Tropic Thunder

Dass ich von Anfang bis Ende so viel und so aufrichtig gelacht habe, ist mir schon lange nicht mehr passiert. Ben Stiller trifft ins Schwarze. Schon allein für die ersten Trailer verdient Tropic Thunder fünf Sterne! (15.03.2011)

Das komödiantische Potenzial von Jack Black wurde nicht genutzt. Seine Figur hätte auch ein No-Name-Darsteller spielen können und dem Film hätte es nicht geschadet. Ben Stiller ist nur dann witzig, wenn er "einen Kerl spielt, den er in einem anderen Film gespielt hat". Robert Downey ist nur dank seines Akzents cool. Auf einen guten Witz in 20 Minuten kommen zehn krampfhafte Witze oder Nicht-Witze. Tropic Thunder hat in mir ähnliche Gefühle wie das Beobachten von Jakubiskos Statist*innen in Bathory - Die Blutgräfin hervorgerufen. Konzeptlos, schwerfällig. Das Einzige, was hier überdurchschnittlich und ein Volltreffer ist, ist Tom Cruise. Ich mag crazy Komödien, Parodien, Kriegsfilme und die Kritik des Hollywoods, aber sorry, Steaks müssen bei mir durchgebratenen sein. (21.09.2008)

Very wacky and with a bold humour that is very close to my heart. On the plus side, the casting is great, some of the actors were unrecognizable (Tom Cruise wtf? ! I also had a problem with the black Robert Downey Jr.), the plot is fine and fresh, the lines are crazy and Ben Stiller steals the whole movie for himself, after all, he directs it. I believe it was incredibly fun to make. Great line from the movie: “I'll cradle the balls, stroke the shaft, work the pipe, and swallow the gravy. Get it over here, buddy. Let's do this.” (17.06.2015)

Stiller is getting smarter and smarter, and he can make fun of things you thought everyone had already made fun of enough a long time ago. After the modeling industry, Hollywood is taking the hit with such vigor it's chilling if it's really true. The excellent technical aspects are just the cream on the cake, but the cherry on top is Tom Cruise - at least for having the courage to make such an ass of himself, and with such grace that I would really give him the Golden Globe! (29.12.2008)

Stiller knows very well that making a parody doesn’t mean making one-to-one copies of one scene after another, but rather about well scattered nods and making sure that the movie works as a whole. You need to be skilled enough to shoot it at least as well as the original. This “anti" Hollywood Tropic Thunder was no disappointment in that respect. But, as hard as it tries, it just isn’t funny. It simply tries too hard and turns out unnatural. It’s like Stiller missed his fellow Frat Packers and their chemistry and interplay. Maybe it should have set out on the journey to absolute absurdity that we know from Zoolander or Dodgeball rather than this rather vulgar normality. (18.09.2008)