Blu-Ray Review:

Tropic Thunder

By Jason Gillard

*Screen shots are not from the Blu-Ray source.

Movie

Tropic Thunder is one of those movies that will make you laugh, just not laugh out loud.  The plot is quite simple actually, through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying, but there is a lot more to this movie than that.  First the amount of stars that are in the film are staggering.  You have Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Cruise, Nick Nolte, Jon Voight and the list goes on.  The movie does a great job of spoofing the Hollywood action film genre.  The movie is also quite gory, but in a funny way, if that's even possible.  Stiller also took big risks in this film that caused a lot of controversy.  He plays a mentally challenged person in some parts of the movie and there was backlash against that.  Also, Robert Downey Jr's character is a white person, but puts makeup on to look African American.  For me the funniest character in the movie is Les Grosman.  I won't tell you which actor plays this character because it will ruin the surprise, but this character is really funny.  I also thought Robert Downey Jr was hilarious, and there are many moments in the film that I couldn't stop laughing.  Overall, if your not easily offended and you can handle some of the brutal sight gags, then you will have a blast with Tug Speedman and his crew.  Stiller has proved that he can certainly do a great job as a director.

8 out of 10

Video

For the transfer on this Blu-ray disc I was really impressed.  Everything came across sharp and clear.  The jungle scenes are lush with the green of the jungle.  The black levels are also really above par here and night scenes show great detail in the shadows. Sharpness is incredible from beginning to end, with everything coming across with impeccable detail.  I was expecting the transfer to be good, but not this good.  There is little to no edge enhancement and grain is almost completely gone.  Overall, this is another spectacular transfer from the folks at Dreamworks and it's definitely worthy demo material.

9 out of 10

Audio

The audio is equally impressive and you get a booming Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack.  The surrounds are definitely alive with the sound of gunfire, explosions, chopper blades, and jungle noises.  Dialogue also comes through nice and clear over all these effects, not once did I find myself straining to hear what one of the actors said.  That is the mark of a well mixed soundtrack.  There is nothing more annoying than having to keep your finger on the volume button, luckily that isn't a problem here.  The bass is also well used throughout the film with its many explosions, but there are some inconsistencies at the beginning of the film.  There is a large explosion, but it doesn't have the sonic impact that other explosions have in the film, which is really weird.  Other than that, this is almost a perfect track.

9.5 out of 10

Extras

Here is what you get in the way of extras:

Crew Commentary
Cast Commentary
Rain of Madness
Production Featurettes
Deletions, Extensions, and an Alternate Ending
Full Mags
BD-Live Content
MTV Movie Awards

There is a lot to like here, but by far the best extra has to be Rain of Madness.  This is a hilarious mockumentary about the making of the film.  If you watch just one of the extras, I suggest that you watch that one.  I also don't usually recommend commentaries, but the cast commentary is really well done.  Robert Downey Jr manages to do the whole thing in character and it's a great track to listen to and probably one of the best I have heard in awhile.  I am also going to suggest that you take a look at some of the deleted scenes, because some of them are funny.  Overall, there is a lot to love here, especially the fantastic Rain of Madness mockumentary.

8 out of 10

Overall

I am definitely going to recommend this film.  The disc has a great transfer, outstanding audio and some really funny extras.  What more could you ask for!  Grab your can of booty sweat and watch this film.

8.5 out of 10

Highly Recommended.

Tropic Thunder Blu-ray is available now from Amazon.com