The Dolby True HD audio makes great use of bass, particularly in the music and effects. The surround places you in the middle of the action scenes as the bullets and explosions go off. The dialogue in the action scenes was mix is tad low and was not easy to make out unless someone was yelling.
The disc is packed with Special Features. There are two commentary tracks. Filmmaker has Stiller, producer Stuart Cornfeld, production designer Jeff Mann, co-writer/exec. producer Justin Theroux, editor Greg Hayden, and DP Toll. They are altogether and talk about the film’s creation and point out cut scenes cut. Cast Commentaries has Stiller, Black, and Downey Jr. still in character as Lincoln Osirus and later Lazarus (who remarked in the film “Man, I don't drop character 'till I done the DVD commentary.”). It was shot the night of the film’s premiere and the trio are very funny together.
Other features include “Before the Thunder” (presented in High Definiton), a great look at pre-production; “The Hot LZ” (HD) is on the set; “Blowing S#%t Up” (HD) focuses on the effects of the two big explosion shots, in the opening and the bridge; “Designing the Thunder” (HD) covers production design; “The Cast of Tropic Thunder” (HD) presents little bios; Tom Cruise’s Make-Up test; Deleted and Extended Scenes and Alternate Ending (HD), all with commentary; and “Full Mags” (HD) presents the entire raw footage of two camera film magazine rolls as Stiller and Downey Jr. worked on a scene.
The two funniest features are “Rain of Madness” (HD), a 30-min faux documentary about director Cockburn and his Tropic Thunder, and the MTV Movie Awards spot. The former spoofs Coppola and his wife’s film Hearts of Darkness, while the latter is minute-for-minute the funniest thing on the disc as Stiller, Black, and Downey Jr. attempt to create a viral video capitalizing on Kung Fu Panda and Iron Man that will turn people on to Tropic Thunder. Stiller’s nephew is unimpressed as he awaits the release of The Dark Knight.
BD-Live Features include “Dispatches from the Edge of Madness,” Additional “Full Mags,” and Video Rehearsals.
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