Tropic Thunder Blu-ray disc review

Riotously funny comedy Tropic Thunder just arrived on DVD and Blu-ray disc this week. If you weren’t one of our lucky contest winners, this is a must have film anyway.

I watched Tropic Thunder in theaters twice. The first time was at a special advanced screening at San Diego Comic-Con in July, at a midnight screening. I had just come from an all-day journey of comic, film and gaming madness, filled with panel discussions, fast food, and carrying tons of Lions Gate and Warner Brothers freebies, so needless to say, I was a little tired. I fell asleep during the last 30 minutes of the film, only to awakened by Tom Cruise hip-hop dancing, and making almost half of the audience roll out of their seats with laughter and shock.

So I decided to watch the film again, when it was released in theaters, under more ideal conditions. It’s simply a hilarious film. Not for the sensitive, but hilarious. Tropic Thunder features an unconventional combination of action, war film and comedy, that mesh incredibly well, thanks to a fine assembly of talent and writing.

The Blu-ray release was just as funny as that second viewing for me, only this time in ultra-crisp surround hi-def.

I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of special features on the Blu-ray release. You don’t always see such depth in add-ons with comedies.

1. The fun begins with a filmmaker commentary track featuring actor,writer and director Ben Stiller, writer and executive producer Justin Theroux, producer Stuart Cornfeld, production designer Jeff Mann, cinematographer John Toll, and editor Greg Hayden. The track is brimming with technical filmmaking jargon and real substance, with cast and crew chiming in with their thoughts on the film, cinematography and the script. The second track features actors Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Jr., who remains in character as Kirk Lazarus for the entire commentary. The commentary is hilarious, and at times even funnier than the movie itself.
2. Before the Thunder, which is featured in HD, looks at the making of the film, from its birth during the glut of Vietnam War films in the 1980s to what the film attempts to do in its final version.
3. The Hot LZ, another HD featurette, takes a look at the making of the film’s opening action sequence.
4. Blowing S#!t Up, also in HD, is a fun featurette, examining the affects work behind film pyrotechnics.
5. Designing the Thunder looks at the challenges of building the movie sets for Tropic Thunder.
6. The Cast of Tropic Thunder, a 22 minute HD featurette, contains cast and crew interviews that examine character portrayals and what Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Brandon T. Jackson, Jay Baruchel, Danny R. McBride and Nick Nolte, all brought to the project.
7. Rain of Madness is a 30 minute HD mockumentary of the making of Tropic Thunder, or the movie-within-a-movie Tropic Thunder.
8. Next, you’ll find Make-up Test With Tom Cruise, which features Cruise in full make-up, dancing to a hip-hop track.
9. Two deleted scenes, including Water Buffalo Wrestling and Speedman Unpacking His Backpack follow.
10. Two extended sequences, including Snorkels and Eight Minutes in Hell, both with optional commentary.
11. There’s also an alternate ending. The deleted and extended scenes, as well as the alternate ending, all contain a short introduction with Ben Stiller and editor Greg Hayden.
12. Full Mags is a ton of raw footage shot for the movie. This featurette is also presented with an optional introduction from Ben Stiller and Greg Hayden.
13. MTV Movie Awards is a funny vignette created for the MTV Movie Awards.

Below is a complete breakdown of the special features on both the DVD and Blu-ray versions of the film.

DVD and Blu-ray versions

The Tropic Thunder Unrated Director’s Cut two-DVD set is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, French 5.1 Surround and Spanish 5.1 Surround with English, French and Spanish subtitles. The Blu-ray is presented in 1080p High Definition with English 5.1 Dolby True HD, French 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital and English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese subtitles. Total runtime is 122 minutes. Bonus features include:

• Filmmaker commentary with Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux, Stuart Cornfeld, Jeff Mann, John Toll and Greg Hayden
• Cast commentary with Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr.
• Before the Thunder (HD)
• The Hot LZ (HD)
• Blowing S&*t Up (HD)
• Designing the Thunder (HD)
• The Cast of Tropic Thunder
  – Stiller (HD)
  – Black (HD)
  – Downey Jr. (HD)
  – Jackson (HD)
  – Baruchel (HD)
  – McBride (HD)
  – Nolte (HD)
• Rain of Madness (HD)
• Dispatches from the Edge of Madness
  – The Journey Begins
  – Misinformed
  – Viet-Wham!
  – Hallowed Ground
  – Good-bye, Gladys
  – Perception
  – Slaughterhouse Live
  – Clean & Sober
  – Location Scouts
  – Historically Accurate
  – P.P.S.D.
• Deleted Scenes
  – Water Buffalo Wrestling (HD)
  – Speedman Unpacking his Backpack (HD)
• Extended Sequences
  – Snorkels (HD)
  – Eight Minutes in Hell (HD)
• Alternate Ending (HD)
• MTV Movie Awards—Tropic Thunder
• Full Mags
  – Cody at Bar (HD)
  – Portnoy Tied to Tree (HD)
  – Choose a Dude (HD)
  – Laz at Campfire (HD)
• Video Rehearsals

Single-disc DVD

The single-disc DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, French 5.1 Surround and Spanish 5.1 Surround with English, French and Spanish subtitles. Bonus features include:

• Cast commentary with Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr.
• Blowing S&*t Up
• The Hot LZ
• The Cast of Tropic Thunder
  – Stiller
  – Black
  – Downey Jr.
  – Jackson
  – Baruchel
  – McBride
  – Nolte
• Full Mags
  – Portnoy Tied to Tree
  – Choose a Dude
• Rain of Madness Trailer
• MTV Movie Awards—Tropic Thunder

For added laughs, head over to www.tropicthunder.com/game and join the Tropic Thunder team in this Contra-style 8-bit online game. Do you have enough Booty Sweat to make it through the jungle?! Do ya?! Oh, and if you’re an old-school gaming nerd, then you probably already know the “secret” way to get 99 lives in this game too.