Tropic Thunder: Rain of Madness (2008) (V)

Writers:

Justin Theroux (creator) &
Steve Coogan (creator)

Release Date:

August 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Comedy

Plot:

A behind-the-scenes mockumentary of Tropic Thunder. |

Plot Keywords:

Making Of | Parody

Cast

  (Cast)

Jack Black	...	Jeff Portnoy (uncredited)
Steve Coogan	...	Damian Cockburn (uncredited)
Robert Downey Jr.	...	Kirk Lazarus (uncredited)
Bill Hader	...	Rob Slolom (uncredited)
Jimmy Rich	...	Drake 'The stick' Longwood (uncredited)
Ben Stiller	...	Tugg Speedman (uncredited)
Justin Theroux	...	Jan Jürgen / host / narrator (uncredited)

Also Known As:

Tropic thunder - hulluuden myrsky (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

Finland:30 min (Blu-ray)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Company:

DreamWorks Pictures

Movie Connections:

References Fight Club (1999)

Almost as fun as "Tropic Thunder" itself

This 30-minute "making of" documentary spoof features Jan Jürgen (Justin Theroux), an eccentric German director, as he chronicles the troubled production of "Tropic Thunder." First of all, this whole thing is an obvious homage to (and parody of) "Hearts of Darkness" - the infamous documentary that covered the chaotic production of "Apocalypse Now" (as well as focusing on Francis Ford Coppola's nervous breakdown of sorts).

In "Rain of Madness," however, Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan) takes on the Coppola role, and Jan Jürgen, the filmmaker and narrator of the feature, is a clear parody of Werner Herzog; there's a great moment at the end of this spoof where Jürgen is shown watching a graphic video of a man dying - anyone who's seen "Grizzly Man" immediately recognizes the shot, and Theroux's over-the-top reaction to the video - and his immediate decision to watch it again - is one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time.

One cool thing about this "documentary" is that it adds an extra universe to Tropic Thunder; that film had a lot of fictional layers, giving its characters full backdrops (including fake websites and movie trailers), and the shame of it all was that so little time was afforded to some of the characters. If you thought Coogan was funny in "Tropic Thunder" but wanted to see more of him, then this will cheer you up, because it's essentially focused entirely on him; watching this video before seeing "Tropic Thunder" actually makes the performance (and character) all the funnier, because you have a context that is lacking from the actual film itself.