STUDIO: Paramount
RELEASE DATE: November 18, 2008
STARRING: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Steve Coogan, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Brandon T. Jackson, Bill Hader, and Nick Nolte
WRITTEN BY: Justin Theroux & Ben Stiller and Etan Cohen
DIRECTED BY: Ben Stiller
FEATURES: Filmmaker And Cast Commentaries
Before The Thunder
The Hot LZ
Blowing S#%t Up
Designing The Thunder
The Cast Of Tropic Thunder
Rain Of Madness
Deleted And Extended Scenes
Alternate Ending
Full Mags
MTV Movie Awards - Tropic Thunder
Blu-ray Live Features:
- Dispatches From The Edge Of Madness
- Additional Full Mags
- Video Rehearsals

Tropic Thunder has its flaws, but I love it for one simple reason - it is fearless. When's the last time a mainstream comedy provoked any sort of controversy or discussion other than the age-old argument that teenage boys are too obsessed with sex? Yes, Tropic Thunder earned most of its controversy over the use of a word that many people find offensive (although I would argue that was overblown and that the true butt of the joke in the film is not the handicapped but the actors who think they know how to play them) and I would never suggest that more comedy writers work with offensive language with the intention only to offend. But Tropic Thunder takes more risks than just the r-word. It features an actor in black face, another tripping out on drugs, a moronic director, an abusive producer, and more clever satire of the film industry than we've seen in years. Tropic Thunder is Ben Stiller's big middle finger to everybody who claimed he has lost his edge in a sea of tame romantic comedies and lowest common denominator crap like Meet the Fockers and Night at the Museum. Yes, they made Ben a billionaire but where was the reckless dude who made The Cable Guy? Heck, I would have taken the guy who made Zoolander? But we got something even better in the most daringly un-PC, in-your-face film that Hollywood has produced since Team America: World Police.

Stiller, who also co-wrote and directed, stars as action hero Tugg Speedman, a Bruce Willis-esque (and, yes, Stiller casting himself in the lead is probably the film's biggest mistake...imagine if Bruce himself had played the part) former star on his way downhill fast. He's the money-man behind the filming of the legendary Four Leaf Tayback's (Nick Nolte) biographical novel about his time in Vietnam. Also starring in the film are the Australian method actor Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.), physical comedian Jack Portnoy (Jack Black), rapper Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson), and newcomer Kevin Sandusky (Jay Baruchel). Lazarus has died his skin black to take on the most challenging role of his award-winning career, Chino is just trying to find ways to hack his drink Booty Sweat in a Vietnam movie, and Portnoy is a serious drug addict. This "Band of Bozos" finds themselves in serious trouble when they're turned into real soldiers after director Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan) and explosives expert Cody (Danny McBride) make a series of very bad decisions. Tom Cruise and Matthew McConaughey show up as the movie's producer and Tugg's agent, respectively, and everyone pulls no punches at tackling the self-seriousness of Hollywood.

I shouldn't exaggerate. Tropic Thunder is not perfect. The script needed another pass to tighten it up and Stiller the director kind of loses his way a bit in the saggy middle but the incredibly talented and mostly improvising ensemble saves the day. These incredibly talented actors, including a supporting actor nomination-worthy turn from Downey, make so many smart, satirical decisions. Downey is essentially spoofing two things in one character - pretentious method actors and the way African-Americans are represented in films, especially war movies. It's the details of his performance that are overwhelmingly brilliant. Some people accused the performance of being one-note. They're not looking hard enough. Tropic Thunder is worth seeing for Downey alone but the whole ensemble shines. Slightly better casting for the lead, tightening of the action, and a few trims to the script and Tropic Thunder would have been a comedy classic. I'm actually not convinced that it won't be one anyway as more and more people watch it in the years to come.

And, of course, those years to come are going to be all about Blu-Ray, right? They should be. I'm not sure that a movie that struggled with pace is helped by a longer running time in the unrated director's cut but there is some stuff in here worth seeing, especially some great bits by the underrated Jay Baruchel. The real draw of the extensive collection of special features on the BD disc is "Rain of Madness", a spoof documentary of a spoof film. The satire on top of satire is enough to make your head explode. Funny stuff. Some of the BD special features on Tropic Thunder do take on the annoying habit of bite-size bonuses. What I mean by that is if you're going to give us a b-t-s featurette, just do it. Don't break it up into 5-10 minute chunks to make the list of special features longer. Too many of the Tropic Thunder special features will toss you back to the menu before you even know it. But it's a minor complaint. HD picture and sound, commentaries, director's cut, and a great spoof documentary - the Tropic Thunder Blu-Ray release could be the comedy BD of the year.