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Tropic Thunder

Blu-Ray review by Ed Worrell

I can barely remember the last time that I laughed so hard during a movie. I'm going to jump right out there and say that, without question, this is the funniest movie of the year.

Here's a little synopsis of the movie and lead characters, for those who haven't seen the flick yet (shame on you), and keep in mind that this is a movie about making a movie.
Ben Stiller plays Tugg Speedman, an action star whose star is fading, and is desperately looking for a project to get him an Oscar. Robert Downey Jr. plays Kirk Lazarus, a method actor who will go to any lengths to immerse himself into character. In order to get a role in the movie, he undergoes controversial skin pigmentation surgery to turn him into a black man and play the character of Lincoln Osiris. The tension between Speedman and Lazarus/Osiris is one of the best parts of the film, as Lazarus is a 3-time Oscar winner and Speedman is deperately trying to out-act him. Jack Black is Jeff Portnoy, heroin addicted star of a popular tv show called "The Fatties" where the comedy revolves around fat people farting. Brandon Jackson plays Alpa Chino, a multi-platinum hip-hop star turned actor. Jay Baruchel plays Kevin Sandusky who is acting in his first movie.
Tom Cruise actually steals the show here, by playing hard-nosed movie studio exec Les Grossman. I can't begin to do his character justice by explaining it here, just see for yourself.
Soon after the shoot begins the director loses control over his pampered superstar cast and at the suggestion of Four Leaf Tayback, a Vietnam vet played by Nick Nolte, the actors are thrown into "the real s**t" and are forced to become a cohesive fighting unit in order to find their way out of the jungle in one piece.

That's the basic plot in a nutshell, now about the Blu-Ray disc. The copy I reviewed is the Director's Cut, which is about 13 minutes longer than the theatrical version. Most of the 13 minutes is put back in during a set party that the cast has after the first shoot (which is bungled...badly), and I can see why they cut these scenes, as they're just not necessary, but still funny.

Special features include 2 commentary tracks. The first one is with Ben Stiller, who directed the film, and some of the production team, the cinematographer, etc. There are some interesting tidbits, but overall it didn't really hold my interest.

The second commentary track, however, is worth the price of the disc alone. That one features Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. (who, as he says in the movie, doesn't break character until the dvd commentary is done), and Jack Black. Trust me, you'll enjoy listening to this commentary.

Other features include your standard "making of" featurettes, theatrical trailers, deleted scenes and so on, but there are a couple more features of note.

Rain of Madness is kind of a mockumentary on the making of the film and the trials and tribulations of the cast and crew. Excellent feature and well worth the long run time.

Also included is the short that Stiller, Downey, and Black did for the MTV Music Awards show. Pretty entertaining if you didn't catch it on the awards show, and worth a second view even if you did.

There's an alternate ending as well, which I'm happy didn't make it into the theatrical release, but as an added feature, its pretty funny. It features Matt McConaughey as Speedman's agent, Rick Peck, affectionately referred to throughout the film as "The Pecker". Peck has gone to great lengths to get Speedman his Tivo on set (it's in Speedman's contract). In the alternate ending, Peck is captured by Vietnamese drug lords who also happen to be big Speedman fans because of his portrayal of "Simple Jack", the source of a lot of real world controversy during the films release. Peck is able to watch and celebrate Speedman's long awaited Oscar win while sitting in a POW camp.

Finally, there is Tom Cruise's make-up test, where he is dancing. That's it. It doesn't sound funny but believe me, friends, it is. Watch and see.

The Blu-Ray format really makes the amazing cinematography stand out, and the sound is incredible. This is without a doubt the best looking and sounding comedy I've ever seen, from an audio-visual standpoint. They spent some extra money to get cinematographer John Toll (Legends of the Fall, Braveheart) to work on this film, and I believe it paid off.

That's about all I can say. It's a fantastic movie. Oh, and don't skip the trailers ahead of the movie when you watch it. Trust me.

5 gravy boats out of 5 (you'll get it when you see it )