What, no love for "Tropic Thunder"??? (1 Viewer)

[Ron Reda]

I was really surprised to not see anything about this movie here. I just finished watching the Blu-ray and it was fantastic from beginning to end. I won't spoil it except to say it's a laugh riot and to expect the unexpected. There are big names, cameos and surprises galore. There is some mild gore, so beware, but it's done in a comedic way so it's rather tolerable.

Anyway, the Blu-ray is killer both video- and audio-wise. The transfer is flat-out excellent. Is it gonna look like Wall-E? No, but in my book, it's easily a 4.5/5. The lush greens of the jungle pop and you can see really the detail in the close-ups of the actors' faces that are covered in dirt and grime. The Dolby TrueHD audio too is quite good. There are sound effects galore and plenty of gunfire, explosions and helicopter blades "whupping." I'd say the only thing that got me was that in the BIG set explosions, there could be a tad more low bass, but that's just nitpicky...there's plenty of good stuff to go around.

If you can appreciate a spoof of Hollywood actors, rap stars, war movies and flat-out (yet potty-mouth) hilarity, check this one out.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

My Disk is still on the way, seen it in the theater and loved it, wonder what the "Director's Version" adds?

 

[Keith Paynter]

The commentary with Stiller, Black and Downey is hoot, especially when Downey keeps slipping "into character".

 

[Adam Gregorich]

I think Pat is still working on the review. Paramount screeners used to come out about two weeks before street and this one came out only a few days before street. Ben Stiller and Paramout executives screened the directors cut for us when we were at Paramount a few weeks ago for the HTF national meet.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Sounds like I may need to put this on my rental queue. Didn't know anything about this one before.

On 2nd thought, maybe this deserves a blind buy from the nearby street vendor, if they have any. Just took a peek at Roger Ebert's review (and the fairly high rating for a comedy on RottenTomatoes.com), and this sounds very promising.

_Man_

 

[David Deeb]

I'm going to pick it up blind, based on the positive reviews I read this summer. Heard great things about it.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

BTW, is this one seamlessly branched between Director's Cut and theatrical version? OR is it only the DC?

_Man_

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I haven't seen this new director's cut yet, but I did catch it in theaters over the summer.

To anyone considering a blind buy, if I may offer my two cents: don't. The movie is well-worth seeing, but I think it's really one of those that's worth seeing first. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it a lot in theaters, but I felt that it ran too long and kinda ran out of steam before the end. The director's cut I think is 20 minutes longer, so for a movie that was already too long (in my opinion) to begin with... I liked the movie, but it was one of those where I enjoyed it, I laughed as I watched it (pretty hard at a couple of spots) but it's also one of those films where now that I've seen it, I don't think I'll ever need to watch it again.

Just my opinion, but I think this is one of those films that some people might not think is worth re-watching. I don't regret seeing it and I enjoyed it, but I probably would have felt it was a wasted purchase if I had bought it sight unseen. I went with some friends and family and they had the same feeling, for the most part... very funny, hysterical in certain moments, but not really one of those we'd want to re-watch a bunch of times or own.

And while I wouldn't recommend buying this movie blind, I'd absolutely recommend seeing it.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

On the other hand it's the kind of movie that get funnier each time you watch it.

 

[Richard Travale]

This is one of those movies that will become a comedy classic. Hilarious on all levels.
I would have bought it by now but as of November I'm not allowed to buy my own Blurays as "Christmas and birthday are just around the corner" :frowning:

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Adam and Josh,

Would you guys mind thumb-wrestling so I can decide whether to blind-buy this?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war...

Probably more useful if I just explained why I didn't think I'd want to own it, and maybe that will help one way or the other. I hope it's not giving anything away to say that Tropic Thunder is a comedy that's making fun of the film industry, and it uses a "movie within a movie"-type plot to do that, with that fake movie being a war film. I don't want to really give anything away; I thought this was one film harmed by trailers giving away too many funny bits, and I don't want to make that mistake here. I thought the middle portion of the film started to drag.. a lot. In that, "OK, I get the joke, what's next?" kind of way. I feel like Ben Stiller more or less plays the same character in most of his films, and this film is no exception--and I'm not a real big fan of that character, the "not-the-brightest-guy-in-the-room-by-a-longshot, act like a rude and insensitive tough guy in that fake macho voice" schtick that he does. It worked for this particular movie, but it started getting old by the end.

And while I'm not too squeamish, for whatever reason as I was watching Tropic Thunder it felt unusually violent to me. Now, I understand that was the point, and that certainly led to some very funny moments in the film, but the violence rubbed me in a certain way where even though it was funny, there was nothing about it that made me want to watch it again.

Remember in the 80s and 90s when it seemed like there were a bunch of 90 minute comedies being made? I feel like there was a great 90 minute movie hidden somewhere within the film's bloated 107 minute theatrical run time. This new director's cut runs about 120 minutes, which seems like a lot for this particular feature. I like long films, but sometimes less is more, and when a lot of the film is dependent on jokes and performances that are essentially one-note, there's a limit to how much you can get out of it... and I feel like they just stretched it out too much.

I will say that Robert Downey Jr. was hilarious, and the scenes he was in I would find more rewatchable than the film as a whole. It's a good movie and one worth watching. Maybe it is a film that gets funnier each time, but there was nothing about it that seemed that way to me when I saw it. If anything, I felt that the best jokes had all been used in the numerous trailers and TV spots that were out there, so I had already seen the best parts of the movie countless times before I even got to see the full thing.

But that's my two cents, and you might feel totally different. Whether you end up renting it or buying it, I'm curious what you end up thinking about it!

 

[Ethan Riley]

You mean like "the Exorcist?"

 

[Ron Reda]

What I like about this thread that differs from many of the other "review/worth a blind buy?" threads out there is that there is a healthy debate going on but everyone involved is very respectful of the others' opinion. WOW, how refreshing!

First things first, I have no idea what was added for the Director's Cut, but I do know there's no seamless branching; it's all one cut. Where I will agree with Josh (who's been good enough to express himself yet not crap all over the people that DID like it...good job, Josh!) is that I too felt like it lost some steam towards the end. Keep in mind this cut is 120 minutes, so in hindsight, I do feel like it could have used some judicious editing to tighten things up a bit. That being said, while I would like to have seen the theatrical cut first followed by the Director's Cut, I didn't get that chance and I thoroughly enjoyed the cut I did see.

Where my opinion differs is that I feel like this certainly is one of those films that will get funnier with each viewing. While I was just trying to keep up, I'm sure there's plenty of jokes I missed that will reveal themselves upon subsequent viewings. Yeah, so what if some of them are one-note lines...some of my favorite movies have one-note lines and I watch them over and over to this day. I also don't agree that a lot of the lines were used in the commercials and trailers, presuming of course that I saw the same ones Josh did...there's PLENTY of material that was unmined.

As for the violence, it's so completely over the top and worked into the comedy well enough to where, even though I am somewhat squeamish, it never once bothered me.

At this point, you're probably thinking, OK, we're still about 50/50, but what put it over the top for me was the quality of the transfer and the sound...they are both top notch. It's the type of film that you can put on for your buddies that may not be as fortunate as you (the reader of this post) to be on the cutting edge of home theater technology to show off just how good Blu-ray looks over DVD (and hopefully prompt them to get on board) AND you can do so with a funny as hell comedy to get that point across.

 

[TonyD]

and i was totally shocked by it.
After the shock wore off in a few seconds the scene was a
riot in the context of what was going on.

I laughed out loud, hard several times.

I wouldnt say it should be a blind buy but it is well worth a look.
Downey was the movie as far as i was concerned, he was just great.

also one of the extra features is a reel of film of just
Downey and Stiller performing a small scene over and over,
and it' a treat to see this piece of filming.

 

[TheBat]

I had heard things about it.. both good and bad.. I was concern about the subplot on the disabled.. I was not offended by that.. I knew that where making fun of the way that hollywood does it.. then it was no problem.. I should also warn that this movie is very strong in use the bad langauge.. more so from a war movie.. this is not a movie for the kids. I didn't mind the profanity. but some people might. I want to buy it.. I did rent it from blockbuster. I would compare it to hot fuzz.. making fun of stuff.. that is actually better then the real movies that they are basing it on. if you have seen alot of war movies.. then you will probably get alot of the jokes.

Jacob

 

[TonyD]

This was a Hollywood satire using a fake war movie as the device.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...ml#post3465883

 

[Brent M]

Just got done watching TT and I absolutely loved it. All of the performances were great, but Downey Jr., McConaghey and Cruise absolutely stole the show. The movie had everything I love: politically incorrect humor, tons of foul language, graphic violence and explosions. Not your normal cocktail for a comedy, but it works. In fact, it works so well I can't wait to watch it again. The amazing picture and sound featured on the Blu-Ray are just icing on the cake.

 

[Ron Reda]

With all due respect, it's an unrated film...I would hope people wouldn't blindly play it for their kids without first checking it out!