Revisited - Tropic Thunder (2008)

On this week of Revisited, we explore a movie that would probably not be made in today's cinema. We're of course talking about the one and only, Tropic Thunder. This movie is just plain out hilarious and goes to the extreme in all the right ways. I trust that no matter who you are, you will laugh and quite possibly love this movie. It makes fun of Hollywood, movies, actors, corporations and just about anything. This movie is also very self aware with itself and succeeds because of it.

Tropic Thunder is a 2008 satirical action comedy film directed by Ben Stiller. It stars Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Jay Baruchel, and Brandon T. Jackson as a group of prima donna actors who are making a Vietnam War film.The screenplay by Justin Theroux, Stiller, and Etan Cohen was from a story by Stiller and Theroux. The film was produced by Stuart Cornfeld, Stiller, and Eric McLeod for Red Hour Productions and DreamWorks Pictures as an international co-production between the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Stiller's idea for the film originated while playing a minor role in Empire of the Sun, and he later enlisted Theroux and Cohen to help complete the script. After the film was green-lit in 2006, filming took place in 2007 on the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i over thirteen weeks and was later deemed the largest film production in the island's history.

The film received generally positive reviews, with critics praising the film's characters, story, faux trailers, and the performances of Stiller, Downey, Black and Tom Cruise. The film's soundtrack and score debuted on August 5, 2008, before the film's theatrical release. Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks released the film in the US on August 13, 2008. In its North American opening weekend, the film earned $26 million and retained the number one position for the first three weekends of release. Downey was nominated for an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, with both him and Cruise receiving nominations for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture. The film grossed more than $188 million worldwide before its release on home video on November 18, 2008.

Hook-handed Vietnam veteran Staff Sergeant John "Four Leaf" Tayback's memoir, Tropic Thunder, is being made into a film. With the exception of newcomer supporting actor Kevin Sandusky, the cast—fading action hero Tugg Speedman, five-time Academy Award-winning Australian method actor Kirk Lazarus, rapper Alpa Chino, and drug-addicted comedian Jeff Portnoy—all cause problems for director Damien Cockburn, who cannot control them, resulting in a million-dollar pyrotechnics scene being wasted. The project is months behind schedule. Studio executive Les Grossman orders Damien to get the cast under control or risk the project's cancellation.

On Four Leaf's advice, Damien drops the actors into the middle of the jungle, with 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 lead to a helicopter waiting at the end of the route. Unknown to the actors and production, the group have been dropped in the middle of the Golden Triangle, the home of the heroin-producing Flaming Dragon gang. Just as the group are about to set off, Damien inadvertently steps on an old land mine and is blown up, stunning the actors. Tugg, believing Damien faked his death to encourage the cast to give better performances, assures the others that Damien is alive, and that they are still shooting the film. Kirk is unconvinced but joins them in their trek through the jungle.

When Four Leaf and pyrotechnics operator Cody Underwood try to locate the deceased director, they are captured by Flaming Dragon. Four Leaf is revealed to have hands; he confesses to Underwood that he actually served in the Coast Guard, has never left the United States, and that he wrote his "memoir" as a tribute. As the actors continue through the jungle, Kirk and Kevin discover that Tugg is leading them in the wrong direction. The resulting argument results in Kirk leading the rest of the cast back toward the resort they are staying at as an increasingly delirious Tugg is captured by Flaming Dragon. Taken to their base, Tugg believes it is a POW camp from the script. The gang discovers 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, Tugg's agent Rick 'Pecker' Peck confronts Les over an unfulfilled term in Tugg's contract that entitles him to a TiVo. Flaming Dragon calls during the discussion and demands a ransom for Tugg, but Les instead delivers a profanity-laden death threat. Despite the threats, Les expresses no interest in rescuing Tugg and is instead happy at the insurance payout that would happen if Tugg dies. He attempts to convince Pecker to play along by promising a Gulfstream V jet and "lots of money".

Kirk, Alpa, Jeff, and Kevin discover Flaming Dragon's heroin factory. After witnessing Tugg being tortured, they plan a rescue attempt based on the film's script. Kirk impersonates a farmer towing a "captured" Jeff on the back of a water buffalo, distracting the armed guards so Alpa and Kevin can infiltrate and find the prisoners, but a combination of broken Chinese and inconsistencies in his story sets off the gang's boss. The actors, knowing their cover has been blown, begin firing, fooling gang members into surrender. Their control of the gang falls apart when Jeff grabs the leader and heads for the drugs, and the gang, realizing the guns fire blanks, recover their guns and fight back.

The four actors locate Four Leaf, Cody, and Tugg and cross a bridge rigged to explode to get to Underwood's helicopter. Tugg initially remains behind, believing Flaming Dragon to be his "family", but runs back screaming, chased by an angry horde. Four Leaf destroys the bridge, rescuing Tugg, but as the helicopter takes off, the gang boss fires a rocket-propelled grenade at the helicopter. Rick unexpectedly stumbles out of the jungle carrying a TiVo box and throws it in the path of the grenade, saving them. The crew return to Hollywood, where footage from the hidden cameras is compiled into a feature film, Tropic Blunder, which becomes a major critical and commercial success. The film wins Tugg his first Academy Award, which Kirk presents to him at the ceremony.

All in all go watch this film. If you weren't sold on the plot of the film and its wacky moments, characters, and just crazy ass plot, I don't know what will. This film was a film of the era it came out of and im sure it wouldn't have been made if it was written today. It's just one of those 2000's controversial comedies that doesn't pull any of their punches for the sake of their comedy and they should be applauded for not only being a good movie but not being afraid to well be a comedy. This has been Revisited, thanks for reading. Ricardo signing off.