A Bit of a Let Down (Tropic Thunder (DVD))

Member Name: sewbizzie

Product:	Tropic Thunder (DVD)
Date:	02/06/09 (120 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good effects, good acting

Disadvantages: Average story which could have been so much better

I was in need of a good comedy last night so this is the one which hubby picked. I was expecting good things from the film as it has a lot of actors in which I really enjoy watching. I have to say that I was slightly let down by the film and found it to be quite average.

At the start of the film we have several trailers for spoof films which show us the cast of this film in other movie and singing roles. When the film starts properly we are on a movie set where the Director, Damien Cockburn is having problems getting the cast to do as he wishes. The next problem the director faces is when the explosive man sets of a 4 million dollar explosion at the wrong time. The main man who has sunk a lot of money into the film, Les Grossman is putting a lot of pressure on him and so drastic action is needed.

The original writer of the book which the film is based on, Four Leaf Tayback suggests that the director and cast are thrown in at the deep end and left to make the film on their own and they will be on hand to control the explosions. The crew, Tugg Speedman, Kirk Kazurus and Jeff Portney are all up for this and soon find themselves in the middle of the jungle ready for filming but all is not well.

The Director steps on an old land mine and in blown up but they all think that it is a trick so set of to follow the scene guides and shoot the movie with all of the hidden cameras which are in the jungle. Little do the men know that they are in a real war as they have landed in territory which is owned and run by drug monkeys.

Will the crew be able to save themselves and will they ever realise that what is going on around them is actually real and ultimately will the film ever be finished?

The opening scenes in the film found to be very strange as I thought that they were just normal film trailers and it was not until I actually paid attention I realised that they were showing us the characters which are in the film and what they had done before. I have to say that some of the trailers did look like they would have made for good films despite being loosely based and spoofs of previous ones! The film did take a turn for the worst for me when I saw who the director was as I am not a fan of Steve Coogan but I will admit that he did do a good job and I thought he did a fantastic job when he was blow up!

The cast which included Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr, Jack Black, Nick Nolte and after racking my brain I finally worked out that it was Tom Cruise who played the role of Les Grossman the movie mogul. I thought that they all did a wonderful job in their characters and all had a great on screen chemistry. I did find it a bit strange that Robert Downey Jr blacked up for the film and thought that he did not need to as his character would have been just as good without it. I think he took a big risk doing this and cannot say that it completely paid off. I enjoyed how the stars of the film were all trying to deal with their own problems whilst trying to shoot this film and I think this added a bit of depth to the characters. I particularly enjoyed the way Jack Black was trying to deal with withdrawal symptoms from his 'jellybean' addiction!

The setting for the film was in the jungle and I found that it was wonderfully shot and a lot of time and effort went into making sure everything look authentic and real. I think that the effects which were used in the film were all amazing and can quite see why this film cost so much money to make. I think that the effects did make the film and improved an otherwise average film.

There were several places in the film where hubby would say that it was a spoof of other film he had seen but I cannot comment on how well these were as the films he was mentioning were ones which I had not seen. He did mention the film Predator quite a few times though. He did say that they were funny takes on them and he did laugh out loud in some places.

The DVD which we have does have some bonus material which includes:-

Cast commentary with Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey jr.
The Cast of Tropic Thunder
Blowing $#%+ Up
And More!

I have not watched any of these features as I have no interest in them so I cannot comment on them. I perhaps would have found a gag and blooper reel quite funny but there wasn't one included which was a shame.

The film has a running time of 102 minutes which I found quite long enough an think that it would have started to get boring and the story would have dragged if it was any longer. The certificate on the film is a 15 as it does contain a lot of strong language and sex references. There is also a lot of comic violence and I do agree with this rating.

Overall I think that the film was well made and more so by the effects. I did find I was laughing out loud in some of the places but I think it was quite overrated and not as funny as I expected it to be and hubby does agree with me on this.

Summary: The filming of a movie sees the actors being put in a real war zone