel is a Canadian actor. He has had a successful career in comedy films, and has appeared in supporting roles in such box office successes as Million Dollar Baby, Knocked Up and Tropic Thunder, as well as starring in films like She's Out of My League, The Trotsky,...
), the cast—fading action hero Tugg Speedman (Stiller), five-time Academy Award-winning Australian method actor
Method acting
Method acting is a phrase that loosely refers to a family of techniques used by actors to create in themselves the thoughts and emotions of their characters, so as to develop lifelike performances...
Kirk Lazarus (Downey, Jr.), rapper
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson
Brandon T. Jackson
Brandon Timothy Jackson is an American stand-up comedian, actor, rapper, writer, and comedian. He is best known for his supporting roles in Roll Bounce, Tropic Thunder, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Lottery Ticket, and a leading role in Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son.-Early...
), and drug-addicted comedian Jeff Portnoy (Black)—behave unreasonably. Rookie director Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan
Steve Coogan
Stephen John "Steve" Coogan is a British comedian, actor, writer and producer. Born in Manchester, he began his career as a standup comedian and impressionist, working as a voice artist throughout the 1980s on satirical puppet show Spitting Image. In the early nineties, Coogan began creating...
) is unable to control the actors during the filming of a large war scene and just five days into shooting the production is reported to be one month behind schedule. Cockburn is ordered by studio executive Les Grossman (Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
) to get filming back on track, or risk the cancellation of production.
Acting on Tayback's advice, Cockburn drops the actors into the middle of the jungle, where he has installed hidden cameras and rigged special effects explosions to film "guerrilla-style
Guerrilla filmmaking
Guerrilla filmmaking refers to a form of independent filmmaking characterized by low budgets, skeleton crews, and simple props using whatever is available...
". The actors have guns that fire blanks
Blank (cartridge)
A blank is a type of cartridge for a firearm that contains gunpowder but no bullet or shot. When fired, the blank makes a flash and an explosive sound . Blanks are often used for simulation , training, and for signaling...
, along with a map and scene listing that will guide them to a helicopter waiting at the end of the jungle route. Unbeknownst to the actors and the production, the group have been dropped in the middle of the Golden Triangle
Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia)
The Golden Triangle is one of Asia's two main illicit opium-producing areas. It is an area of around that overlaps the mountains of four countries of Southeast Asia: Burma, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Along with Afghanistan in the Golden Crescent and Pakistan, it has been one of the most...
, the home of the heroin-producing Flaming Dragon gang. Shortly after the group set off, the five actors are stunned to see Cockburn blown up by an old land mine
Land mine
A land mine is usually a weight-triggered explosive device which is intended to damage a target—either human or inanimate—by means of a blast and/or fragment impact....
. Speedman, believing Cockburn faked his death, persuades Chino, Portnoy, and Sandusky that Cockburn is alive and that they are still shooting the film. Lazarus is unconvinced, but joins the other actors in their trek through the jungle.
When Tayback and pyrotechnics
Pyrotechnics
Pyrotechnics is the science of using materials capable of undergoing self-contained and self-sustained exothermic chemical reactions for the production of heat, light, gas, smoke and/or sound...
operator Cody Underwood (Danny McBride
Danny McBride
Danny McBride is an American actor and screenwriter. McBride is best-known for co-writing the Underworld film series.- External links :...
) attempt to locate the dead director, they are captured by Flaming Dragon, at which point Tayback reveals that he fabricated his memoir and that he has hands. As the actors continue to forge through the jungle, Lazarus and Sandusky discover that Speedman is leading them in the wrong direction. The four actors, tired of walking through the jungle and hoping to be rescued, leave Speedman, who goes off by himself and is captured by Flaming Dragon and taken to their heroin factory. Believing it is a POW camp
Prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of combatants captured by their enemy in time of war, and is similar to an internment camp which is used for civilian populations. A prisoner of war is generally a soldier, sailor, or airman who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or...
from the script, he continues to think he is being filmed. The gang discovers that he is the star of their favorite film, the box office bomb
Box office bomb
The phrase box office bomb refers to a film for which the production and marketing costs greatly exceeded the revenue regained by the movie studio. This should not be confused with Hollywood accounting when official figures show large losses, yet the movie is a financial success.A film's financial...
Simple Jack, and force him to reenact it several times a day. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Speedman's agent Rick Peck (Matthew McConaughey
Matthew McConaughey
Matthew David McConaughey is an American actor.After a series of minor roles in the early 1990s, McConaughey gained notice for his breakout role in Dazed and Confused . He then appeared in films such as A Time to Kill, Contact, U-571, Tiptoes, Sahara, and We Are Marshall...
) is trying to negotiate with an uninterested Grossman an unfulfilled term in Speedman's contract that entitles him to a TiVo
TiVo
TiVo is a digital video recorder developed and marketed by TiVo, Inc. and introduced in 1999. TiVo provides an on-screen guide of scheduled broadcast programming television programs, whose features include "Season Pass" schedules which record every new episode of a series, and "WishList"...
. Flaming Dragon calls the two and demands a ransom for Speedman, but Grossman instead berates the gang. Despite the threats he made to the Flaming Dragon, Grossman expresses no interest in rescuing Speedman and attempts to convince Rick about the benefits of allowing Speedman to die and collecting the insurance. Grossman also offers Rick a Gulfstream V
Gulfstream V
The Gulfstream V is a business jet aircraft produced by Gulfstream Aerospace. It is also used by the US military under the designation C-37A. The G500 and G550 are improved versions which are currently in production...
and money in return for Rick's cooperation.
Lazarus, Chino, Portnoy, and Sandusky discover Flaming Dragon's heroin factory. After seeing Speedman being torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
d, they plan a rescue attempt based on the film's script. Lazarus impersonates a farmer towing a captured Portnoy on the back of a water buffalo
Water buffalo
The water buffalo is a domesticated bovid widely kept in Asia, Europe and South America.Water buffalo can also refer to:*Wild water buffalo , the wild ancestor of the domestic water buffalo...
, distracting the armed guards so Chino and Sandusky can locate where the captives are held. After the gang notices inconsistencies in Lazarus' story, the actors open fire on the gang, temporarily subduing them. When the gang realizes that they are being guarded by actors, they gather their guns and begin firing.
The four actors locate Speedman, Tayback, and Underwood, and cross a bridge rigged to explode to get to their helicopter. Speedman asks to remain behind with the gang which he considers his family, but quickly returns with Flaming Dragon in pursuit. Tayback detonates the bridge, allowing Speedman to reach safety, but as the helicopter takes off, the gang fires an RPG at the machine. Rick unexpectedly stumbles out of the jungle carrying a TiVo box and throws it in the path of the RPG, saving them all. The actors and crew return to Hollywood, where footage from the hidden cameras is compiled into a feature film, Tropic Blunder, which becomes a major critical and box office hit. The film wins Speedman his first Academy Award, which Lazarus presents to him at the ceremony.
Cast
- Ben StillerBen StillerBenjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....
as Tugg Speedman: compared to a young Sylvester StalloneSylvester StalloneMichael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
, he was the highest-paid, highest-grossing action film star ever due to his Scorcher franchise. His career has stalled however, and he now has a reputation for appearing in nothing but box office bombs. After a failed attempt at portraying a serious role in Simple Jack, he takes the role of Four Leaf Tayback in an attempt to save his career. The first faux trailer at the film's start is a preview for Scorcher VI, the latest in his series. - Robert Downey, Jr. as Kirk Lazarus: compared to Russell CroweRussell CroweRussell Ira Crowe is a New Zealander Australian actor , film producer and musician. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a...
, an immensely talented Australian method actorMethod ActorMethod Actor is an eponymous album released in 1988 featuring American singer Eva Cassidy. It was re-released on CD in 2002, six years after her death.- Track listing :# "Getting Out" – 4:19# "Look in to My Eyes" – 4:16...
, Lazarus had a controversial "pigmentation alteration" surgery to darken his skin for his portrayal of the black character Sergeant Lincoln Osiris. Lazarus refuses to break character while filming and only speaks in his character's Black EnglishAfrican American Vernacular EnglishAfrican American Vernacular English —also called African American English; less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular , or Black Vernacular English —is an African American variety of American English...
. Lazarus's faux trailer, Satan's Alley, is about two gay monks in a 12th-century Irish monastery, parodying films such as Brokeback MountainBrokeback MountainBrokeback Mountain is a 2005 romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee. It is a film adaptation of the 1997 short story of the same name by Annie Proulx with the screenplay written by Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry...
and Downey's own scenes with Tobey MaguireTobey MaguireTobias Vincent "Tobey" Maguire is an American actor and producer. He began his career in the 1980s, and has achieved his greatest fame for his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films.-Early life:...
(who portrays the other monk) in Wonder BoysWonder Boys (film)Wonder Boys is a dark comedy film based on the 1995 novel of the same title by Michael Chabon. Directed by Curtis Hanson, it stars Michael Douglas as professor Grady Tripp, a novelist who teaches creative writing at an unnamed Pittsburgh university...
. - Jack BlackJack BlackJack Black , is an American actor and musician, notably of Tenacious D.Jack Black may also refer to:* Jack Black , late 19th - early 20th Century author and hobo* Jack Black , drummer for 1970s UK punk band The Boys...
as Jeff Portnoy: compared to Chris FarleyChris FarleyChristopher Crosby "Chris" Farley was an American comedian and actor. Farley was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre and cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live from 1990 to 1995....
, he is a drug-addicted comedian-actor well known for portraying multiple parts in films that rely on toilet humor, particularly jokes about flatulence. In the film-within-a-film, he plays a raspy-voiced soldier named Fats. Portnoy's faux trailer for The Fatties: Fart 2, about a family (with each member played by Portnoy) which enjoys passing gas, spoofs Eddie MurphyEddie MurphyEdward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
's portrayal of multiple characters in films such as Nutty Professor II: The KlumpsNutty Professor II: The KlumpsNutty Professor II: The Klumps is a 2000 comedy film directed by Peter Segal. It is the sequel to the 1996 film The Nutty Professor and stars Eddie Murphy and Janet Jackson. Murphy plays not only the inept but brilliant scientist, Sherman Klump, as in the first film, but also most of Sherman's...
. - Brandon T. JacksonBrandon T. JacksonBrandon Timothy Jackson is an American stand-up comedian, actor, rapper, writer, and comedian. He is best known for his supporting roles in Roll Bounce, Tropic Thunder, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Lottery Ticket, and a leading role in Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son.-Early...
as Alpa Chino: a rapper who is attempting to cross over into acting, portraying a soldier named Motown, while promoting his "Bust-A-Nut" candy bar and energy drink, "Booty Sweat". His name is a play on Al PacinoAl PacinoAlfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
. Before the faux trailers, a faux commercial for "Booty Sweat" and "Bust-A-Nut" appears, accompanied by the song "I Love Tha Pussy". - Jay BaruchelJay BaruchelJonathan Adam Saunders "Jay" Baruchel is a Canadian actor. He has had a successful career in comedy films, and has appeared in supporting roles in such box office successes as Million Dollar Baby, Knocked Up and Tropic Thunder, as well as starring in films like She's Out of My League, The Trotsky,...
as Kevin Sandusky: the only cast member to have read the script and book and attended the assigned boot campRecruit trainingRecruit training, more commonly known as Basic Training and colloquially called Boot Camp, is the initial indoctrination and instruction given to new military personnel, enlisted and officer...
before the film. Sandusky plays a young soldier named Brooklyn and serves as the straight manDouble actA double act, also known as a comedy duo, is a comic pairing in which humor is derived from the uneven relationship between two partners, usually of the same gender, age, ethnic origin and profession, but drastically different personalities or behavior...
, being the only actor without an internal conflict or deep-seated insecurity. - Nick NolteNick NolteNicholas King "Nick" Nolte is an American actor whose career has spanned over five decades, peaking in the 1990s when his commercial success made him one of the most popular celebrities of that decade.-Early life:...
as John "Four Leaf" Tayback: the author of Tropic Thunder, a memoir of his war experiences on which the film-within-a-film is based. He suggests the idea of dropping the actors in the middle of the jungle. - Steve CooganSteve CooganStephen John "Steve" Coogan is a British comedian, actor, writer and producer. Born in Manchester, he began his career as a standup comedian and impressionist, working as a voice artist throughout the 1980s on satirical puppet show Spitting Image. In the early nineties, Coogan began creating...
as Damien Cockburn: the inexperienced British film director who is unable to control the actors in the film. - Danny McBrideDanny R. McBrideDaniel Richard "Danny" McBride is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, screenwriter, and voice artist.-Career:...
as Cody Underwood: the film's explosives expert and helicopter pilot. He is a pyromaniaPyromaniaPyromania in more extreme circumstances can be an impulse control disorder to deliberately start fires to relieve tension or for gratification or relief. The term pyromania comes from the Greek word πῦρ . Pyromania and pyromaniacs are distinct from arson, the pursuit of personal, monetary or...
c. - Matthew McConaugheyMatthew McConaugheyMatthew David McConaughey is an American actor.After a series of minor roles in the early 1990s, McConaughey gained notice for his breakout role in Dazed and Confused . He then appeared in films such as A Time to Kill, Contact, U-571, Tiptoes, Sahara, and We Are Marshall...
as Rick "Pecker" Peck: Tugg Speedman's extremely devoted agent and best friend. - Bill HaderBill HaderWilliam "Bill" Hader is an American actor, comedian, producer and writer. He is best known for his work as a creative consultant on the hit show South Park and as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for his supporting roles in comedy films such as Superbad, Hot Rod, Tropic Thunder,...
as Rob Slolom: assistant and right-hand man to Les Grossman. - Brandon Soo HooBrandon Soo HooBrandon Soo Hoo is an American teen actor who had a role in the 2008 Ben Stiller film Tropic Thunder.-Life and career:...
as Tran: the young leader of the Flaming Dragon gang and the film's main antagonist. The character was compared to Karen National UnionKaren National UnionThe Karen National Union is a political organisation with an armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army that represents the Karen people of Burma. It operates in Eastern Burma, and has underground networks in other areas of Burma where Karen people live. In Karen, this Karen area is called...
guerrilla leaders Johnny and Luther HtooJohnny and Luther HtooJohnny Htoo and Luther Htoo are twin brothers who jointly led the God's Army guerrilla group – a splinter group of Karen National Union – in Myanmar during the late 1990s...
. - Reggie LeeReggie Lee (actor)Reggie Lee is an American actor who played William Kim on the show Prison Break and also appeared as Tai Huang in two Pirates of the Caribbean films, as well as The Fast and the Furious...
as Byong: the second-in-command of the Flaming Dragon gang. - Tom CruiseTom CruiseThomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
as Les Grossman: the foul-mouthed, hot-headed studio executive producing Tropic Thunder.
Various actors and celebrities portray themselves, including Tobey Maguire
Tobey Maguire
Tobias Vincent "Tobey" Maguire is an American actor and producer. He began his career in the 1980s, and has achieved his greatest fame for his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films.-Early life:...
, Tyra Banks
Tyra Banks
Tyra Lynne Banks is an American model, media personality, actress, occasional singer, author and businesswoman. She first became famous as a model, but television appearances were her commercial breakthrough...
, Maria Menounos
Maria Menounos
Maria Menounos is a Greek-American actress, journalist, and television presenter known in America for her appearances as a correspondent for Today, Access Hollywood, Extra, and abroad for co-hosting the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athens, Greece.-Early life and beauty pageants:Menounos, a...
, Martin Lawrence
Martin Lawrence
Martin Fitzgerald Lawrence is an American actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and stand up comedian. He came to fame during the 1990s, establishing a Hollywood career as a leading actor, most notably the films Bad Boys, Blue Streak, and Big Momma's House...
, The Mooney Suzuki
The Mooney Suzuki
The Mooney Suzuki is an American garage rock band that formed in New York City in 1996. Originally comprising vocalist and guitarist Sammy James, Jr., guitarist Graham Tyler, bassist John Paul Ribas and drummer Will Rockwell-Scott, the band has released four studio albums – People Get Ready ,...
, Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
, Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
, Jason Bateman
Jason Bateman
Jason Kent Bateman is an American television and film actor. After appearing in several 1980s and 1990s sitcoms including It's Your Move, and The Hogan Family, Bateman came to prominence in the early 2000s for playing Michael Bluth on Arrested Development, for which he won a TV Land, a Golden...
, Lance Bass
Lance Bass
James Lance Bass , best known as Lance Bass, is an American pop singer, dancer, actor, film and television producer, and author. He grew up in Mississippi and rose to fame as the bass singer for the American pop boy band 'N Sync. 'N Sync's success led Bass to work in film and television...
, Jennifer Love Hewitt
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Jennifer Love Hewitt is an American actress, producer, television director and former singer-songwriter. Hewitt began her acting career as a child by appearing in television commercials and the Disney Channel series Kids Incorporated...
, Alicia Silverstone
Alicia Silverstone
Alicia Silverstone is an American actress, author, and former fashion model. She first came to widespread attention in music videos for Aerosmith, and is perhaps best known for her roles in Hollywood films such as Clueless and her portrayal of Batgirl in Batman & Robin .-Early life:Silverstone...
, and Jon Voight
Jon Voight
Jonathan Vincent "Jon" Voight is an American actor. He has received an Academy Award, out of four nominations, and three Golden Globe Awards, out of nine nominations. Voight is the father of actress Angelina Jolie....
. Christine Taylor
Christine Taylor
Christine Taylor-Stiller is an American actress.- Early life :Taylor was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Joan, a homemaker, and Skip Taylor, an owner of a security company. She grew up in neighboring Wescosville, Pennsylvania...
, Mini Anden
Mini Anden
Susanna "Mini" Andén is a Swedish model, actress, occasional host, and producer.She was born in Stockholm and began modeling at the age of ten, joining Elite Model Management when she was fifteen. She has been on the cover of many fashion magazines including Vogue, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan and...
, Anthony Ruivivar
Anthony Ruivivar
Anthony Michael Ruivivar is an American actor known for his portrayal of FDNY paramedic Carlos Nieto in the TV series Third Watch, and other law-enforcement roles in different TV series.-Background:...
, and Yvette Nicole Brown
Yvette Nicole Brown
Yvette Nicole Brown is an American actress and comedian. Brown has appeared in various commercials, television shows, and films throughout her career...
have roles as minor characters in the film. Justin Theroux, the writer of the film, appears in two brief roles as a helicopter gunner and a disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
(shown in a deleted scene).
Script
Stiller developed the premise for Tropic Thunder while shooting Empire of the SunEmpire of the Sun (film)
Empire of the Sun is a 1987 American coming of age war film based on J. G. Ballard's semi-autobiographical novel of the same name. Steven Spielberg directed the film, which stars Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, and Nigel Havers...
, in which he played a small part. Stiller wanted to make a film based on the actors he knew who, after taking part in boot camps to prepare for war film roles, became "self-important" and "self-involved" and appeared to believe they had been part of a real military unit. Co-writer Theroux revealed that the initial script concept was to have actors go to a mock boot camp and return with posttraumatic stress disorder. The final script was developed to satirize Vietnam War films such as Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American war film set during the Vietnam War, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The central character is US Army special operations officer Captain Benjamin L. Willard , of MACV-SOG, an assassin sent to kill the renegade and presumed insane Special Forces...
, Platoon
Platoon (film)
Platoon is a 1986 American war film written and directed by Oliver Stone and stars Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe and Charlie Sheen. It is the first of Stone's Vietnam War trilogy, followed by 1989's Born on the Fourth of July and 1993's Heaven & Earth....
, Full Metal Jacket
Full Metal Jacket
Full Metal Jacket is a 1987 war film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick. It is an adaptation of the 1979 novel The Short-Timers by Gustav Hasford and stars Matthew Modine, Vincent D'Onofrio, R. Lee Ermey, Arliss Howard and Adam Baldwin. The film follows a platoon of U.S...
, Hamburger Hill
Hamburger Hill
Hamburger Hill is a 1987 American war film about the actual assault of the U.S. Army's 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, part of the 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division 'Screaming Eagles', on a well-fortified position, including trenchworks and bunkers, of the North Vietnamese Army on Ap Bia...
, and The Deer Hunter
The Deer Hunter
The Deer Hunter is a 1978 drama film co-written and directed by Michael Cimino about a trio of Russian American steel worker friends and their infantry service in the Vietnam War. The film stars Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, John Savage, John Cazale, and George Dzundza...
. Theroux pointed out that since viewers had an increased awareness of the inner workings of Hollywood due to celebrity websites and Hollywood news sources, the script was easier to write. Dialogue for unscripted portions of the storyboard was developed on set by the actors or was improvised.
Casting
Etan Cohen created the role of Kirk Lazarus as a way of lampooning the great lengths that some method actors go to depict a role. Downey was approached by Stiller about the part while on vacation in HawaiiHawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. Downey said on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
' The Early Show
The Early Show
The Early Show is an American television morning news talk show broadcast by CBS from New York City. The program airs live from 7 to 9 a.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday; most affiliates in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones air the show on tape-delay from 7 to 9 a.m. local time. ...
that his first reaction was, "This is the stupidest idea I've ever heard!" and that Stiller responded, "Yeah, I know — isn't it great?" In another interview, Downey said that he accepted the part but, having no idea where or even how to start building the character of Lazarus, eventually settled on a jive-esque
African American Vernacular English
African American Vernacular English —also called African American English; less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular , or Black Vernacular English —is an African American variety of American English...
speech pattern and a gruff, ragged bass voice; he then auditioned Lazarus' voice over the phone to Stiller, who approved the characterization immediately. Downey revealed that he modeled the character on actors Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe
Russell Ira Crowe is a New Zealander Australian actor , film producer and musician. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a...
, Colin Farrell
Colin Farrell
Colin James Farrell is an Irish actor, who has appeared in such film as Tigerland, Miami Vice, Minority Report, Phone Booth, The Recruit, Alexander and S.W.A.T....
, and Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is an English actor with both British and Irish citizenship. His portrayals of Christy Brown in My Left Foot and Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood won Academy and BAFTA Awards for Best Actor, and Screen Actors Guild as well as Golden Globe Awards for the latter...
. The initial script was written for Downey's character to be Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
, but was altered after Downey stated he could improvise better as an Australian (he had previously played a similar outlandish Australian character in the film Natural Born Killers
Natural Born Killers
Natural Born Killers is a 1994 crime/black comedy film directed by Oliver Stone about two victims of traumatic childhoods who became lovers and psychopathic serial killers, and are irresponsibly glorified by the mass media...
). Downey's practice of remaining in character between takes and even off the film set was also written into the script for his character to perform. Downey required between one and a half to two hours of make-up application. According to Downey, "One makeup artist would start on one side of my face and a second makeup artist would start on the other side, and then they'd meet in the middle."
Downey acknowledged the potential controversy over his role: "At the end of the day, it's always about how well you commit to the character. If I didn't feel it was morally sound, or that it would be easily misinterpreted that I'm just C. Thomas Howell
C. Thomas Howell
Christopher Thomas "Tommy" Howell , known by his stage name C. Thomas Howell, is an American actor and film director. He starred in the films The Outsiders as Ponyboy Curtis and in The Hitcher as Jim Halsey. He has appeared in The Da Vinci Treasure,Soul Man, Red Dawn, Secret Admirer, Gettysburg, H. G...
[in Soul Man
Soul Man (film)
Soul Man is a comedy film made in 1986 about a man who undergoes racial transformation with pills to qualify for a Black only scholarship at Harvard Law School. It stars C. Thomas Howell, Rae Dawn Chong, Arye Gross, James Earl Jones, Leslie Nielsen, James B...
], I would've stayed home." Jackson stated: "When I first read the script, I was like: What? Blackface
Blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky...
? But when I saw him [act] he, like, became a black man ... It was just good acting. It was weird on the set because he would keep going with the character. He's a method actor." Stiller commented on Downey's portrayal of a white actor playing a black man: "When people see the movie — in the context of the film, he's playing a method actor who's gone to great lengths to play a black guy. The movie is skewering actors and how they take themselves so seriously." Stiller previewed the film before several black journalists and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...
, who reacted positively to the character.
Cruise was initially set to cameo as Stiller's character's agent, Rick Peck. Instead, Cruise suggested adding a studio head character, and the idea was incorporated into the script. Stiller and Cruise worked together to create the new character, Les Grossman, as a middle-aged businessman. The role required that Cruise don a fatsuit
Fatsuit
A fatsuit is a bodysuit-like undergarment used to thicken the appearance of an actress or actor of light to medium build into a heavy-set or obese character, in conjunction with prosthetic makeup. Other spellings include fat suit and fat-suit....
, large prosthetic hands, and a bald cap. It was Cruise's idea to give the character large hands and dance to "Low
Low (Flo Rida song)
"Low" is the debut single by American rapper Flo Rida, featured on his debut album Mail On Sunday and also featured on the soundtrack to the 2008 film Step Up 2: The Streets. The song features T-Pain and was co-written with T-Pain. There is also a remix in which the hook is sung by Flo Rida rather...
". Stiller intended to keep Cruise's role a secret until the film's release. In addition, Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
refused to release promotional pictures of Cruise's character to the media. In November 2007, images of Cruise wearing a bald headpiece and a fatsuit appeared on Inside Edition
Inside Edition
Inside Edition is a thirty-minute American television syndicated news program, first aired on CBS on October 9, 1988. It was originally similar to the programs Hard Copy and A Current Affair, but now more closely resembles a condensed version of breakfast television, exclusively with pre-recorded...
, as well as on the Internet. Cruise's attorneys threatened a lawsuit if photos showing Cruise in costume were published. They approached various sites that were hosting the image and quickly had it removed. A representative for Cruise stated: "Mr. Cruise's appearance was supposed to be a surprise for his fans worldwide. Paparazzi
Paparazzi
Paparazzi is an Italian term used to refer to photojournalists who specialize in candid photography of celebrities, politicians, and other prominent people...
have ruined what should have been a fun discovery for moviegoers." The photography agency INF, who first debuted the image, responded with a statement: "While these pictures were taken without breaking any criminal
Criminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
or civil laws
Private law
Private law is that part of a civil law legal system which is part of the jus commune that involves relationships between individuals, such as the law of contracts or torts, as it is called in the common law, and the law of obligations as it is called in civilian legal systems...
, we've decided to pull them from circulation effective immediately."
Serving as a last-minute replacement, Tobey Maguire was only available to be on set for two hours to film his scenes in Satan's Alley. Downey said he was amazed Maguire would agree to do the film and felt like they were creating a "karmic
Karma
Karma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies....
pay-off" for their scenes together in the 2000 film Wonder Boys
Wonder Boys (film)
Wonder Boys is a dark comedy film based on the 1995 novel of the same title by Michael Chabon. Directed by Curtis Hanson, it stars Michael Douglas as professor Grady Tripp, a novelist who teaches creative writing at an unnamed Pittsburgh university...
, where Downey's character has a one-night-stand with Maguire's character. After Cruise vacated the role of Rick Peck, Owen Wilson
Owen Wilson
Owen Cunningham Wilson is an American actor and writer, known for his roles in the films The Haunting, The Royal Tenenbaums, Zoolander, Meet the Parents, Wedding Crashers, You, Me and Dupree, Bottle Rocket, the Cars series, The Darjeeling Limited, Marley & Me, Midnight in Paris, Shanghai Noon,...
was cast to play the part. Following his suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
attempt in August 2007, Wilson dropped out of the film and was replaced by Matthew McConaughey
Matthew McConaughey
Matthew David McConaughey is an American actor.After a series of minor roles in the early 1990s, McConaughey gained notice for his breakout role in Dazed and Confused . He then appeared in films such as A Time to Kill, Contact, U-571, Tiptoes, Sahara, and We Are Marshall...
.
Filming
Although Southern California and Mexico were considered for the main unit filming, the Hawaiian island of KauaiKauai
Kauai or Kauai, known as Tauai in the ancient Kaua'i dialect, is geologically the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of , it is the fourth largest of the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, and the 21st largest island in the United States. Known also as the "Garden Isle",...
(where Stiller has a home) was selected for the majority of the shooting. Kauai was chosen over Mexico because a tax credit for in-state spending was negotiated with the Kauai Film Commission. John Toll
John Toll
John Toll A.S.C. is a Cleveland-born American cinematographer.In 1978 he worked on his first film, Norma Rae, as camera operator. He won back-to-back Academy Awards for Best Cinematography in 1994 and 1995, for the movies Legends of the Fall and Braveheart.He was also nominated for an Academy...
, the cinematographer, stated the island was also selected for its similarity to Vietnam, based on its dense foliage, variety of terrains, and weather. Kauai was first scouted as a possible location to film Tropic Thunder in 2004. Stiller spent more than 25 hours over 6 weeks exploring the island, using all-terrain vehicle
All-terrain vehicle
An all-terrain vehicle , also known as a quad, quad bike, three wheeler, or four wheeler, is defined by the American National Standards Institute as a vehicle that travels on low pressure tires, with a seat that is straddled by the operator, along with handlebars for steering control...
s, boats, and helicopters. After the film was greenlit
Greenlight
To green-light a project is to give permission or a go ahead to move forward with a project. In the context of the movie and TV businesses, to green-light something is to formally approve its production finance, thereby allowing the project to move forward from the development phase to...
by DreamWorks in 2006, pre-production lasted for six months, most of this time spent on scouting additional locations for filming. Filming for the Los Angeles and interior scenes occurred on sets at Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
in Hollywood.
Tropic Thunder was the first major studio production on Kauai in five years. After filming was completed, it was deemed the largest production filmed on the island to date, and contributed more than $60 million to the local economy. Tim Ryan, the executive editor of Hawaii Film & Video Magazine, commented on the filming on the island: "I think Tropic Thunder will give Kaua'i much needed and long idled publicity in the production arena ... It should put Kaua'i back on the production consideration radar." Preliminary production crews were on the island starting in December 2006 and principal photography
Principal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
began in July 2007, with filming lasting thirteen weeks over seven separate locations on the island. Much of the filming took place on private land as well as conservation status
Habitat conservation
Habitat conservation is a land management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore, habitat areas for wild plants and animals, especially conservation reliant species, and prevent their extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range...
designated areas. Casting calls on the island sought 500 residents to portray the villagers in the film. Two units shot simultaneously on the island from the ground, and an aerial unit shot from helicopters. Many of the sets and the bridge used for one of the final scenes were built in three months. The island's erratic weather hampered filming with rain and lighting issues. The crew also faced complications in moving the equipment and cast due to the difficult terrain.
The film advising company Warriors Inc.
Dale Dye
Dale Adam Dye is an American actor, presenter, businessman, and retired U.S. Marine captain who served in combat during the Vietnam War.-Early life & Marine service:...
was enlisted to ensure the war scenes, including the attire worn by the actors, looked authentic. Former members of the U.S. military taught the actors how to handle, fire, and reload their weapons, as well as perform various tactical movements. The opening war scene was filmed over three weeks and required fifty stuntmen. Animatics were used to map out the necessary camera angles for filming.
Effects
Six companies working on different scenes and elements created 500 shots of visual effectsVisual effects
Visual effects are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shoot. Visual effects involve the integration of live-action footage and generated imagery to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or...
in the film. These were at times altered weekly due to the reactions of test audiences in screenings. CIS Visual Effects Group assisted with the Scorcher VI faux trailer and twenty additional shots for the home media release. To expand on the comedy in the film, some of the explosions and crashes were embellished to look more destructive. The visual effects supervisor Michael Fink reflected on the exaggerated explosions: "We worked really hard to make the CG
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
crashing helicopter in the hot landing sequence look real. Ben was adamant about that, but at the same time he wanted the explosion to be huge. When you see it hit the ground, it was like it was filled with gasoline! It was the same thing with Ben's sergeant character, who almost intercepts a hand grenade ... Now, I was in the Army for three years and no hand grenade would make an explosion like that ... But it was a big dramatic moment and it looks really cool ... and feels kind of real."
Filming the large napalm
Napalm
Napalm is a thickening/gelling agent generally mixed with gasoline or a similar fuel for use in an incendiary device, primarily as an anti-personnel weapon...
explosion in the opening scene of the film required a 450-foot (137-meter) row of explosive pots containing 1,100 gallons (4,165 liters) of gasoline and diesel fuel. All the palm trees used in the explosion were moved to the specific location after the crew determined the impact of the lighting and necessary camera angles. Due to the size and cost of the 1.25-second explosion, it was only performed once and was captured by twelve cameras. For the safety of the crew and cast, the detonators were added one hour before the explosion and nobody was allowed to be within 400 feet (121.9 m) during detonation. The explosion was made up of twelve individual explosions and resulted in a mushroom cloud
Mushroom cloud
A mushroom cloud is a distinctive pyrocumulus mushroom-shaped cloud of condensed water vapor or debris resulting from a very large explosion. They are most commonly associated with nuclear explosions, but any sufficiently large blast will produce the same sort of effect. They can be caused by...
that reached 350 feet (106.7 m) in the air. For the scene in the film, Danny McBride's character, Cody Underwood, was the only actor shown in the shot of the explosion. All the other characters were added digitally. The explosion of the bridge in one of the final scenes used nine cameras to capture the shot, and the crew was required to be 3000 feet (914.4 m) away for their safety.
Promotion
A trailer for the film was released in April 2008. The Calgary HeraldCalgary Herald
The Calgary Herald is a daily newspaper published in the Canadian city of Calgary, Alberta.- History :The paper was first published on August 31, 1883 by Andrew Armour and Thomas Braden as The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate and General Advertiser. It started as a weekly paper with only...
gave it a rating of 3/5, commenting: "This could either be good or very, very bad." Gary Susman of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
questioned whether the film would "... turn into precisely the kind of bloated action monstrosity that it's making fun of." The trailer received the "Best Comedy Trailer" award at the 9th annual Golden Trailer Awards
Golden Trailer Awards
The Golden Trailer Awards is an annual awards show that honors achievements in motion picture marketing, including film trailers, posters and television advertisements.- Overview :...
. DreamWorks
DreamWorks
DreamWorks Pictures, also known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC, DreamWorks Studios or DW Studios, LLC, is an American film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming...
also released a red band trailer, the first of its kind used by the studio to promote one of its films.
Stiller, Downey, and Black appeared on the seventh season finale of American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
in a sketch as The Pips
Gladys Knight & the Pips
Gladys Knight & The Pips were an R&B/soul family musical act from Atlanta, Georgia, active from 1953 to 1989. The group was best known for their string of hit singles on Motown's "Soul" record label and Buddah Records from 1967 to 1975, including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "Midnight...
performing with Gladys Knight
Gladys Knight
Gladys Maria Knight , known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer-songwriter, actress, businesswoman, humanitarian, and author...
using archival footage of her. The three actors also later performed a sketch at the 2008 MTV Movie Awards
2008 MTV Movie Awards
The 2008 MTV Movie Awards broadcast the 17th annual movie awards show live on Sunday, June 1, at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California...
which featured the actors attempting to create a successful viral video
Viral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
to promote the film with awkward results. In September 2008, Stiller and Downey attended the San Sebastián International Film Festival
San Sebastián International Film Festival
The San Sebastián International Film Festival is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of San Sebastián .-History:The festival was founded in 1953...
to promote the film. A screening was shown, but it was not chosen to compete against the other films at the festival.
Between April 2008 and the film's commercial release in August 2008, the film had over 250 promotional screenings. On August 3, 2008 Stiller, Downey, and Black visited Camp Pendleton
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and serves as its prime amphibious training base...
, a California Marine Corps base, to present a screening to over a thousand military members and their families. The screening was on behalf of the United Service Organizations
United Service Organizations
The United Service Organizations Inc. is a private, nonprofit organization that provides morale and recreational services to members of the U.S. military, with programs in 160 centers worldwide. Since 1941, it has worked in partnership with the Department of Defense , and has provided support and...
and included the actors heading to the screening by helicopter and Humvees
High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle
The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle , better known as the Humvee, is a military 4WD motor vehicle created by AM General. It has largely supplanted the roles formerly served by smaller Jeeps such as the M151 MUTT, the M561 "Gama Goat", their M718A1 and M792 ambulance versions, the CUCV,...
. On August 8, 2008, a special 30-minute fictional E! True Hollywood Story
E! True Hollywood Story
E! True Hollywood Story is an American documentary series on E! that deals with famous Hollywood celebrities, movies, TV shows and well-known public figures...
aired about the making of Tropic Thunder. In video games, a themed scavenger hunt was incorporated into Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 is the sixth installment in the Rainbow Six series. It is a first person shooter video game and the sequel to Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas. It was announced by Ubisoft on November 20, 2007...
, and Stiller allowed his likeness to be used in the online Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
application game based on the film.
As a tie-in for the film's release, Paramount Pictures announced it would market the energy drink known in the film as "Booty Sweat". Michael Corcoran, Paramount's president of consumer products, commented on the release: "We're very excited, because it has the potential to live for quite a while, well beyond the film." The drink was sold in college bookstores, on Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
, and at other retailers.
Faux websites and mockumentary
Several faux websites were created for the main characters and some of their prior film roles. A website for Simple Jack, a faux film exhibited within the film, was removed by DreamWorks on August 4, due to protests from disability advocates. In addition, other promotional websites were created for "Make Pretty Skin Clinic", the fictional company that performed the surgery of the film's character Kirk Lazarus, along with one for the energy drink "Booty Sweat".In mid-July 2008, a faux trailer for the mockumentary
Mockumentary
A mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...
Rain of Madness was released. The mockumentary was a parody of Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse is a 1991 documentary film about the production of Apocalypse Now.-Synopsis:The title is derived from the source material for Apocalypse Now, the Joseph Conrad novella Heart of Darkness...
. It follows co-writer Justin Theroux as a fictional documentarian named Jan Jürgen documenting the behind-the-scenes aspects of the film within the film
Story within a story
A story within a story, also rendered story-within-a-story, is a literary device in which one narrative is presented during the action of another narrative. Mise en abyme is the French term for a similar literary device...
. Marketing for the faux documentary included a movie poster and an official website prior to Tropic Thunders release. The mockumentary was released on the iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
after the film's release and was also included on the home video release. Amy Powell, an advertising executive with Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, reflected on the timing of the release of Madness: "We always thought that people would be talking about Tropic Thunder at the water cooler, and that's why we decided to release Rain of Madness two weeks into Tropics run—to keep this positive buzz going."
Theatrical release
Tropic Thunder premiered on August 11, 2008, at the Mann Village Theatre in Westwood, CaliforniaWestwood, Los Angeles, California
Westwood is a neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of the University of California, Los Angeles .-History:...
, two days before its wide release. Members of several disability groups picketed before the premiere, protesting at the portrayal of mental retardation
Mental retardation
Mental retardation is a generalized disorder appearing before adulthood, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors...
shown in the film. The groups revealed that it was the first time that they had ever protested together at an event. As a result of the protest, the normally unobstructed views of the red carpet leading to the premiere were blocked off by 10-foot (3-m)-high fences and there was an increase in the number of security personnel present. No protests were held at the United Kingdom's September premiere.
The North American release was scheduled for July 11, 2008, but was delayed until August 15, before being brought forward to August 13. As a result of the move from July, 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
moved its family comedy
Family film
A family film is a film genre that is designed to appeal to a variety of age groups and, thus, families.In December 2005, Steven Spielberg's 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial came first in a poll of the 100 Greatest Family Films. The genre today generates billions of dollars per annum.Family...
Meet Dave
Meet Dave
Meet Dave is a 2008 American family comedy film directed by Brian Robbins and starring Eddie Murphy. The film was co-written by Bill Corbett and Rob Greenberg...
in the open slot. The August 13 release date was also the opening weekends for the animated family film Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (film)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a 2008 CGI animated science fiction/action film that takes place within the Star Wars saga, leading into the TV series of the same name. The film is set in the same time period as the 2003 Clone Wars television series...
and the horror film Mirrors
Mirrors (film)
Mirrors is a 2008 horror film directed by Alexandre Aja, and stars Kiefer Sutherland. The film was first titled Into the Mirror, but the name was later changed to Mirrors...
. Studios consider the third week of August to be a weaker performing period than earlier in the summer because of students returning to school. Previous R-rated comedies such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
The 40-Year-Old Virgin is a 2005 American buddy comedy film about a middle-aged man's journey to finally have sex. The film was written and directed by Judd Apatow and co-written by its lead star, Steve Carell, though the film itself features a great deal of improvised dialogue...
and Superbad were released in mid-August and performed well at the box office. Reacting to Tropic Thunders release date, Rob Moore, vice chairman of Paramount Pictures, stated: "For a young person at the end of summer, you want to have some fun and forget about going back to school. What better than a crazy comedy?"
Reception
The film received mostly positive reviews by critics. The review aggregator website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 83% of critics gave the film a positive review based on a sample of 221 reviews, with an average score of 7.1/10.
Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 from reviews by mainstream critics, gave a film rating of 71/100 based on 39 reviews.
After attending an industry screening in April 2008 Michael Cieply
Michael Cieply
Michael Cieply is an entertainment industry writer, first for the Wall Street Journal and then for Talk magazine. In the 1990s, he also worked as a film producer for Sony....
from The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
stated that the film was "... shaping up as one of [DreamWorks]'s best prospects for the summer." Claudia Puig of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
gave the film a positive review, writing "There are some wildly funny scenes, a few leaden ones and others that are scattershot, with humorous satire undercut by over-the-top grisliness. Still, when it's funny, it's really funny." A review in Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
by Todd McCarthy was critical: "Apart from startling, out-there comic turns by Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise, however, the antics here are pretty thin, redundant and one-note." Rick Groen of The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
gave the film a negative review, calling it "... an assault in the guise of a comedy—watching it is like getting mugged by a clown." J.R. Jones of Chicago Reader stated "The rest of the movie never lives up to the hilarity of the opening, partly because the large-scale production smothers the gags but mostly because those gags are so easy to smother."
The faux trailers before the film were also critiqued. David Ansen
David Ansen
David Ansen is a reviewer and senior editor for Newsweek, where he has been reviewing movies since 1977. He came to Newsweek after several years as the chief film critic at Boston's The Real Paper...
of Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
approved of the trailers, writing "Tropic Thunder is the funniest movie of the summer—so funny, in fact, that you start laughing before the film itself has begun." Christy Lemire, writing for the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, called the trailers "... the best part of the trip." Robert Wilonsky of The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
was critical, saying that the trailers' comedy "... resides in the land of the obvious, easy chuckle."
The cast received mixed critical reception. Downey was praised by many critics, claiming that he "stole the show", was "... off-the-charts hilarious ...", and would bring viewers "... the fondest memories of [his] work." Scott Feinberg, of the Los Angeles Times, criticized the concept of Downey's portrayal of an African-American, writing "... I just can't imagine any circumstance under which a blackface performance would be acceptable, any more than than I can imagine any circumstance under which the use of the N-word would be acceptable." Sara Vilkomerson said Cruise did "... an astonishingly funny and surprising supporting performance." Logan Hill of New York
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
argued against Cruise's cameo saying that it "... just makes him look a little lost and almost pathetic—shucking and jiving, trying to appeal to the younger moviegoers who are abandoning him."
Several critics commented on the controversy over lines in the film talking about the mentally disabled. Duane Dudek of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. It is the primary newspaper in Milwaukee, the largest newspaper in Wisconsin and is distributed widely throughout the state...
wrote that the film "... is just sophomoric enough to offend. And while it is also funny, it is without the empathy or compassion to cause us to wonder why we are laughing." Christian Toto of The Washington Times
The Washington Times
The Washington Times is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It was founded in 1982 by Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, and until 2010 was owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate associated with the...
argued against the opposition, "Tropic Thunder is drawing fire from special interest groups for ... its frequent use of the word 'retard', but discerning audiences will know where the humor is targeted. And they'll be laughing too hard to take offense." Kurt Loder
Kurt Loder
Kurt Loder is an American film critic, author, columnist, and television personality. He served in the 1980s as editor at Rolling Stone, during a tenure that Reason later called "legendary". He has contributed to articles in Reason, Esquire, Details, New York, and Time. He has also made cameos on...
of MTV contrasted the opposition to the lines with Downey character portrayal of an African American, "The scene in which the derisive Alpa Chino [Brandon T. Jackson] nails Lazarus' recitation of black-uplift homilies as nothing more than the lyrics to the Jeffersons theme is funny; but the one in which Lazarus quietly explains to Speedman that his Simple Jack character failed because he made the mistake of going 'full retard'—rather than softening his character with cuteness in the manner of Forrest Gump—is so on-the-nose accurate, it takes your breath away."
Critics' lists
In January 2009, Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
included Tropic Thunder in its list "25 Great Comedies From the Past 25 Years" for its "spot-on skewering of Hollywood." The film also appeared on several critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008. Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
placed it at the fourth position, calling the film "the funniest, most daring comedy of the year." The Oregonian
The Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
s Marc Mohan, placed it sixth, and several critics placed it seventh: Elizabeth Weitzman of the New York Daily News, Premiere
Premiere (magazine)
Premiere was an American and New York City-based film magazine published by Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., published between the years 1987 and 2007. The original version of the magazine, Première , was started in France in 1976 and is still being published there.-History:The magazine originally...
magazine, Mike Russell of The Oregonian, as well as Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
. David Ansen of Newsweek placed it eighth and Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly included the film in the tenth position.
Box office
Stacey Snider, the chief executive of DreamWorks, suggested that the film would earn around $30 million in its opening weekend and go on to be as successful as Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of KazakhstanBorat
Borat Sagdiyev is a satirical fictional character invented and performed by English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen...
, which earned $129 million in the U.S. and Canada and $260 million worldwide. The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight (film)
The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed, produced and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is part of Nolan's Batman film series and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins...
had been the number one film at the box office for the four weeks prior to the release of Tropic Thunder. Bob Thompson, a writer for the National Post
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
, speculated that Tropic Thunders opening weekend would outperform The Dark Knight for the weekend. In a list compiled prior to the summer's film releases, Entertainment Weekly predicted that the film would be the tenth highest grossing film of the summer at the American box office with $142.6 million.
Tropic Thunder opened in 3,319 theaters and, for its first five days of American and Canadian release, earned $36,845,588. The film placed first in the weekend's box office with $25,812,796, surpassing Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (film)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a 2008 CGI animated science fiction/action film that takes place within the Star Wars saga, leading into the TV series of the same name. The film is set in the same time period as the 2003 Clone Wars television series...
and Mirrors
Mirrors (film)
Mirrors is a 2008 horror film directed by Alexandre Aja, and stars Kiefer Sutherland. The film was first titled Into the Mirror, but the name was later changed to Mirrors...
, which debuted the same weekend. Reacting to the film's opening receipts, DreamWorks spokesman Chip Sullivan stated "We're thrilled, quite frankly. It played out exactly how we hoped." In foreign markets for the film's opening weekend, it was released in 418 Russian and 19 United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
locations earning $2.2 million and $319,000, respectively.
The film maintained its number one position at the American and Canadian box office for the following two weekends, making it the second film in 2008 (after The Dark Knight) to hold the number-one position for more than two consecutive weekends. The film's widest release was in 3,473 theaters, placing it in the top 25 widest releases in the U.S. for 2008. For 2008, the film was the fifth-highest-grossing domestic R-rated film. The film's U.S. and Canada gross of over $110 million made Tropic Thunder Stiller's most successful film as a director. The film has had gross receipts of $110,515,313 in the U.S. and Canada and $77,557,336 in international markets for a total of $188,072,649 worldwide.
Accolades
In October 2008, Paramount Pictures chose to put end-of-year award push funds behind Tropic Thunder, and began advertising for Downey to receive a nomination by the Academy Awards for Best Supporting ActorAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
. In a November 2008 issue by Entertainment Weekly, Downey's film role was considered one of the three contenders for Best Supporting Actor. As a way of extending the film-within-a-film "universe" into real life, there have also been at least two online "For Your Consideration" ads touting Downey's character, Kirk Lazarus, for Best Supporting Actor; one of these contains "scenes" from Satan's Alley that were not in the trailer as released in theaters. At least one of the ads was produced by Paramount Pictures and intended for early For Your Consideration awareness for Downey's role. On January 22, 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
nominated Downey for Best Supporting Actor. At the 81st Academy Awards
81st Academy Awards
The 81st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , honored the best films of 2008 and took place February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST...
, Downey lost to Heath Ledger
Heath Ledger
Heath Andrew Ledger was an Australian television and film actor. After performing roles in Australian television and film during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to develop his film career...
.
With the onset of the annual Hollywood film award season at the end of 2008, Tropic Thunder began receiving nominations and awards starting with a win for "Hollywood Comedy of the Year Award" at the 12th annual Hollywood Film Festival
Hollywood Film Festival
The Hollywood Film Festival is an annual Film festival which is located in Los Angeles, California, USA. The Festival was established in 1997 by Carlos de Abreu and his wife, model Janice Pennington....
on October 27, 2008. The film was nominated for Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical, for the Satellite Awards
Satellite Awards 2008
The winners of the 13th Annual Satellite Awards, honoring the best in film and television in 2008, were announced on December 14, 2008.-Top 10 films:*Ballast*Changeling*Doubt*The Dark Knight*Frost/Nixon*Frozen River*Milk...
. In addition, Downey was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. The Broadcast Film Critics Association
Broadcast Film Critics Association
The Broadcast Film Critics Association is the largest film critics organization in the United States and Canada , representing approximately 250 television, radio and online critics....
nominated Downey for Best Supporting Actor and awarded Tropic Thunder Best Comedy Movie at the BFCA's Critics' Choice Awards. Both Downey and Cruise received nominations from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association
Hollywood Foreign Press Association
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is an organization composed of working journalists who cover the United States film industry for a variety of outlets, including newspapers and magazines in Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America. Today, the 90 members of the HFPA represent at least 55...
for Golden Globes for Best Supporting Actor
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
The Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 1944 for a performance in a motion picture released in the previous year....
. The Boston Society of Film Critics
Boston Society of Film Critics
The Boston Society of Film Critics is an organization of film reviewers from Boston, Massachusetts, United States, based publications.The BSFC was formed in 1981 to make "Boston's unique critical perspective heard on a national and international level by awarding commendations to the best of the...
recognized the cast with its Best Ensemble award. Downey was also nominated by both the Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
for Best Supporting Actor awards.
Home media
Tropic Thunder was released in the U.S. on DVD and Blu-ray on November 18, 2008, three months after its release and a week after the end of its theatrical run in the U.S. and Canada. The film was released on home video on January 26, 2009 in the United Kingdom. Special features include an unrated director's cut of the film, audio commentaries (including one featuring Stiller, Downey, and Black, with Downey providing his commentary as Lincoln Osiris, a nod to a joke in the film that Lazarus never breaks character until he completes the DVD commentary), several featurettes, deleted sceneDeleted scene
In Entertainment, especially the film and television industry, Deleted scenes are parts of a film removed or censored from or replaced by another scene in the final "cut", or version, of a film...
s, an alternate ending, and the Rain of Madness mockumentary.
For the film's first week of release, Tropic Thunder placed on several video charts. It reached second place on the Nielsen
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
VideoScan First Alert sales chart and Nielsen's Blu-ray Disc chart, earning $19,064,959 (not including Blu-ray sales). In rentals, it placed first on the Home Media Magazine
Home Media Magazine
Home Media Magazine is a weekly trade publication that covers various aspects of the home entertainment industry, most notably DVD, Blu-ray Disc and digital distribution. Also covered is news relating to consumer electronics, video games, home video distributors, video-on-demand and Internet...
s video rental chart. The DVD sales in 2008 totaled $42,271,059, placing it in 28th for DVD sales for the year. By September 2009, 2,963,000 DVD units have been sold, gathering revenue of $49,870,248.
Controversy
Tropic Thunder was criticized by the disability advocacy community. The website for Simple Jack was withdrawn on August 4 amid several groups' concerns over its portrayal of mental retardationMental retardation
Mental retardation is a generalized disorder appearing before adulthood, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors...
. A spokesman for DreamWorks said, "We heard their concerns, and we understand that taken out of context, the site appeared to be insensitive to people with disabilities." A coalition of more than 20 disability advocacy groups, including the Special Olympics
Special Olympics
Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and competitions to more than 3.1 million athletes in 175 countries....
and the Arc of the United States
Arc of the United States
The Arc of the United States is the world's largest grassroots organization serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The organization was originally founded in the 1950s by parents of individuals with developmental disabilities. Since that time, the organization has...
, objected to the film's repeated use of the word "retard". DreamWorks offered to screen the film for the groups on August 8 to determine if it still offended them. The screening was postponed to the same day of the premiere on August 11. After representatives for the groups attended the private screening and were offended by its content, the groups picketed outside the film's premiere. Timothy Shriver, the chairman of the Special Olympics, stated, "This population struggles too much with the basics to have to struggle against Hollywood. We're sending a message that this hate speech is no longer acceptable."
Disability advocates and others who previewed the film reported that the offensive treatment of individuals with mental disabilities was woven throughout the film's plot. Disability advocates urged people not to see the film, claiming it is demeaning to individuals with mental disabilities and would encourage bullying. Stiller defended the film, stating "We screened the movie so many times and this didn't come up until very late ... in the context of the film I think it's really clear, they were making fun of the actors and actors who try to use serious subjects to win awards." Co-writer Etan Cohen echoed Stiller's rationale: "Some people have taken this as making fun of handicapped people, but we're really trying to make fun of the actors who use this material as fodder for acclaim." He went on to state that the film lampoons actors who portray mentally retarded/autistic
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
characters such as Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
in Rain Man
Rain Man
Rain Man is a 1988 drama film written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass and directed by Barry Levinson. It tells the story of an abrasive and selfish yuppie, Charlie Babbitt, who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed all of his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son,...
, Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
in Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump is a 1994 American epic comedy-drama romance film based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright and Gary Sinise...
, and Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
in I Am Sam
I Am Sam
I Am Sam is a 2001 American drama film written and directed by Jessie Nelson, and starring Sean Penn as a father with a developmental disability, Dakota Fanning as his inquisitive seven-year-old daughter, and Michelle Pfeiffer as his lawyer...
. A DreamWorks spokesman did not directly respond to the criticism, claiming that Tropic Thunder "... is an R-rated comedy that satirizes Hollywood and its excesses, makes its point by featuring inappropriate and over-the-top characters in ridiculous situations." The film's advertising was altered, but none of the scenes in the film were edited as a result of the opposition. In response to the controversy, the director's cut of the DVD (but not the Blu-ray) includes a public service announcement in the special features that discourages use of the word "retard".
Music
Tropic Thunders scoreFilm score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
and soundtrack
Soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television program. In some cases, not all the tracks from the movie are included in the album; however there are rare cases of songs in the trailers that do not appear in...
were released on August 5, 2008, the week before the film's release in theaters. The score was composed by Theodore Shapiro
Theodore Shapiro (composer)
Theodore Shapiro is an American composer.Shapiro was born in Washington, D.C. He is best known for his film scores, particularly for the comedies State and Main, 13 Going on 30, Along Came Polly, The Devil Wears Prada, Fun with Dick and Jane, Idiocracy, You, Me and Dupree, Wet Hot American Summer,...
and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony. William Ruhlmann of allmusic gave the score a positive review, stating it is "...an affectionate and knowing satire of the history of Hollywood action movie music, penned by an insider." Thomas Simpson of SoundtrackNet
SoundtrackNet
- History :Created in 1997 by David A. Koran and Dan Goldwasser at Carnegie Mellon University, the site has grown over the past decade to become one of the leading websites covering the film music industry in Hollywood....
called it "...a mixture of fun, seriousness, rock n' roll and great scoring."
Five songs, "Cum On Feel the Noize
Cum on Feel the Noize
"Cum On Feel the Noize" is a rock song originally released by Slade in 1973.Written by Jim Lea and Noddy Holder and produced by Chas Chandler, "Cum On Feel the Noize" was Slade's fourth number-one single in the UK and their first to enter straight at number one...
" by Quiet Riot
Quiet Riot
Quiet Riot is an American Heavy Metal band. They are best known for their hit singles "Metal Health" and "Cum On Feel the Noize". They were founded in 1973 by guitarist Randy Rhoads and bassist Kelly Garni, under the original name Mach 1, before changing the name to Little Women and finally Quiet...
, "Sympathy for the Devil
Sympathy for the Devil
"Sympathy for the Devil" is a song by The Rolling Stones which first appeared as the opening track on the band's 1968 album Beggars Banquet. It was written by Mick Jagger credited to Jagger/Richards...
" by The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield
Buffalo Springfield
Buffalo Springfield is a North American folk rock band renown both for its music and as a springboard for the careers of Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and Jim Messina. Among the first wave of North American bands to become popular in the wake of the British invasion, the group combined...
, "Low
Low (Flo Rida song)
"Low" is the debut single by American rapper Flo Rida, featured on his debut album Mail On Sunday and also featured on the soundtrack to the 2008 film Step Up 2: The Streets. The song features T-Pain and was co-written with T-Pain. There is also a remix in which the hook is sung by Flo Rida rather...
" by Flo Rida
Flo Rida
Tramar Dillard , better known by his stage name Flo Rida , is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. He released his debut album, Mail on Sunday, in March 2008. His debut single "Low", featuring T-Pain, was a #1 hit for ten weeks in United States in early 2008. Two other singles resulted from...
and T-Pain
T-Pain
Faheem Rasheed Najm , better known by his stage name T-Pain, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, and actor, currently signed to Young Money Entertainment. His debut album, Rappa Ternt Sanga, was released in 2005. In 2007, T-Pain released his second studio album Epiphany,...
, and "Get Back
Get Back (Ludacris song)
"Get Back" is a song by rapper Ludacris, from his album The Red Light District. It was released as the first single from the album and reached #13 on the Hot 100 in January, 2005.-Music video:...
" by Ludacris
Ludacris
Christopher Brian Bridges , better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings...
, were not present on the soundtrack, yet did appear in the film. The soundtrack features songs from The Temptations
The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
, MC Hammer
MC Hammer
Stanley Kirk Burrell , better known by his stage name MC Hammer , is an American rapper, entertainer, business entrepreneur, dancer and actor. He had his greatest commercial success and popularity from the late 1980s until the mid-1990s...
, Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums....
, Edwin Starr
Edwin Starr
Edwin Starr was an American soul music singer. Starr is most famous for his Norman Whitfield produced singles of the 1970s, most notably the number one hit "War".-Biography:...
, and other artists. The single "Name of the Game
Name of the Game
"Name of the Game" is the first single to come from Tweekend, The Crystal Method's second studio album. Despite the massive popularity of the song, The Crystal Method almost never plays it live. The track features guitars by Tom Morello, vocals by Ryan "Ryu" Maginn, and scratching by DJ Swamp; it...
" by The Crystal Method
The Crystal Method
The Crystal Method is an American electronic music duo that was created in Los Angeles, California by Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland in the early 1990s. The Crystal Method's music has appeared in numerous TV shows, films, video games, and advertisements. The most prominent is the US television...
featuring Ryu
Styles of Beyond
Styles of Beyond is an underground rap group from the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The group consists of MCs Ryan Patrick Maginn and Takbir Bashir , Colton Raisin Fisher , and producer Jason Rabinowitz . They have released two LPs, one mixtape and were heavily featured on Mike...
has an exclusive remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
on the soundtrack. The soundtrack debuted 20th on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
s Top Soundtracks list and peaked at 39th on its Top Independent Albums list. James Christopher Monger of allmusic compared the music to other film's soundtracks such as Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, and Forrest Gump and called it "...a fun but slight listen that plays out like an old late-'70s K-Tel
K-tel
K-tel International is an "As-Seen-On-TV" company, which is most noted for its compilation music albums, such as "The Super Hits" series, "The Dynamic Hits" series and "The Number One Hits" series...
compilation with a few bonus cuts from the future."
Spin-off
Tom Cruise reprised his character Les Grossman for the 2010 MTV Movie Awards2010 MTV Movie Awards
The 2010 MTV Movie Awards was the 19th annual ceremony which took place on June 6, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. Aziz Ansari served as a host for the 19th annual ceremony. Voting the nominees began from a list of eligible contestants on March 29, 2010, and ended on April 9, 2010...
. On June 9, 2010 it was announced that a spin-off film would be developed centering on Grossman. A script has been written by Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a 2010 comedy film directed by Edgar Wright, based on the graphic novel series Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley. The film is about Scott Pilgrim , a young Canadian musician, meeting the girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers , an American delivery girl...
screenwriter Michael Bacall
Michael Bacall
Michael Bacall is an American screenwriter and actor. He acted in movies and television from an early age. Turning to writing in the 2000s, he co-wrote and co-starred in Manic...
. According to Bill Hader, the script is finished but no release date has been given.
External links
Fictional websites created for the film