Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Tropic Thunder (2008)

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Posted by Galen Murphy-Fahlgren (Member # 4535) on 08-13-2008, 01:49 AM:

This is a good, not great, action comedy to end all action comedies, or something like that. Of all the satirical genre/spoof movies of late, this is, however, the best by far. Most of the jokes are pretty formulaic, and the plot is as predictable as you could want, but the acting and the acting acting are both quite comical. Robert Downey Jr. shows that he can do comedy well enough, and the sheer lunacy of his character really works for me. I hate Tom Cruise, but he plays a good jackass, if he is indeed acting. None of the other actors really stand out, but their performances are mostly good as well.

Potential Spoilers: It appears that there was some last minute editing done, as some scenes from the trailers and TV spots are missing or modified. Notably, in the "fake trailer" for Ben Stiller's character, the little things by his sides are human babies instead of pandas. Is this the work of the panda lobby in Hollywood? Also, I don't think the scene where Stiller kicks the Vietnamese/whatever guy in the chest and offers to do another take was in the movie. /spoilers

PLUS, this marks the third print from Deluxe that I've had soundtrack problems with since Get Smart, in which the audio level drops, sometimes to almost imperceptible levels, when running in SRD. I did not witness is from booth to have a look at the processor while it was going on, but previously, there has been no drop from Format 10 SRD, and no unusually high error rate. It happened three separate times during the 5th reel, and nowhere else. My assistant manager said she would try to get a replacement reel ordered, but I am not happy that Deluxe is sucking so badly and so consistently.

Posted by Carey Barber (Member # 1586) on 08-13-2008, 09:56 AM:

I was pleasantly surprised by this one.

Ben Stiller's movies are hit and miss...with a lot more misses, but I actually laughed pretty hard through this one.

The comedy is crude, dark, and very politically incorrect.
Robert Downey Jr. was definitely the highlight for me.

Grade: B

Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 08-13-2008, 10:27 AM:

They probably just shot a lot of material and it'll probably end up on the Directors Cut DVD. If you look at the trailer for Anchorman, almost half the material in it wasn't in the theatrical version.

Posted by Kurt Zupin (Member # 2751) on 08-13-2008, 11:01 AM:

This movie dosn't take it self seriously at all and that is whats so great about it. This movie will be quoted by many for months to come. I thought Jack Black was the week spot in this one. RDJ made the movie for me as well and the cameos were great.

"I'm a lead farmer...mother fucker"

4/5 [thumbsup]

Posted by James Westbrook (Member # 3690) on 08-13-2008, 05:46 PM:

We had a trailer checker come in and check the trailers to both prints. She listed the bogus ads and trailers on reel 1 of the movie. "I thought those trailers were a bit odd..."

Posted by Ross Oba (Member # 3433) on 08-13-2008, 07:42 PM:

Deluxe should be renamed to Desuxe. I hate that most studios have their films printed with Deluxe. Universal and WB are the only studios to consistently use Technicolor. Disney used to use TES but switched to Deluxe earlier this year. I've had the occasional Paramount release using Technicolor but that was Kung Fu Panda and nothing else since.

For some odd reason, I've had worse luck with Paramount films printed by Deluxe than say Sony or Disney. Iron Man, Indy 4, and now Tropic Thunder all had failing SRD soundtracks. What's worse is the replacement reels we received for Iron Man were still failing (although not enough to revert to analog).

As for the movie, I've seen the first 15 minutes and thought it was pretty humorous. I'll catch the rest of it the next time I work.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-13-2008, 08:52 PM:

What you guys are hearing is the new Deluxe audio cap code. Do a search for it. This is their moronic way of combating piracy, while in essence showing favoritism to the dts format, since it doesn't affect dts. It REQUIRES a top notch SR analog system, perfectly calibrated, or the failures to analog are godawful.

As far as the movie goes, I have to say I liked it. I am not a Ben Stiller fan in general, but this movie worked and was stupidly entertaining with an amazing amount of cameos. Robert Downey Jr. was hilarious.

Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 08-14-2008, 10:05 AM:

Tropic Thunder is politically incorrect, crude, profane, outrageous....and very funny!
At one point, I was laughing so hard I managed to get a piece of my free popcorn stuck in my throat.

Most appropriately, I washed it down with a can of "Booty Sweat".

(My theater had a free case of the stuff for employees)

Posted by Jennifer Pan (Member # 2035) on 08-14-2008, 12:23 PM:

I definitely want to try one of those.

Posted by Don Anderson (Member # 397) on 08-17-2008, 10:42 AM:

Laughed my ass off! Jack Black and Ben Stiller were a riot! Those coming attraction trailers were funny as hell! Lots of cameos throughout the film. Its not a movie that I would see over and over, but I would rent the dvd just to see the added features and outtakes. [Smile]

Wow, two movies that I can say that I actually enjoyed this month....Tropic Thunder and Pineapple Express. Too bad the print of Tropic Thunder was ruined by platter scratches at our local theatre. It didn't even make it through the weekend without being damaged. Amateurs.

Posted by Louis Belloisy (Member # 3836) on 08-17-2008, 11:34 AM:

Well, I dont agree with you guys. Its rude, vulgar and offensive. We have had several protests in our area on this piece of [bs]

Jack Black should not be allowed in front of a camera.

Once in a while a good one comes along. This is not it.

Louis

Posted by Jennifer Pan (Member # 2035) on 08-17-2008, 02:05 PM:

It was alright... every scene with Tom reminded me of Austin Powers. Robert was great, loved his character and lines. I had high expectations for this one... wasn't as funny as Pineapple Express or Step Brothers. But I did enjoy some the camera work, felt crisp and pretty. [Big Grin]

Bust A Nut Bar sounds pretty tasty I might add.

[The Jen]

out of 5

Posted by Galen Murphy-Fahlgren (Member # 4535) on 08-17-2008, 06:14 PM:

To expound on Louis' comment: this is an R rated comedy. While the MPAA may be blowing it out their ass with the "one fuck" rule as I like to call it, this movie deserves its R rating. If you are easily offended, make informed decisions, unlike many of my customers, and don't see it. If you sit through the movie and complain afterward about how offensive it was to theater employees, they should, as politely as possible, tell you to blow it out your ass and know what you are going to see. I am not saying anything about your experience or view on it, Louis, because everything you said is true (except about Jack Black, although he was the weakest performance here), but that is precisely the point of the movie.

Maybe it's just the depravity of the kids these days, but this movie is growing on me more and more, although we do have the ushers close the doors immediately at the start time, and keep them closed until the credits are completely done rolling. [Smile]

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 08-17-2008, 08:27 PM:

Saw today at Cinemark 17 in Springfield, #12 in 35mm. Looked and sounded very good. [thumbsup]

However as usual there, the digital preshow had a screen illumination level very very close to 0 fl.

Well as others have said, this is profane, outrageous, etc. and earns its R rating. I kind of liked it, some funny stuff here even though some scenes fall kind of flat. Jack Black is the weakest link but so is his character.

I give it 2.75 out of 5 stars. Not for everyone, but it sort of worked for me.

So Cinemark has this rule about cutting off the green bands on all trailers. Yet they left the green bands on the faux trailers. Isn't that a contradiction? Shouldn't those have been removed too? I mean Cinemark regulars are never supposed to see green bands. Did Cinemark have to send out a memo telling theaters to leave them on?

I jest. [Big Grin]

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 08-17-2008, 08:41 PM:

I wonder if they'll remove the green bands for the Australian release (I highly doubt it) or better yet have an MA tag on the front of each one?

Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 08-17-2008, 10:06 PM:

I doubt it too. Are you playing that "Pilot Frixion" VM ad, John? Presumably that ad is US-sourced as it has a green band on the end as part of its punch line; a punch line probably lost on much of its audience.

Posted by Dwayne Benallie (Member # 4443) on 08-18-2008, 02:36 AM:

This movie had a lot of great one liners, I felt Step Brothers was funnier thou. I like the trailers before the actual movie, I was laughing so loud through out the movie and got a complaint about me!!! [Big Grin]

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 08-18-2008, 11:13 PM:

Location: Carmike 8, Lawton, OK
Auditorium: #5
Format: 2K DLP
Rating: 3 stars out of 4

Tropic Thunder is a pretty "fearless" comedy. A year or so ago Comedy Central had a Top 100 comedians countdown special. "Fearless" was a compliment often given to some of the highest ranked comedians on the list known for edgy, outrageous material. This movie gets a lot of mileage out of skewering stereotypes of Hollywood studio culture. It does so in a cheerfully vulgar way. The movie isn't as unsettling as Blazing Saddles was for audiences in the early 1970s, but it deliberately crosses boundaries of bad taste as much as any movie made since Team America: World Police.

I laughed out loud during many parts of the movie. The funniest moments were in the fake trailers and early scenes. The laughs kind of dropped down a notch once the actors were "in the shit." There was one point in the movie where the storyline got a little too dark and threatened to go Back to the Future: Part II inappropriately depressing. Thankfully that instance was brief.

The movie had some hilarious cameos. The end title sequence was pretty wacky.

A certain part of the movie had me wondering if anyone involved with Tropic Thunder had read through the 101 page long HD-DVD/Blu-ray thread in the Afterlife forum.

One reason that pressed me further to see this movie was the "Simple Jack" controversy and the "R-word." I got an e-mail from my civic club's national HQ joining in on the protest and telling us all to stay away from that movie. Well, IMHO, the protesters don't get it. While it seems like Tropic Thunder is making fun of mentally challenged people, the real joke is on Hollywood studios, actors and Oscar voters capitalizing off of people with mental disabilities.

quote: Kurt Zupin
This movie will be quoted by many for months to come.

Yeah. The movie had some good lines.

"You are an American hero...now shut the fuck up and let me do my job!"

Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 08-18-2008, 11:31 PM:

What is the big fuss about RDJ being in black face. Peter Sellers did pretty much the same thing throughout the 60s, though I can't verify if there were protests about that or not since I wasn't around.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 08-18-2008, 11:48 PM:

The fuss is because black face is pure evil. You can only be racist if you are white. FACT!

Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 08-18-2008, 11:59 PM:

Did you protest when they released White Chicks?

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-19-2008, 12:11 AM:

White folks don't protest any more. People can say whatever they want about us...we just don't let this kind of crap bother us.

If everyone did that, the world would be a more peaceful place.

Posted by Damien Taylor (Member # 4255) on 08-19-2008, 03:38 AM:

quote: Stu Jamieson
Are you playing that "Pilot Frixion" VM ad

We had the annoying 'perfect guy' frixion ad, I've never seen the other one.

I hope the Australian release has the green bands just to prove how lazy some of the distributors really are.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 08-19-2008, 07:04 AM:

quote: Damien Taylor
We had the annoying 'perfect guy' frixion ad, I've never seen the other one.

There is no other one...the green band is on the end of the frixion ad.

Unlike this version that has it correctly at the beginning.

With a grown up audience, they love this ad, btw.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 08-20-2008, 10:02 AM:

The local Register-Guard newspaper ran this editorial about Tropic Thunder yesterday.

Yes: An editorial.

================================

Satire or stigma?
Movie prompts debate over use of the word ‘retard’

Published: August 19, 2008 12:00AM

The national protest against Ben Stiller’s new satirical comedy “Tropic Thunder” has been an overwhelming success, and it will be remembered as an important moment in the ongoing effort by people with disabilities — and their families and loved ones — to change the consciousness of American society.

The protesters may not feel as though they’ve succeeded, if their goal was to keep people from patronizing a film that repeatedly uses the word “retard” as part of its plot. In truth, a boycott was the wrong objective, and it failed spectacularly. “Tropic Thunder” knocked the blockbuster Batman sequel “The Dark Knight” from the top spot at the North American box office last weekend, pulling in almost $37 million in its first five days.

But “Tropic Thunder” has done for the developmental disabilities community what no public service campaign could ever be expected to accomplish as effectively: It has drawn prime-time attention to the word “retard,” and all of its derivatives. It has created an inescapable opening in the civic dialogue for discussion of how hurtful and demeaning this cruel label can be.

Stiller, who also directed “Tropic Thunder,” plays fading action star Tugg Speedman in the film. Speedman’s most recent movie, “Simple Jack,” has bombed at the box office, and he muses about the failure with multiple Oscar-winner Kirk Lazarus, played by Robert Downey Jr.

Lazarus, a notoriously intense actor who becomes immersed in his roles, has undergone “repigmentation” to portray a black man in the movie within the movie in “Tropic Thunder.” He tells Speedman the problem with “Simple Jack,” in which Speedman played a mentally disabled farm boy who talks to animals, was that Speedman’s performance was too realistic.

“Never go full retard,” Lazarus advises Speedman, reminding him of the more restrained Oscar-winning performances of Dustin Hoffman in “Rain Man” and Tom Hanks in “Forrest Gump.” In contrast, Lazarus notes, Sean Penn struck out in the awards derby for his “full retard” portrayal in “I Am Sam.”

This is, of course, fiercely satirical skewering of self-important actors who try to elevate their standing by taking on such roles.

“Tropic Thunder” has given advocates for people with developmental disabilities a platform for a national debate about the artistic use of demeaning language. Rather than encouraging a self-defeating boycott, they should be saying, “See the movie if you want, but don’t leave without understanding why some of us aren’t laughing.”

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-20-2008, 02:12 PM:

Great. First we had "the F word," then "the N word," and now we'll have "the R word."

Whatever happened to people just not giving a shit? I'm a white Catholic small town hick, but if you call me a red-neck pale-faced mackarel snapper I'll just laugh along with ya.

Posted by Patrick Dunn (Member # 3333) on 08-21-2008, 06:24 PM:

I thought this movie was really funny. Although they should have removed Jack Black's line about swallowing the gravy. But I have to admit, before I saw the movie, when I heard that there were protesters, it made me want to see the movie even more. But I would have to say my favorite line was when Tom Cruise said "Why don't you take one step away from the phone so you can literally Fuck your own face!"

Posted by Chad Souder (Member # 343) on 08-21-2008, 08:09 PM:

Tom Cruise was unbearable. Absolutely unbearable. Ben Stiller was his normal, average, luke-warm, mediocre self. He gets the job done but 100 others could do just as well. The others in the cast had their moments, but suffered from a movie that focused far too much on shock value and not enough on real plot, substance, etc. I understand that was the point, but the two can co-exist.

There were a few good yuks, but overall it felt like it was about an hour too long. I think it was one of those self-gratifying projects that an actor would find hilarious, but it doesn't really relate to the rest of us.

Posted by Michael Barry (Member # 237) on 08-23-2008, 08:58 AM:

I had a superb time seeing this with a friend at the fabulous Randwick Ritz in the main auditorium on the opening Saturday night. The audience definitely got it, and showed their appreciation.

The presentation, from the digital pre-show through to the final curtain following the end credits, was absolutely flawless!

Not a single piece of dirt or mark on the film. FilmGuard, along with John Wilson's excellent film handling regime, ensures this. What a pleasure to see a movie at the Ritz. Wow! [Smile]

The fake trailers and ad for the soft drink had me crying with laughter. Unfortunately, the film loses steam after the first two reels, but the movie overall is a complete blast, which makes for a fun Saturday night.

Tom Cruise doing his funky dance thing was freaky weird (in a good way!).

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 08-31-2008, 09:22 PM:

CINEMA: 13th Avenue Warren, Wichita, KS
AUDITORIUM: 16
PRESENTATION: Dolby Digital Cinema DLP/THX
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: None [Cool]

RATING: Two and one half stars (out of four)

THE PLOT: A movie about making...a movie. Wackiness ensues.

Well this one stood out as a movie where some people laughed at certain things, other people laughed at other things, but nowhere did everybody laugh at the same thing.

Still, they did do an impressive amount of blowing stuff up, and Robert Downey Jr. was all kinds of awesome.

The fake trailers at the beginning sure confused the audience.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-21-2008, 01:20 PM:

A question:

We are playing this now and I fear we have missing footage from reel 1.

Our print has one "ad" followed by four "trailers." The "ad" begins right in the middle with no fade-in so I know that's screwed up, but are we missing additional "ads?"

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 09-21-2008, 01:36 PM:

There's only one "ad"

Posted by Kurt Zupin (Member # 2751) on 09-21-2008, 07:16 PM:

No Mike, you have everything, starts with the two girls backsides.

Question, hows it playing there? Does it still have the same appeal in the small market like yours?

Edit: To get rid of the extra thing

[ 09-22-2008, 01:14 AM: Message edited by: Kurt Zupin ]

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-21-2008, 10:30 PM:

Nope, it's sucking. We should've gotten it before school started.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 09-22-2008, 07:21 AM:

quote: Mike Blakesley

Our print has one "ad" followed by four "trailers.

Did you mean three or are we missing one over here?

Scorcher
The Fatties
Satan's Alley

are all we have...and the Booty Sweat ad of course.

Posted by Thomas Pitt (Member # 4322) on 09-22-2008, 04:01 PM:

I was expecting only one 'ad' and three 'trailers', but was surprised to see at least four 'trailers'! Oddly enough they kept the fake green bands on for the UK release - they should have cut them off, or replaced them with fake BBFC trailer tags!

Great movie, but not one I'd see again. The first 10 minutes or so was absolutely hilarious, but then it took a definite downturn. Still good enough to watch though...

Spoiler:
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.
.
.
.
.
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The biggest laugh in the auditorium was when the director stepped on a live land mine [Wink]

Posted by Galen Murphy-Fahlgren (Member # 4535) on 09-22-2008, 04:20 PM:

What was the fourth trailer? I only remember the three that John mentions.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 10-03-2008, 12:09 AM:

I think it was just the 3. At least, I don't remember any other titles and of course the movie is long gone from here now!

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 10-03-2008, 12:39 AM:

It was just three trailers following the Booty Sweat ad.

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 10-27-2008, 09:16 AM:

I saw this movie, finally, in it's entirety last night.

Funny as F.

I liked it and would recommend it to others. Tom Cruise went a little overboard, but I liked his character.

4/5 stars. [Wink]