Dec 03 2008
DVD Review: Tropic Thunder
One of the most controversial movies of this year is probably Tropic Thunder. The movie finally hit DVD on November 18th, and it was released with a special 2 disc collector’s edition. The movie comes to us from the mind of Ben Stiller, who also stars in the film along side Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black. The comedy action adventure takes us onto a movie set of a fake movie being filmed in Vietnam. The three play actors in the movie, and there are small things that stand out in this movie to make it a must see with a ton of controversy.
The main controversy for me is the character played by Robert Downey Jr. In this film, he plays an Australian who goes through a surgical procedure to play a black man in the fake movie. This was actually offensive to me. Others found the treatment of mentally handicapped in the film also offensive, and this caused the most controversy when the film was released. Some even boycotted the movie. Even with the controversy, this movie is entertaining. The three actors go from filming a movie to actually fighting for their lives in the Vietnam jungle.
The humor in the movie is often crude, and this would turn some people off from seeing the movie. This is definitely not a movie you would want to take the kids to see or a movie appropriate for family night in front of the television. The movie does have its moments, but for me they came few and far between. I didn’t find myself interested in this film much. Robert Downey Jr.’s performance did catch my eye though, for more than just the controversy surrounding the role. I found it hard to believe that it really was Robert in this role. His performance was definitely one of the best in the film.
The DVD set contains two discs. The first disc includes the film with additional commentary available. The second disc includes a number of special features. These include deleted scenes and an alternate ending along with more commentary and behind the scenes materials. The movie itself is the unrated version not shown in theatrical release. This movie is not for the faint of heart or non fans of dark comedy. If you enjoy a little gross humor with your viewing, this movie might be just the one for you. If not, then you might want to pass it up.
