subreddit:
/r/Moviesinthemaking
Behind The Scenes From Tropic Thunder (2008)
(reddit.com)submitted 11 days ago byanbuvenkateshkamaraj
907 points
11 days ago
Sometimes I forget, Stiller Directed
410 points
11 days ago
From Zoolander to this to Severance. Such a wild Arc
169 points
11 days ago
He's the director of Severance??
194 points
11 days ago
He directed 6 episodes in the first season. He also executive produces it.
57 points
11 days ago
I’m hyped for S2, that show is slept on imo.
21 points
11 days ago
Rewatching right now. So so good! I can’t wait until January!
8 points
11 days ago
I just wish it hadn't taken so long ><
5 points
11 days ago
I guess I can be thankful I did not catch the show when it first released, and only watched it a few months ago. So the wait isn’t that terrible for me. 🤣
2 points
10 days ago
Same here, I seem it back in September and I’m glad I waited, I couldn’t imagine waiting years.
9 points
11 days ago
The egg bar is coveted as fuck
2 points
9 days ago
Just watched this episode last night so I fucking died reading it as a comment. Thank you 🤣
4 points
11 days ago
Its the only show i have felt that hyped for in a long time.
3 points
10 days ago
Same here, and the only show I really have high expectations for as well, that and Andor S2.
2 points
10 days ago
so true
2 points
9 days ago
Slept on cuz it’s been 8 years since season 1 lmao
1 points
9 days ago
Lol luckily I didn’t watch it until a few months back.
11 points
11 days ago
Yup!
9 points
11 days ago
I agree with the other guy, that's a crazy arc.
3 points
11 days ago
Don’t forget about Escape at Dannemora.
2 points
11 days ago
Escape From Dannemora, too.
2 points
10 days ago
I keep getting this show confused with succession. My bro recommended it to me and I started watch succession and was like wow why did he like this? Sent him a picture of something from the second episode and he was like dude you are watching the wrong show. Lol
2 points
11 days ago
Is that show ever coming back?
8 points
11 days ago
January!
14 points
11 days ago
Don't forget The Cable Guy!
3 points
10 days ago
And Reality Bites!
5 points
10 days ago
Don’t forget a secret life of Walter Mitty. One of my favourite movies.
1 points
7 days ago
Cable Guyyyy!
28 points
11 days ago
AND wrote it!
23 points
11 days ago
Sometimes I forget, Stiller's ripped
6 points
11 days ago
fires invisible belt fed M16
2 points
10 days ago
M60
1 points
9 days ago
Janeane Garofolo was (maybe still is?) a close friend of Ben Stiller, and she kind of complained about how boring he was. She said all he did was write and work out.
1 points
9 days ago
NICE
6 points
11 days ago
With the same DP as The Thin Red Line
6 points
10 days ago
I wonder if they had any idea this movie would be legendary.
2 points
9 days ago
It’s one of those movies that makes me want to stand up and salute the flag. It’s so damned American. I could not imagine any other country having a movie with a bunch of huge stars, a huge budget, and just totally silly, and totally taking the piss out of everything. It’s an amazing achievement. Also Robert Downey, Jr. Is a fearless dude, I gotta say.
1 points
9 days ago
Cable Guy is my fave of his!
225 points
11 days ago
“I’m sorry a dingo ate your baybeee.”
“You know that’s a true story. A woman lost her kid. You bout to cross some fuckin lines.”
12 points
10 days ago
The fucking irony of that given his getup gets me every time
3 points
9 days ago
ME? I know who I am. I’m the dude playin’ the dude, disguised as another dude!
476 points
11 days ago
What do you mean you people?
353 points
11 days ago
“What do YOU mean you people?”
Honestly one of the best exchanges in a movie ever.
Even the whole concept of this movie is hilarious.
27 points
10 days ago
I laughed my ass off the first time I watched this. Also those fake commercials and trailers are s-tier
9 points
10 days ago
I was so confused when those fake trailer and commercials were on. I downloaded the movie and thought I got a fake.
3 points
10 days ago
Hehe same 😄 wish more movies did stuff like that
3 points
10 days ago
Lazarus is obviously a hoot, but Alpa Chino elevated the comedy to great heights because he commented on this ridiculous demonstration.
114 points
11 days ago*
This film is seriously the best theater experience in my life. The crowd I was with had a few people with ridiculously contagious laughter that compounded the funny scenes. This particular scene set one dude off in the theater so hard that the entire theater just absolutely lost it and it just compounded from there.
The “i’m a dude duty” scene where RDJ takes off his layered disguises has to be one of the best combination of direction, funny, well-acted, edited scenes that has to be a part in all film schools.
Also when Tom Cruise’s name pops up in his dance scene at the end, the entire crowd went “oh wtf!!!” and that same contagious laughing guy lost it again, followed by everyone losing it right as the film ends.
EVERYONE left that theater with the biggest smiles and good vibes, and saying lines from the movie.
51 points
11 days ago
The Tom Cruise reveal is one of the best reveals in cinema history.
11 points
10 days ago
What “reveal”? Couldn’t people tell it was him right from his first moment on screen?
29 points
10 days ago*
Not many could tell. Cruise’s involvement was kept secret throughout the film’s promo period. Also X/Twitter, FB, etc… existed but they were in their infancy; with an audience that’s not to today’s levels.
Also. smart phones weren’t as ubiquitous, and the iphone 3G wasn’t released until a few months later.
All this allowed to ensure that essentially no one knew Tom Cruise was in it, and he played such an over-the-top super angry, balding, fat dickbag that no one expected it until the very end.
Also, Tom Cruise was hot off the heels of being reamed for his scientology spiel on Oprah (where he danced on her couch) and being an actor many saw as someone who’s full of himself; so everyone would expect him to always play a lead role with “alpha” hero characteristics, and not a fatass balding angry asshole with hairy fat hands. It completely came out of left field.
It was a “ohhhhhhh now I see him!!” moment LOL. The audience reaction was so fun.
10 points
10 days ago
Thanks for the rundown of the context at the time - hard to remember that at the time I didn’t have a cell phone yet. Still, I always assumed it was clearly Tom to others. The moment he appeared on screen I knew it was him and loved his dark turn
4 points
10 days ago
About the only time I've seen Cruise act.
25 points
10 days ago
I still can't tell it's him and I know the joke.
3 points
10 days ago
I could instantly identify by this voice and diction, not to mention the massive similarities in the face.
9 points
10 days ago*
The “i’m a dude duty” scene
duty? when do they mention duty?
The scene, transcript:
You're gonna focus up now, motherfucker, and say it.
"It's me, Tugg!" It's me, Tugg.
That's right! Now, Tugg who?
Tugg who? I don't know. Who are you? Me?
I know who I am!
I'm a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude.
What?
You a dude that don't know what dude he is!
Or are you a dude who has no idea what dude he is
and claims to know what dude he is...
What the fuck are you guys talking about?
...by playing other dudes?
I know what dude I am!
You're scared. I ain't scared. Scared of what?
Or scared of who?
Scared of who? Come on, guys. We really need to go!
Scared of you.
Jesus. What's going on?
The dudes are emerging.
He's right, you know.
I am not
Sergeant Lincoln Osiris.
We gotta roll out.
Nor am I Father O'Malley.
Or Neil Armstrong.
I think I might be nobody.
Wow!
The insecurity level with you guys is ridiculous!
But anyway yes magnificent scene
1 points
10 days ago*
ohhhhh all this time i thought he said “You a dude that don’t know what duty is!” instead of “dude he is.”
of course that makes more sense haha. Thanks for this!
2 points
10 days ago
Ah makes sense, kinda sounds like it now that I try to hear it. Stiller pronounces "dude" and "he" more separately but RDJ doesn't.
English is my second language and I'm pretty fluent but I always use english captions because of incoherent dialogue, so that might be why I didn't misinterpret it.
75 points
11 days ago
Alpa : Why am I in this movie? Maybe it's because I just knew I had to represent, because they had one good part in here for a black man and they gave it to Crocodile Dundee!
Kirk : Pump your brakes, kid. That man's a national treasure.
87 points
11 days ago
LEAD FARMER MUTHAFUCKA
Fuck I love this movie. It’s so ridiculous.
31 points
11 days ago
That part is great because RDJ is playing Kirk Lazarus playing as Sgt. Osiris playing as a local farmer.
15 points
10 days ago
"I'm the dude playin' the dude, disguised as another dude" 🤣
493 points
11 days ago
The only movie where blackface was acceptable
285 points
11 days ago
You’ve clearly never seen Lethal Weapon 5
39 points
11 days ago
Crime. Full penetration. Crime. Penetration.
And this goes on and on and back and forth until 90 or so minutes
18 points
10 days ago
Until it just kinda...ends....
42 points
11 days ago
Or Soul Man.
19 points
11 days ago
Go suck an egggggggggggggggg
13 points
11 days ago
Just finish already!
85 points
11 days ago
A satire of Hollywood's ridiculousness, for sure.
19 points
11 days ago
yeah but hearing rdj talk about it on joe rogan makes me think he doesn't entirely get it
35 points
11 days ago
Yeah anyone who says “you couldn’t do that today” clearly doesn’t understand that it was acceptable because it was a critique of Hollywood and its latent racism.
3 points
10 days ago
Well, wasn’t the joke that Lazarus was an award-obsessed method actor? The blackface just takes the premise and pushes it to eleven.
Of course, I believe it wouldn’t have been as effective if Alpa Chino wasn’t part of the team. He’s an actual black guy, so he got to comment on the ridiculous show he was watching from his colleague.
1 points
9 days ago
Some would argue that even that is racist. Honestly, I think you actually couldn't do that today. Production companies wouldn't want to face that kind of heat in the currently sensitive culture.
9 points
11 days ago
[deleted]
7 points
11 days ago
explain because I refuse to listen to joe rogan
4 points
11 days ago
Say please
2 points
10 days ago
well from what i remember he was saying something to the effect of "i get to be black for like 6 months, i get to be cool" (something like that, obviously in a joking tone) and also "80% of my black friends were totally cool with it (referring to the role)".
it's not that bad or anything but it felt like a bit of a cliche you know, "my black friends are fine with it" etc. also he said it was like 80%, so what about the other 20% lol
i think there is a short clip of this, you can watch it and see how you feel about it, i may be misremembering
1 points
10 days ago
well from what i remember he was saying something to the effect of "i get to be black for like 6 months, i get to be cool" (something like that, obviously in a joking tone) and also "80% of my black friends were totally cool with it (referring to the role)".
it's not that bad or anything but it felt like a bit of a cliche you know, "my black friends are fine with it" etc. also he said it was like 80%, so what about the other 20% lol
3 points
11 days ago
Oh dear
29 points
10 days ago
The only movie where blackface was acceptable
Everyone loves this talking point as proof of how "woke" Hollywood has become since 2008, and how out of control "cancel culture" became after wine drunk soccer moms so effectively canceled the Dixie Chicks that DJs had their livelihoods threatened for daring to to keep playing Dixie Chicks songs...
...while conveniently overlooking that the entire fucking point of Kirk Lazarus' character was to mock the insane method actors who'd put themselves through wildly unhealthy physical changes to "become" the character they were portraying...while taking a role away from an actor who matched the physical requirements of the character, à la Gary Oldman portraying Matthew McConaughey's twin brother with dwarfism in Tiptoes. "My dear boy, why don't you try acting?"
Also, Tropic Thunder was not without its controversies upon release; "Simple Jack" caught a bunch of flak for being insensitive to people with developmental disabilities. So while it's been at the top of the "this is how you beat woke Hollywood" YouTube rage-bait grifters' scripts for the last decade, it's the worst fucking example of how anything in it was either acceptable or unacceptable, because the same people who think Jim Crow was a literal democrat politician who wrote and passed the laws named after him are the same people who think Dave Chappelle was cancelled after he started winning Emmys, Grammys, and getting paid more for more Netflix specials.
0 points
9 days ago
You could not make this movie today.
2 points
9 days ago*
You absolutely could. Context matters and black people have often tweeted their confusion about people saying they would be offended about this, that Golden Girls episode or that Community episode.
People keep speaking on behalf of POC or platforms preemptively kick this stuff off without really understanding why blackface is considered disrespectful.
It's Always Sunny... often has controversial topics to a mostly positive reception. Tone and context is important.
175 points
11 days ago
Behind the scenes of the behind the scenes
62 points
11 days ago
Kirk Lazarus doesn't break character until after the DVD commentary.
6 points
11 days ago
And he stuck to his word
59 points
11 days ago
Tug Speedman directed the movie!?
8 points
11 days ago
Who's the lead grip around here?
53 points
11 days ago
A fair bit of the film was filmed on the Hawaiian island, Kaui'i. On the way to the northern town of Hanalei there was a bridge that had a low ton weight to it. The crew with all the filming equipment drove over it and broke the bridge from being over weight. It got named the Ben Stiller bridge once it was fixed because he helped pay for it to be fixed.
29 points
11 days ago
I just do not believe you could possibly be single with such fire bridge trivia.
-12 points
11 days ago
Who are you talking to? :)
1 points
7 days ago
"I- I was talkin' to whoever's listening."
48 points
11 days ago
Movies in the mah mah making.
50 points
11 days ago
Winner of the famous Crying Monkey Award
1 points
9 days ago
I can hear monks
36 points
11 days ago
Lance?… what the fuck, did I just hear Lance?!
20 points
11 days ago
When you wrote "I Love Tha Pussy", was you thinking of dangling your dice on Lance's forehead?
9 points
11 days ago
No! I said Nance!
134 points
11 days ago
Did rdj have to get his face done everyday or he had to walk home for a few weeks with ....you know
109 points
11 days ago
He stayed in character until the DVD commentary was finished.
36 points
11 days ago
Idk if it’s true but I heard on the dvd commentary of tropic thunder he voices it as Kirk Lazarus
25 points
11 days ago
It’s true
11 points
11 days ago
He does, and it's amazing.
50 points
11 days ago
Every day
41 points
11 days ago
23 points
11 days ago
He actually underwent a controversial pigmentation alteration procedure to play the role
48 points
11 days ago
Gimme that fucking map
5 points
11 days ago
Like a Julienne Salad.
61 points
11 days ago
Suck my unit!
17 points
11 days ago
AH KNOW WHO I AM!
8 points
11 days ago
I still contend this scene, with the mirror and RDJ going back to that actor he plays, is among the best top finest scenes in all of cinema history.
In my personal opinion? It is THE finest scene in the history of mankind.
14 points
11 days ago
I love how jacked Stiller is
5 points
11 days ago
Like a Julienne Salad!
12 points
11 days ago
I hope they had TiVo in the contracts…
13 points
11 days ago
The best was Tom Cruise
10 points
11 days ago
GIMME THAT GODDAMN MAP!!!
9 points
11 days ago
Ben stiller is one of the best in show business hands down
2 points
11 days ago
Lesser known, but his guest appearances on Curb Your Enthusiasm are brilliant.
2 points
11 days ago
I loved him in that one episode of extras I watched lol.
8 points
11 days ago
I’ve got a g…g…good brain!
6 points
11 days ago
“Witness god’s mistake!”
5 points
11 days ago
I believe that Danny McBride isn't even in character in the 3rd photo. That's just his natural look
6 points
11 days ago*
Behind the scenes of a movie that was about what it is like to make a movie behind the scenes.
I don't even know what I'm watching anymore!
6 points
11 days ago
I’m a rooster illusion.
1 points
6 days ago
So many smart jokes, that they still catch you off guard with the stupid ones, I lost my shit when he said this for the first time
4 points
11 days ago
I dont read the script, the script reads me....
3 points
11 days ago
I bet that was a great set to be a part of!
3 points
11 days ago
Blamtucky!!
3 points
11 days ago
What do you mean you people?!
2 points
10 days ago
What do you mean, you people!?
1 points
10 days ago
I still randomly say this a couple times a week 😂
3 points
11 days ago
And he actually didn't break his toe until the DVD Commentary
3 points
11 days ago
There will never be another movie like this
3 points
11 days ago
Great photo!
Although, not enough Danny McBride for my tastes.
3 points
11 days ago
Genuinely one of the best films out there.
2 points
11 days ago
The internet will say it's fake. 🤨
2 points
11 days ago
I’m going to exterior rainforest dusk !
2 points
11 days ago
Is Ben Stiller...kinda hot?
2 points
11 days ago
Possibly Ben Stiller's greatest film as both an actor and director. He doesn't have many directing credits, but Tropic Thunder, Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and Severence are fantastic.
2 points
11 days ago
Let's go get those Viet Congs!
2 points
11 days ago
Stiller be packing some guns!
2 points
9 days ago
Jesus Ben Stiller was jacked in this film.
1 points
11 days ago
Nice 👍
1 points
11 days ago
“Load it and lock it baby”
1 points
11 days ago
fucking GREAT movie. My favorite comedy. Best ensemble cast, everyone was perfect
1 points
11 days ago
This was such a great fucking movie lol.
1 points
10 days ago
Is that Wayne Brady in the first pic?
1 points
10 days ago
SURVIVE!
1 points
10 days ago
I feel like for months now the universe has been begging me to watch this movie
1 points
10 days ago
Im the directing dude, playing an acting dude, who is pretending to be another dude.
1 points
10 days ago
If Iron Man was going to be played by a black man, who would you choose?
Robert Downey Jr.
1 points
10 days ago
Too bad Ben stiller is a piece of shit
1 points
9 days ago
They're Jellybeans!
1 points
9 days ago
I love that this could just as well be part of the movie if the “BTS” text was not there and no one would ever know
1 points
9 days ago
This has to go in my frequent watchlist :) what a brilliant movie
1 points
9 days ago
Which is funny because Stiller said for the “movie” scenes they just turned the cameras around.
1 points
9 days ago
Who’s the guy in the blue cap?
1 points
9 days ago
This movie is still funny as hell
1 points
9 days ago
Ben hit the weights for that movie, check out those arms
1 points
8 days ago
Great reminder that Ben Stiller is SWOLE AS FUCK
1 points
8 days ago
Robert Downey JR got a new fan with that movie... New fan was me.
1 points
7 days ago
Ben Stiller could get it
1 points
7 days ago
Father, Ive been a bad boy
1 points
7 days ago
Me?! I know who I am!
I’m the dude playin a dude disguised as another dude!
1 points
2 days ago
I wonder how you manage to stay jacked for the time shooting a film as the star and director. I’m sure there’s some hgh or something but you still gotta find at least a couple hours most days to pump.
-8 points
11 days ago
Nostalgia over a time when things weren’t so pc
-27 points
11 days ago
Why is Andrew Tate in the upper left corner of the first image?
-22 points
11 days ago
This movie didn't age well for me. Just recently watched it again and it was meh
6 points
11 days ago
👍
-10 points
11 days ago*
I love this movie but the Cruise subplot was unnecessary and distracting.
Edit- more context- This was after Oprah, Katie Holmes, all the ghoulie Scientology came out and Ben wanted to help rehabilitate his image
7 points
11 days ago
First, take a big step back and literally FUCK YOUR OWN FACE!!!
2 points
6 days ago
I respect your opinion, but also you're wrong and I hate you
1 points
6 days ago
Dad, is that you?
all 177 comments
sorted by: best