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Ultra HD : Highly Recommended
Ranking:
Sale Price: $21.34 Last Price: $39.95 Buy now! 3rd Party 17.27 In Stock
Release Date: October 18th, 2022 Movie Release Year: 2008

Tropic Thunder - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

Overview -

Tropic Thunder breaks all the walls down with its unique and hilarious satire on the Hollywood movie-making business. The excellent A-List cast with their amazing performances is not only memorable but downright funny about a big film production in a process that pits the world's most famous actors against each other in a war for survival when it all becomes real. It's still outstanding to this day. Kino Lorber has given the film a new, beautiful 4K transfer with a new DTS-HD 5.1 audio mix. All of the original bonus material and commentary tracks have been imported over as well. Highly Recommended!

 

Ben Stiller is action juggernaut Tugg Speedman. Jack Black is comedy legend Jeff Portnoy. Robert Downey Jr. is acclaimed method actor Kirk Lazarus. When these huge Hollywood stars head into the jungles of Vietnam to shoot a war movie, they have no idea how real things can get. With biting satire, plenty of subversive humor and an unforgettable, Oscar-nominated turn by Robert Downey Jr., co-writer/director/all-around-genius Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder is the outrageous action-comedy classic that’ll “blow your mind” (Rolling Stone). The insane cast also features Steve Coogan, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Brandon T. Jackson, Bill Hader, Nick Nolte, Matthew McConaughey and Tom Cruise as volcanic studio executive Les Grossman. This 2-disc special-edition includes both the theatrical cut and the director’s cut.

Disc One: Theatrical Cut (4KUHD)
• HDR/Dolby Vision Remastered by Paramount Pictures, Supervised and Approved by Director Ben Stiller
• Audio Commentary by Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr.
• 5.1 Surround and Lossless 2.0 Stereo
• Triple-Layered UHD100 Disc
• Optional English Subtitles
Disc Two: Director’s Cut (Blu-ray)
• Remastered in 4K by Paramount Pictures, Supervised and Approved by Director Ben Stiller
• Audio Commentary by Ben Stiller, Co-Producer Stuart Cornfeld, Production Designer Jeff Mann, Co-Writer Justin Theroux, Cinematographer John Toll and Editor Greg Hayden
• BEFORE THE THUNDER: Featurette
• THE HOT LZ: Featurette
• BLOWING SHIT UP: Featurette
• DESIGNING THE THUNDER: Featurette
• THE CAST OF TROPIC THUNDER: Interviews with Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Brandon T. Jackson, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride and Nick Nolte
• Make-Up Test with Tom Cruise with Intro by Ben Stiller and Editor Greg Hayden
• Deleted/Extended Scenes & Alternate Ending with Intro & Optional Audio Commentaries by Ben Stiller & Editor Greg Hayden
• FULL MAGS: Improv Footage Featurette with Intro by Ben Stiller & Editor Greg Hayden
• MTV MOVIE AWARDS – TROPIC THUNDER
• Rain of Madness: Documentary (30:00)
• Rain of Madness: Trailer (2:41)
• Two Theatrical Trailers
• 5.1 Surround and Lossless 2.0 Stereo
• Dual-Layered BD50 Disc
• Optional English Subtitles

OVERALL:
Highly Recommended
Rating Breakdown
STORY
VIDEO
AUDIO
SPECIAL FEATURES
Tech Specs & Release Details
Technical Specs:
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray + Blu-ray
Video Resolution/Codec:
Dolby Vision HDR / HDR10
Length:
107
Aspect Ratio(s):
2.39:1
Audio Formats:
English: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles/Captions:
English SDH
Release Date:
October 18th, 2022

Storyline: Our Reviewer's Take

Ranking:

It's difficult to believe that one of the best satires about Hollywood, actors, and making movies is almost fifteen years old. Filmmaker and comedy legend Ben Stiller embarked on a big-budget war film with Tropic Thunder with an all-star cast that made fun of the different typecast actors coming together to make a serious war movie. The film still holds up so well today as it made fun of the inner workings of film studios, directors, and actors who go full method. It's a wonderfully funny satire on pop culture and filmmaking that has not been mirrored since like this. And since the film still holds up, the movie itself gets a better star rating than before.

For the Full Review from 2008, CLICK HERE.

 

Vital Disc Stats: The Ultra HD Blu-ray
Tropic Thunder goes to war on 4K + Blu-ray via Kino Lorber. The discs are housed inside a hard, black plastic case with a collectible cardboard sleeve. There is no insert for Kino Lorber promos or a digital code. The sleeve artwork consists of the Tropic Thunder emblem, title, and its grey background. The case artwork is the three leading actors yelling with a fiery war backdrop. 

 

Video Review

Ranking:

Tropic Thunder has arrived on 4K with Dolby Vision/HDR10 from Paramount and Kino Lorber Studio Classics. The new 2160p UHD 4K image was supervised by Ben Stiller himself. Now there are two discs included here, one is the 4K Disc and the other is the 1080p Blu-ray Disc. Oddly, Kino has only provided the Theatrical cut of the film in 4K, while the Director's Cut is still in 1080p. It's also worth noting that the 4K option is Region Free and the Blu-ray is Region A.

This new 4K is much more vibrant, rich, and bold than the Blu-ray image. That old 1080p release came out back when Blu-rays were relatively new in 2008, so technology has come a long way since then. The upgrade in colors with Dolby Vision/HDR10 is exquisite. That Blu-ray image from 2008 looked good, but the color palette was muted in the lush jungles. With this new transfer, the green in the trees and ripe green pastures are brighter and more delicious. Depending on the plant itself and lighting conditions, they simply come to life with varying shades of green.

It's a stark contrast when comparing the two together. Browns in the tree bark, muddy brown that go well with the blue skies above look amazing. Explosions and gun blasts pack those warmer colors of red, orange, and yellow perfectly. Back in Grossman's office, cooler colors prevail with blues and purples. The camouflage uniforms look excellent and the blood-red liquid shines. Orange-tinted shots by campfires and other nighttime sequences look wonderful as well. Back levels are now inkier without any murky shadows or bleeding, and the skin tones are a bit richer than before, whereas Downey Jr.'s makeup application looks a bit browner than before.

The detail this time around reveals excellent closeups that included individual hairs, stubble, practical makeup effects, gory wounds, and rubbery entrails from battered bodies. Wrinkles, blemishes, freckles, beads of sweat, and blood all look amazing here. The background shots of the wooded settings and landscapes, along with the props and sets are intricately detailed. The faux intense makeup on Simple Jack is hilarious as well. There is a good bit of film grain here that can fluctuate at times, bit keeps with the movie's filmic picture. There is some slight banding in a couple of spots, but other than that, this new 4K image is top-notch and the definitive way to watch the film.

Audio Review

Ranking:

This new release comes with a DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio mix that sound a little bit better than the previous Dolby TrueHD option. The soundscape is fuller and more dynamic this time around. Helicopter blades twirling has a great low end of bass that serves up its courageous rumble without crossing into rocky territory. Explosions and the different gun blasts all pack that necessary punch and jolt that feels right. Sound effects are robust and loud and cause a fully immersive listening experience inside the jungle. Bullet transitions from speaker to speaker are more fluid here as well.

Ambient noises of the jungle, insects, wind, rain, and people yelling and firing their guns all sound wonderful and come through often in the surround speakers. The score and son cues always add to either the suspense or comedy of the film and the dialogue is clean, clear, and free of any issues. That credit sequence song where Tom Cruise cuts a rug has the bass levels going off perfectly.

Special Features

Ranking:

There are no new extras this time around, but all the previous bonus features have been imported over, including those two excellent commentary tracks, tons of interviews, behind-the-scenes, deleted scenes, trailers, featurettes, and an alternate ending. It would have been nice to have a new intro from Stiller at least here.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL RUNDOWN OF EXTRAS

4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

  • Audio Commentary by Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr.

Blu-ray Disc

  • Audio Commentary by Ben Stiller, Co-Producer Stuart Cornfeld, Production Designer Jeff Mann, Co-Writer Justin Theroux, Cinematographer John Toll and Editor Greg Hayden
  • BEFORE THE THUNDER: Featurette
  • THE HOT LZ: Featurette
  • BLOWING SHIT UP: Featurette
  • DESIGNING THE THUNDER: Featurette
  • THE CAST OF TROPIC THUNDER: Interviews with Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Brandon T. Jackson, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride and Nick Nolte
  • Make-Up Test with Tom Cruise with Intro by Ben Stiller and Editor Greg Hayden
  • Deleted/Extended Scenes & Alternate Ending with Intro & Optional Audio Commentaries by Ben Stiller & Editor Greg Hayden
  • FULL MAGS: Improv Footage Featurette with Intro by Ben Stiller & Editor Greg Hayden
  • MTV MOVIE AWARDS – TROPIC THUNDER
  • Rain of Madness: Documentary 
  • Rain of Madness: Trailer 
  • Two Theatrical Trailers

Final Thoughts

Tropic Thunder is still a fantastically funny, poignant satire about Hollywood, actors, and filmmaking. With an A-List cast and some over-the-top and nuanced performances with some of Hollywood's largest names, Tropic Thunder still shines a light as one of the better comedies in cinema some fifteen years later. It hasn't been duplicated since. This new 4K picture looks gorgeous and is a generous upgrade in image quality from the last release. The DTS-HD 5.1 audio mix sounds better than the previous audio track as well. There are no new extras but each bonus feature has transitioned over. Unfortunately not both discs are 4K and there is no digital code. Still, this is the best the film ever looked and sounded. Highly Recommended and worth the upgrade!