Tropic Thunder

Tropic Thunder
Three men, as seen from the waist up, are dressed as soldiers facing forwards. The man on the left (Jack Black) is yelling, has blond hair, wears red sunglasses, and holds a machine gun. The man at the center (Ben Stiller) has brown hair, wears a military vest, has a tattoo of a skull on his arm, and holds an assault rifle. The man on the right (Robert Downey, Jr.) has long sideburns and a goatee, wears an army green shirt, and wields a shotgun. The top of the poster lists the cast credits, and the bottom lists the title, tagline, production credits, and release date.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBen Stiller
Screenplay by
Story by
  • Ben Stiller
  • Justin Theroux
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJohn Toll
Edited byGreg Hayden
Music byTheodore Shapiro
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release date
  • August 13, 2008 (2008-08-13)
Running time
107 minutes[2]
Countries
LanguageEnglish
Budget$92 million[4]
Box office$195.7 million[4]

Tropic Thunder is a 2008 satirical action comedy film directed by Ben Stiller, who wrote the screenplay with Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen. The film stars Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Jay Baruchel, and Brandon T. Jackson as a group of prima donna actors making a Vietnam War film. When their frustrated director (Steve Coogan) drops them in the middle of a jungle and dies in an accident, they are forced to rely on their acting skills to survive the real action and danger. Tropic Thunder parodies many prestigious war films (specifically those based on the Vietnam War), the Hollywood studio system, and method acting. The ensemble cast includes Nick Nolte, Danny McBride, Matthew McConaughey, Bill Hader, and Tom Cruise.

Stiller developed Tropic Thunder's premise during the production of Empire of the Sun in the spring of 1987, and later enlisted Theroux and Cohen to complete a script. The film was greenlighted in 2006 and produced by Stuart Cornfeld, Stiller, and Eric McLeod for DreamWorks Pictures and Red Hour Productions as an international coproduction between the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Filming took place in 2007 on the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i over thirteen weeks and was the largest film production in the island's history. The extensive marketing campaign included faux websites for three of the main characters and their fictional films, a fictional television special, and selling the energy drink advertised in the film, "Booty Sweat".

Tropic Thunder was released in the United States on August 13, 2008. It received generally positive reviews for its characters, story, faux trailers, and cast performances, with Downey Jr. being the most positively praised for his performance. However, the depiction of people with disabilities and the use of blackface makeup attracted controversy. The film opened at the top of the American box office and retained the number-one position for three consecutive weeks, ultimately grossing more than $195 million worldwide before its release on home media on November 18, 2008. Downey was nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, while both he and Cruise received nominations for a Golden Globe Award.

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Tropic Thunder". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Archived from the original on April 2, 2014. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
  2. ^ "TROPIC THUNDER (15)". British Board of Film Classification. July 30, 2008. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Tropic Thunder (2008)". Lumiere. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference BOXMOJO was invoked but never defined (see the help page).