Tropic Thunder (2008)

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R for pervasive language including sexual references, violent content and drug material

Stuart Cornfeld, Eric McLeod & Ben Stiller (Producers)

Brian Taylor (Co-producer)

Justin Theroux (Executive Producer)

Matt Eppedio (Associate Producer)

Patrick Esposito (Post production Producer)

(WGA)

Justin Theroux, Ben Stiller & Etan Cohen (screenplay)

Ben Stiller & Justin Theroux (story)

Theodore Shapiro

John Toll (Director of photography)

Greg Hayden

Red Hour Films | Goldcrest Pictures | Internationale Filmproduktion Stella-del-Sud Second GmbH & Co. KG

DreamWorks Pictures (Distributor)

United States

English

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Kaua'i, Hawaii, USA

Los Angeles, California, USA

Stage 12, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA (studio)

Did we miss any?

Academy Awards

2009 Nominated Oscar Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Robert Downey Jr.

American Cinema Editors, USA

2009 Nominated Eddie Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy or Musical) Greg Hayden

Austin Film Festival

2008 Won Breakthrough Artist Award Danny McBride.Also for Pineapple Express (2008) and The Foot Fist Way (2006)

BAFTA Awards

2009 Nominated BAFTA Film Award Best Supporting Actor Robert Downey Jr.

BMI Film & TV Awards

2009 Won BMI Film Music Award Theodore Shapiro

Black Reel Awards

2008 Nominated Black Reel Best Supporting Actor Brandon T. Jackson

Boston Society of Film Critics Awards

2008 Won BSFC Award Best Ensemble Cast

2nd place BSFC Award Best Supporting Actor Robert Downey Jr.

Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards

2009 Won Critics Choice Award Best Comedy Movie

2009 Nominated Critics Choice Award Best Supporting Actor Robert Downey Jr.

Casting Society of America, USA

2009 Won Artios Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Big Budget Feature – Comedy Francine Maisler

Central Ohio Film Critics Association

2009 Won COFCA Award Actor of the Year Robert Downey Jr. Also for Iron Man (2008)

Chicago Film Critics Association Awards

2008 Nominated CFCA Award Best Supporting Actor Robert Downey Jr.

Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards

2008 Nominated DFWFCA Award Best Supporting Actor Robert Downey Jr.

Empire Awards, UK

2009 Nominated Empire Award Best Comedy

Golden Globe Awards

2009 Nominated Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture Tom Cruise

2009 Nominated Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture Robert Downey Jr.

Golden Trailer Awards

2008 Won Golden Trailer Best Comedy (Buddha Jones)

Hollywood Film Festival

2008 Won Hollywood Film Award Comedy of the Year Ben Stiller

MTV Movie Awards

2009 Nominated MTV Movie Award Best WTF Moment Ben Stiller tasting the decapitated head

New York Film Critics Circle Awards

2008 3rd place NYFCC Award Best Supporting Actor Robert Downey Jr.

Online Film Critics Society Awards

2009 Nominated OFCS Award Best Supporting Actor Robert Downey Jr.

Satellite Awards

2008 Nominated Satellite Award Best Actor in a Supporting Role Robert Downey Jr.

2008 Nominated Satellite Award Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical

Screen Actors Guild Awards

2009 Nominated Actor Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role Robert Downey Jr.

Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards

2008 2nd place SEFCA Award Best Supporting Actor Robert Downey Jr.

Teen Choice Awards

2009 Nominated Teen Choice Award Choice Movie Actor: Comedy Ben Stiller. Also for Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)

2009 Nominated Teen Choice Award Choice Movie Hissy Fit Robert Downey Jr.

2009 Nominated Teen Choice Award Choice Movie: Romantic Comedy

Toronto Film Critics Association Awards

2009 Nominated TFCA Award Best Supporting Performance, Male Robert Downey Jr.

Young Artist Awards

2009 Won Young Artist Award Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young Actor Brandon Soo Hoo

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A troupe of actors, under the impression they’re making a Vietnam war movie, wanders dangerously in the jungle and is captured by a gang of druglords who think the actors are narcs.

The title is a play on "Tropic Lightning", the nickname of the 25th Infantry Division which has seen action in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Southwest Asia and Iraq (among others).

Like his character, Kirk Lazarus, Robert Downey Jr. is a method actor and stayed in character as Sgt. Osiris/Lazarus even while cameras weren't rolling.

Robert Downey Jr. was very reluctant to take the role because he felt wearing the make-up to look African-American was offensive. But Downey later accepted the role because he liked the script and wanted to work with Ben Stiller and Jack Black.

According to Ben Stiller, in an interview with Playboy, Jack Black filmed most of this movie with bruised ribs.

According to Ben Stiller, Tugg Speedman is partially based on a young Sylvester Stallone.

According to Robert Downey Jr., Kirk Lazarus is based on a combination of Russell Crowe, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Colin Farrell.

Ben Stiller says that nearly all aspects of the Les Grossman character were developed by Tom Cruise, including the dancing and the look of the makeup. Stiller said that in addition to the more obvious makeup effects applied to Cruise's face and head, and the extra hair on his chest and arms, Cruise also decided to play the character wearing oversized prosthetic hands.

The water buffalo that Jack Black's character rides was discovered to have been pregnant when the cast and crew came back to the set one morning and found her nursing a newborn calf.

Cameos

Tobey Maguire

Tyra Banks

Maria Menounos

Martin Lawrence

The Mooney Suzuki

Tom Hanks

Sean Penn

Jason Bateman

Lance Bass

Jennifer Love Hewitt

Alicia Silverstone

Jon Voight

Christine Taylor (Ben Stiller's wife)

Justin Theroux (writer of the film) (deleted scene)

Submit Interesting Facts

Rick Peck: How's the adoption thing going?
Tugg Speedman: Not good.
Rick Peck: At least you get to choose yours. I'm stuck with mine.

Kirk Lazarus: I know who I am. I'm the dude playin' the dude, disguised as another dude!

Kirk Lazarus: I don't read the script. The script reads me.

Kirk Lazarus: You more shredded than a Julienne salad, man.

Jeff Portnoy: I don't wanna die like Hendrix man!

Submit Quotes Here

The movie is, may I say, considerably better than Stiller’s previous film, “Zoolander” (2001). It’s the kind of summer comedy that rolls in, makes a lot of people laugh and rolls on to video. Reviewed by: Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times.


A knockout of a comedy that keeps you laughing constantly. It's also killer smart, lacing combustible action with explosive gags. Reviewed by: Peter Travers of Rolling Stone.


That's the thing about satire: It doesn't play past its expiration date. And everything about Tropic Thunder already feels antiquated. Reviewed by: Robert Wilonsky of The Village Voice.


Tropic Thunder understands movies, understands the system in which they are created and, most of all, knows what it takes to make an audience roar with laughter. Reviewed by: James Berardinelli of Reel Views.


Tropic Thunder is an assault in the guise of a comedy – watching it is like getting mugged by a clown. Reviewed by: Rick Groen of The Globe and Mail (Toronto).


Showbiz satire is witty, violent, controversial. Parents need to know that this hard-R action comedy starring kid favorites Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and (thanks to Iron Man) Robert Downey Jr. is really a satirical send-up of Hollywood culture -- from the stereotypical castes of actors and greedy studio heads to celeb-obsessed TV shows. Much has been made of some of the movie's more controversial sources of humor, including having Downey darken his skin to play an African-American character and a running gag about a mentally challenged man played by Stiller's character. It's all meant to drive home the movie's points about Hollywood, but you may need to explain that to teens. There's also a lot of gory violence (both fake and realistic) -- including a 12-year-old drug lord who's scary and good with weapons -- as well as enough swear words to make Quentin Tarantino blush. Drugs (use and manufacture) are part of a significant subplot, but there are basically no women in the film, so there's only brief mention of sex. Reviewed by: Sandie Angulo Chen of Common Sense Media.


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