Tropic Thunder Review: The Most Quotable Comedy of the 2000s

Sebbo and Tobler take on their first proper comedy, Tropic Thunder, starting with why they don’t think comedies get made like this anymore and how Ben Stiller came up with the idea on an Army boot camp. They go through the fake trailers, the Platoon spoof opening, Danny McBride, Robert Downey Jr’s Oscar-nominated turn, the binoculars scene and Tom Cruise as Les Grossman. They also take on the “can you make this today?” question and rank where it sits among the great comedies of the 2000s. Next week’s pick: Con Air. 0:00 – Intro: First Proper Comedy 1:13 – “Can You Make It Today?” 2:58 – Why the Film-Set In-Jokes Land 3:46 – Ben Stiller’s Awkward, Deluded Idiot 5:09 – How the Idea Started: Empire of the Sun Boot Camp 6:39 – The Three Fake Trailers 8:29 – Opening Scene & the Platoon Spoof 11:29 – Danny McBride 13:06 – The First 15 Minutes & Les Grossman Setup 17:14 – Favourite Sequence: Landmine & “I Know a Prop When I See One” 19:28 – “I Don’t Drop Character Until the DVD Commentary” 20:36 – The “Never Go Full” Speech & Simple Jack 23:19 – Robert Downey Jr’s Oscar Nomination 26:14 – Ben Stiller’s Delusion & the Panda Scene 30:15 – The Binoculars “Cut” Scene 34:00 – Les Grossman & Tom Cruise 36:47 – Defending Tom Cruise 41:13 – Simple Jack’s Rescue & the Flaming Barrel 45:04 – The Ending & Why the Quotes Last 46:46 – Can It Be Made Today? 50:12 – Ben Stiller as a Writer 51:37 – Ratings & Sebbo’s Top 2000s Comedies 56:04 – Next Up: Con Air Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.