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Tropic Thunder

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Tropic Thunder (2008)

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Reviews Counted:220

Fresh:180

Rotten:40

Average Rating:7/10

Consensus: With biting satire, plenty of subversive humor, and an unforgettable turn by Robert Downey, Jr., Tropic Thunder is a triumphant late Summer comedy.

Australian Rating: MA15+ [See Full Rating] Strong violence, coarse language, drug and sexual references

Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins

Genre: Comedies

Australian Theatrical Release:
Aug 21, 2008 Wide

US Box Office: $110,416,702

Synopsis: When the box office champ Ben Stiller's comedic performances aren't a variation on a soft-spoken, put-upon everyman with an eventual fuse, he's usually playing a full-blown absurdist monster with... When the box office champ Ben Stiller's comedic performances aren't a variation on a soft-spoken, put-upon everyman with an eventual fuse, he's usually playing a full-blown absurdist monster with an apoplectic Napoleon complex. These bizarre creations usually adorn films in which the funnyman provides the supporting work (DODGEBALL, HEAVYWEIGHTS), but, whenever he's directing, he's free to build an entire filmic universe around his asinine, ludicrously funny, culture-skewering characters and premises. His ZOOLANDER (2001) bit at the entertainment industry with silly abandon, but Stiller has firmly set TROPIC THUNDER within the realm of sophisticated Hollywood satire. In it, a desperate director named Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan) trying to make a Vietnam war movie drops his pampered actors into the heart of the jungle. Cockburn's stars include Stiller as an action hero who's starting to make bad career choices, Jack Black as an insecure low-brow comedy star going through heroin withdrawals, and Robert Downey Jr. as an Australian Oscar winner so lost in his "craft" he underwent a procedure to become black for his role. In the jungle, they remain under the delusion that they are still being filmed even after they encounter a dangerous gang of druglords. The film's basic premise has popped up several times since Hollywood's 1970s golden age in films such as THREE AMIGOS! and GALAXY QUEST. Where those films simply blanketed a classic Overconfident Bumbling Idiot comedy showcase with a pop culture lexicon, however, TROPIC THUNDER could have only been made, as on-the-nose at is, by people who have been working in the Hollywood system for years, making cutting observations along the way. Simply put, this raucous satire knows big-budget filmmaking, the delusional narcissism of actors, and even the good points of those actors--perhaps why they're celebrated--like the back of its hand. [More]

Starring: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey, Brandon T. Jackson

Starring: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey, Brandon T. Jackson, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Steve Coogan, Bill Hader, Nick Nolte, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Cruise

Director: Ben Stiller

Director: Ben Stiller
Screenwriter: Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux, Etan Cohen
Story: Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux
Producer: Ben Stiller, Stuart Cornfield, Eric McLeod
Composer: Theodore Shapiro
Studio: Dreamworks SKG

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Reviews for Tropic Thunder

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Nothing but mild vulgarity mixed with explosions and entitlement, a piss-take on Hollywood excess that doubles as an example of it.

Full Review Source: Time Out Sydney | comment 8 Comments
08/31/08
Time Out Sydney
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

For an insider's take on the movie business, Stiller's action comedy has you laughing from the start...

Full Review Source: Courier Mail (Australia) | comment Comment
08/29/08
Des Partridge
Des Partridge
Courier Mail (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Stiller never stops bombarding the audience with outrageous ideas, like a monkey throwing dung at a wall.

Full Review Source: The Age (Australia) | comment Comment
08/29/08
Jake Wilson
Jake Wilson
The Age (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

In the end, despite its flaws, this is a genuinely funny film, and there aren't that many of those around.

Full Review Source: The Australian | comment Comment
08/29/08
David Stratton
David Stratton
The Australian
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Ben Stiller's confidence as a director is growing; this is comedy on a grand scale, with huge effects and a big cast.

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
08/22/08
Paul Byrnes
Paul Byrnes
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Finally, a comedy that has more laughs than the ones in its trailer.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine Australasia | comment 6 Comments
08/18/08
Rod Yates
Rod Yates
Empire Magazine Australasia
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

On the one hand, Tropic Thunder is a giant enema up Hollywood's butt, and on the other it's a bare bum joke which outlasts its welcome

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment 6 Comments
08/14/08
Andrew L. Urban
Andrew L. Urban
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's funny at times, brazenly over the top, crude, rude, cynical, satirical, politically incorrect, topical, tropical, self indulgent, often tedious and almost explodes by its sense of its own brilliance

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
08/14/08
Louise Keller
Louise Keller
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Not a third as "dark" or "ferocious" as it believes it is

Full Review Source: CinePassion | comment 1 Comment
08/26/09
Fernando F. Croce
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion

bilo je te%u0161ko izbje%u0107i jo%u0161 jednu tre%u0161nju holivudske gore koja je rodila mi%u0161a

Full Review Source: Index.hr | comment 1 Comment
07/15/09
Dragan Antulov
Dragan Antulov
Index.hr

Sure, there are some moments when the plot falls right down a gun barrel, the comedy is too over the top and the jokes are downright gross. Still, in comparison to the other slapstick comedies this year, this movie-within-a-movie strikes above the rest.

Full Review Source: BET.com | comment Comment
07/07/09
Clay Cane
Clay Cane
BET.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Peter Keough
Peter Keough
Boston Phoenix

Tropic Thunder is one humongous vanity project for Ben Stiller. His initials aren't BS for nothing. If you can't get enough of bouncing Ben, Tropic Thunder is the movie for you. Ben Stiller acted in, co-wrote, produced, and directed Tropi

Full Review Source: Fayetteville Free Weekly | comment 5 Comments
02/01/09
Tony Macklin
Tony Macklin
Fayetteville Free Weekly

Is this a comedy -- or a cry for help?

Full Review Source: ÜberCiné | comment 1 Comment
01/12/09
Gregory Weinkauf
Gregory Weinkauf
ÜberCiné

Tropic Thunder turns out to be a very funny film with an immensely talented cast that will be the topic of any water cooler conversation.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Spectrum | comment Comment
01/04/09
Jolene Mendez
Jolene Mendez
Entertainment Spectrum

Stiller's parody of Hollywood opportunism and insecurities is fairly lacerating, but perhaps could've been more so had not the whole thing been played so broadly.

Full Review Source: Window to the Movies | comment Comment
12/31/08
Jeffrey Chen
Jeffrey Chen
Window to the Movies

Cruise is downright scary. It's the creepiest -- and most entertaining -- performance since his unforgettable appearance in that Scientology video.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
12/21/08
Ken Fox
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide

The action movie has been spoofing itself for years. Half of the time it's no even intentional. Ben Stiller's hilarious and surprisingly intelligent Tropic Thunder takes the genre spoof to a new extreme.

Full Review Source: Movie Views | comment Comment
12/08/08
Ryan Cracknell
Ryan Cracknell
Movie Views

Tropic Thunder focuses its satire on this Hollywoodization of war, as it depicts the production of a Vietnam genre film that's less "Platoon" than "Platoon Leader" with Michael Dudikoff.

Full Review Source: CinemaBlend.com | comment Comment
12/06/08
Brian Holcomb
Brian Holcomb
CinemaBlend.com

A journey into Hollywood's heart of darkness.

Full Review Source: Film Snobs | comment Comment
11/20/08
Stephen Himes
Stephen Himes
Film Snobs
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 >> >|
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Latest News for Tropic Thunder

January 08, 2009: Broadcast Film Critics Name Critics' Choice Winners
The 14th Annual Critics' Choice Awards were given on January 8, 2009, to honor the finest achievements in 2008 filmmaking. A list of nominees follows below, with winners in bold: More...

January 07, 2009: Slate's Movie Club Looks Back at 2008 Opens in new window
Slate's Movie Club, boasting an all-female lineup for 2009, has convened to debate the best movies of '08. More...

December 12, 2008: Weekly Ketchup: Tom Cruise to return as Tropic Thunder's Les Grossman
This week sees a surprising lack of the remakes we've gotten used to seeing in the Weekly Ketchup, with the shelving of one horror remake balancing out a movie that is only a... More...

December 12, 2008: Les Grossman: The Movie? Opens in new window
Tom Cruise's foulmouthed studio executive, Les Grossman, stole the show in "Tropic Thunder" and earned Cruise a Golden Globe nomination. Could a Les Grossman feature film be next? More...

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