Tropic thunder by ben stiller, jack black, robert downey jr. The novel influenced many writers, as exemplified by the following. The situational comedy was genius as these actors were forced to actually survive a war like setting. All in all, tropic thunder isnt an entirely consistent comedy. Aug 14, 2008 back in march when the photo of robert downey jr as a black man appeared online, i figured the big outcry against tropic thunder would revolve around racism. The connection to apocalypse now is significant because that film ran into delays, budgetary problems, and went well over its intended production time. Whats funny about the film is the fact that the actors the real actors, not the characters in the film are all pretty much poking fun at themselves. Starring as the central platoon are speedman, lazarus, chino and portnoy, as well as young character actor kevin sandusky jay baruchel. Tropic thunder is a satirical american action comedy film with more focus on the comedy from 2008, based very loosely on the train wreck that was the production of the classic apocalypse now movie producer les grossman is in need of an awardwinning movie and decides to make the best and most expensive vietnam war movie ever. Yes, due to language, overthetop violence, and portrayals of drug use although those were not sympatheticjeff portnoy is shown as being outofcontrol. Comedy fans can start drooling immediately at the thought of these three funnymen joining forces in tropic.
Im not sure, but ben stiller has certainly been a big part of making it happen, from there s something about mary a decade ago, to the heartbreak kid last year and now tropic thunder, which he wrote, directed and stars in. When their frustrated director played by steve coogan drops them in the middle of a jungle, they are forced to rely on their acting skills to survive the real. Why tropic thunder is a brilliant movie, in my opinion. Tropic thunder is a 12k touring clan in jungle heat. Lawrence durrells 1938 novel the black book was described as celebrating the henry miller of tropic of cancer as his durrells literary father. This movie is also filled with perfect writing, and it is probably one of the most quotable movies i. These are just pictures of big breasts, as the title of the book suggests. There are big breasts all right, but i wouldnt call this erotic photography. The film opens with a montage of clips that introduce the. Book depository books with free delivery worldwide. When their frustrated director played by steve coogan drops them in the middle of a jungle, they are forced to. Tropic thunder is an ensemble film, and any sequel would require getting the whole gang back together, but the casts increasing star power and stuffed schedules make it difficult to find a time. Of course, hollywood does a pretty good job of satirizing itself even when playing it straight. Thunder in paradise is an american actionadventure tv series from the creators of baywatch, which stars hulk hogan, chris lemmon, and carol alt.
The globe stops rotating, and starts to brown and crack. John four leaf taybacks autobiography is being made into a film titled tropic thunder. Tropic thunder best original screenplay justin theroux, etan cohen ben stiller on. Tropic thunder is up on netflix again, and its a movie about movies. Throughout his career he has written, starred in, directed, or produced more than 50 films including the secret life of walter mitty, zoolander, the cable guy, there s something about mary, the meet the parents trilogy, dodgeball, tropic thunder, the madagascar series, and the night at the museum trilogy. Lincoln osiris, an african american, lazarus has dyed his skin dark and refuses to. Aug 16, 2008 tropic thunder is a satire, or to be exact, a spoof, about the movie business. This movie is also filled with perfect writing, and it is probably one of the most quotable movies i have ever seen. Although there are no scenes of explicit sex, there is much discussion about it, usually at the locker room level.
We have one of the most active groups ever in the game and welcome players of all levels to our clan. It starts out by showing how ridiculous movies were in the 90s, so it kind of dates itself there. It looks like the script has been in development for a while, but no recent news. Spoof within a movie within a movie within the new york times. While there has been some talk of blackface and how offensive it is in the trailers, by far the most attention has been focused on the use of the word retard in the film and the. Tropic thunder is a carefully plotted and smart film, underneath the typical stiller et all levels of comedy. Its a cast listing that would make even the avengers take a think about things. Tropic thunder is the movie within the movie that goes very wrong. Justin theroux, who is a surprisingly diverse individual, would be my pick to write tropic thunder 2. Jan 27, 2020 however, that wasnt really the case with tropic thunder, which is dominated by male talent.
Jan 16, 2020 there you go kids, thats veteran actor speak for i did the job, didnt question it in the moment. Mar 22, 2015 theyve been working on a spinoff moving centered around the les grossman character the crazy media mogulstudio head from tropic thunder and starring tom cruise. A novice actor, he is the only cast member to have read the script and book and attended the assigned boot. Now, go get drunk and take credit at all the parties. Movies like the old gritty war movies will never exist again apocalypse now, platoon. Sep 11, 2008 did tropic thunder deserve an r rating. Uh, the flap, i read the back flap and saw the pictures. John debneys career seemed destined for hollywood, the son of disney studios producer louis debney, john grew up in nearby glendale, california where he got early inspiration for film. The defense, in the tropic thunder case, is that the filmwithinafilm is a spoof, a sendup of hollywoods overused tropes and stereotypes. Jackson as a group of prima donna actors who are making a vietnam war film. He hires rookie director damien cockburn steve coogan and. Jeff, kirk, and kevin have just learned alpa is gay jeff portnoy. Tropic thunder is a satire, or to be exact, a spoof, about the movie business.
Tropic thunder is a 2008 satirical action comedy film directed by ben stiller. After the standard theater ads and coming attraction trailers, the lights dim and tropic thunder opens with ads and coming attraction trailers that introduce us to the actors well be spending the next two hours with. We do it just like in the book, chapter 26, the wet offensive. Tropic thunder is based on an idea from comedian ben stiller, who also directed, coproduced, and stars in the film. Tropic thunder by ben stiller, jack black, robert downey. Tom cruise was the comedic genius who helped come up with les grossman. I laughed a lot, but i also did have stretches where i wasnt laughing much at all. The hits continue with johnny knoxville in theatres now.
The larger point of this jre discussion is that tropic thunder is a type of movie that could never have been made in todays outrage culture, and the satirical role of kirk lazarus lincoln. After the last real trailer plays in the theater, we see the universal logo. It has a play within the movie of a fake movie within the. In the actioncomedy tropic thunder, ben stiller plays pampered action superstar tugg speedman, who is cast in the biggest, most expensive war movie ever produced. It was not a movie prop, as the book is real and is commercially available in both full size. I couldnt have done it without you studio executive rob slolom. Ill cradle the balls, stroke the shaft, work the pipe, and swallow the gravy. Adults that dont mind rude, crass humor tropic thunder is a very funny movie. With biting satire, plenty of subversive humor, and an unforgettable turn by robert downey, jr. While tropic thunder is certainly silly, it doesnt descend to the level of stupidity as so many other recent comedies have done.
Tropic thunder is meant to be a satire of other vietnam war films, including platoon 1986, apocalypse now 1979, full metal jacket 1987, hamburger hill 1987, and the deer hunter 1978. This firstrun syndicated tv series originally premiered as a straighttovideo feature film in september 1993, then ran for one season from march 25 until november 27, 1994, before being cancelled. Tom cruise on how tropic thunder s les grossman got so gross duration. All in all unless you have experience in the movie business there are few laughs to be had with tropic thunder. Its a shame that there werent a couple of important female characters sprinkled into this story, as there easily could have been, and that is something about it that just hasnt aged perfectly.
Robert downey jnr and tom cruise may have got all the praise they are both pretty good but there are great supporting turns from a better than usual jack black, newcomers jay baruchel and brandon t jackson, danny mcbride, a. You will watch here the best quotes, such as i will fck you up. Moving briskly from joke to joke, tropic thunder, much like hot fuzz, works as both as an action film and as a spoof of action films. This is actually a scene from tropic thunder, a bigbudget adaptation of taybacks wartime memoir. Ben stiller said nearly all aspects of the les grossman character were.
Jeff fats portnoy, famous for his eddie murphystyle, multiplerole comedies featuring a fat, farting family. Tropic thunder is a comedic masterpiece i feel like i want to go back to college and write a thesis on the movie. This is the best scene with tom cruise as les grossman in the comedy hit tropic thunder. To bring tropic thunders selfindulgent actors back down to earth egowise, the films technical supervisor and author of the book the currently filming movie is based on, john four leaf. Tropic thunder is more than just the first feature film ben stiller has directed since his 2001 cult hit zoolander. Tropic thunder 2008 frequently asked questions imdb. Tropic thunder is an ironic, witty, satirical, and downright hilarious movie that makes fun of everthing from prima donnas in hollywood, overuse of sequels, and just the movie business itself. Its a credit to the actors for wanting to pull together to make something special, and it certainly did that. One of the few problems with tropic thunder is that it starts out so damned funny that the rest of the movie has a hard time living up to those opening scenes. Which is based on a book which turns out to be all lies, written by a completely fake vietnam vet who actually turns out to be a hero at the end of the day.
Tropic thunder subverts the spectre of white cultural appropriation that hovers over not only this film, but of many others that hollywood has already released. Tied to a tree and going through cocaine withdrawals alpa, if you untie me, i will literally suck your dick, right now. Its not really a knock to say that nothing in tropic thunder is funnier than its first. Please share these funny tropic thunder quotes with all your friends. Director ben stiller plays tugg speedman, a very jean claude van dammeesque character who was typecast as an action hero and is struggling to transition into more dramatic. Tropic of cancer has had a huge and indelible impact on both the american literary tradition and american society as a whole.
Director ben stiller plays tugg speedman, a very jean claude van dammeesque character who was typecast as an action hero and. Less grossman punch him really hard in the face youtube. Ben stillers satirical look at hollywood, tropic thunder concerns the production of an epic vietnam war film that quickly. The cast of tropic thunder is absolutely full of hollywood alisters, from the main cast to those in supporting or cameo roles, everyone who was pulled in just happened to be a big name. Inuniverse, the movie being filmed contains a comedy star, a highprofile rapper, an academy award winner and a former action hero. Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a bigbudget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying. Lets go freaking 11 tet here i cody and his assistants push plungers, buttons, pull levers, and drag metal wands over long lines of wired nails, they spark and fizz.
John debneys career seemed destined for hollywood, the son of disney studios producer louis debney, john grew up in nearby glendale, california where he got early inspiration for film and music growing up on the disney studio lot. Tropic thunder is a very meanspirited parody of movie production in general, but it also shows that there are people in the industry who are very passionate about it. He sets out to southeast asia with a whos who of celebrity costars. If you are looking for tasteful erotic photography, im afraid you wouldnt find it in this book. The main cast consists of actionstar tugg speedman, whose career is in stagnation, australian academy award winner kirk lazarus, twobit comedian jeff fats portnoy, who has gained notoriety for his severe drug abuse, rapper alpa chino, and rookie actor kevin sandusky. When there are visual allusions to other vietnam classics like apocalypse now or platoon, the point is never just to reference those great works there s always something else going on in those scenes to make. Tropic of cancer is a novel by henry miller that has been described as notorious for its candid sexuality and as responsible for the free speech that we now take for granted in literature 22 it was first published in 1934 by the obelisk press in paris, france, but this edition was banned in the united states. Tropic thunder is a great satire that i was honestly expecting to be terrible. Bergeruds red thunder tropic lightning presents a meticulously researched, comprehensive picture of the combat experience of the 25th infantry division in vietnam utilizing primary sources and eyewitness reports to compose a detailed and vivid description including some counterintuitive findings. The larger point of this jre discussion is that tropic thunder is a type of movie that could. Man, i told you for the last time, i love tha pussy. The story was actually perfect to make fun of action movies and hollywood. Sep 16, 2008 to bring tropic thunders selfindulgent actors back down to earth egowise, the films technical supervisor and author of the book the currently filming movie is based on, john four leaf.
Red thunder, tropic lightning the way it was published by user, 20 years ago this book is right on the mark and describes the experience of the 25th division infantryman with candor and accuracy. Kindle direct publishing indie digital publishing made easy. Jeff portnoy jack black, star of the popular grossout comedy. The defense, in the tropic thunder case, is that the filmwithin a film is a spoof, a sendup of hollywoods overused tropes and stereotypes.
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