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142-538: Tropic Thunder is a 2008 satirical action comedy film directed by Ben Stiller , who wrote the screenplay with Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen . The film stars Stiller, Jack Black , Robert Downey Jr. , Jay Baruchel , and Brandon T. Jackson as a group of prima donna actors making a Vietnam War film. When their frustrated director ( Steve Coogan ) drops them in the middle of a jungle and dies in an accident, they are forced to rely on their acting skills to survive

284-584: A BAFTA Award , and a Screen Actors Guild Award , while both he and Cruise received nominations for a Golden Globe Award . Hook-handed Vietnam veteran Staff Sergeant John "Four Leaf" Tayback's memoir Tropic Thunder is being made into a film. Except for newcomer supporting actor Kevin Sandusky, the cast—faded action hero Tugg Speedman, overbearing five-time Academy Award -winning Australian method actor Kirk Lazarus, closeted gay rapper Alpa Chino, and drug-addicted comedian Jeff Portnoy—all cause problems for

426-457: A UH-1 Huey gunner and the disc jockey from Zoolander (shown in a deleted scene). ... I feel the tone of the movie is its own thing. I think there are elements of satire, but I don't think it should be categorized just as that. There are elements of parody in it, but obviously I don't think it's just that. I feel like hopefully it's its own thing, which has a lot of familiar stuff that we are playing off of. —Ben Stiller reacting to

568-595: A federal regulatory agency mission as part of its duties. It is the largest coast guard in the world, rivaling the capabilities and size of most navies . The U.S. Coast Guard is a humanitarian and security service. It protects the United States ' borders and economic and security interests abroad; and defends its sovereignty by safeguarding sea lines of communication and commerce across U.S. territorial waters and its Exclusive Economic Zone . Due to ever-expanding risk imposed by transnational threats through

710-536: A "system of cutters," each ship operated under the direction of the customs officials in the port to which it was assigned. Several names, including "Revenue-Marine," were used as the service gradually becoming more organized. Eventually it was officially organized as the United States Revenue Cutter Service . In addition to its regular law enforcement and customs duties, revenue cutters and their crews were used to support and supplement

852-540: A Coast Guard Reserve Officer. Lawyers, engineers, intelligence officers, military aviators holding commissions in other branches of the U.S. Armed Forces requesting interservice transfers to the Coast Guard, graduates of maritime academies, and certain other individuals may also receive an officer's commission in the Coast Guard through the Direct Commission Officer (DCO) program. Depending on

994-561: A Supporting Role. The Broadcast Film Critics Association nominated Downey for Best Supporting Actor and awarded Tropic Thunder Best Comedy Movie at the BFCA's Critics' Choice Awards. Both Downey and Cruise received nominations from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for Golden Globes for Best Supporting Actor . The Boston Society of Film Critics recognized the cast with its Best Ensemble award. Downey

1136-484: A black guy. The movie is skewering actors and how they take themselves so seriously." Stiller previewed the film before the NAACP , and several black journalists reacted positively to the character. Tom Cruise was initially set to cameo as Stiller's character's agent, Rick Peck. Instead, Cruise suggested adding a studio head character, and the idea was incorporated into the script. Stiller and Cruise worked together to create

1278-469: A blackface performance would be acceptable, any more than I can imagine any circumstance under which the use of the N-word would be acceptable." Sara Vilkomerson said that Cruise did "an astonishingly funny and surprising supporting performance." Logan Hill of New York argued against Cruise's cameo, saying that it "just makes him look a little lost and almost pathetic—shucking and jiving, trying to appeal to

1420-757: A branch of the armed forces of the United States at all times. The Coast Guard shall be a service in the Department of Homeland Security, except when operating as a service in the Navy." Coast Guard organization and operation is as set forth in Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations . On 25 November 2002, the Homeland Security Act was signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush, designating

1562-407: A bridge rigged to explode to get to Underwood's helicopter. Tugg initially remains behind, believing Flaming Dragon to be his "family," but runs back screaming, chased by an angry horde of soldiers. Four Leaf destroys the bridge, rescuing Tugg, but as the helicopter takes off, Tran fires an RPG at the helicopter. Rick unexpectedly stumbles out of the jungle and saves them by throwing a TiVo box into

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1704-572: A combat environment. The squadron operated divisions in three separate areas during the period of 1965 to 1970. Twenty-six Point-class cutters with their crews and a squadron support staff were assigned to the U.S. Navy with the mission of interdicting the movement of arms and supplies from the South China Sea into South Vietnam by Viet Cong and North Vietnam junk and trawler operators. The squadron also provided 81mm mortar naval gunfire support to nearby friendly units operating along

1846-516: A day, leading him to become brainwashed. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Tugg's agent, Rick "Pecker" Peck, confronts Les over an unfulfilled term in Tugg's contract that entitles him to a TiVo . Flaming Dragon calls during the discussion and demands a ransom for Tugg, but Les instead delivers a profanity-laden death threat. Les is uninterested in rescuing Tugg and is instead delighted at the prospect of

1988-463: A departure from the Navy conventions, all petty officers E-6 and below wear red chevrons and all chief petty officers wear gold. The U.S. Coast Guard Academy is a four-year service academy located in New London, Connecticut . Approximately 200 cadets graduate each year, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree and a commission as an ensign in the Coast Guard. Graduates are obligated to serve

2130-477: A faux film exhibited within the film, was removed by DreamWorks on August 4, 2008, due to protests from disability advocates. In addition, other promotional websites were created for "Make Pretty Skin Clinic", the fictitious company that performed the surgery of the film's character Kirk Lazarus, along with one for the energy drink "Booty Sweat". In mid-July 2008, a faux trailer for the mockumentary Rain of Madness

2272-617: A gold Coast Guard Shield in lieu of a line star or staff corps officer insignia. Highly qualified enlisted personnel in pay grades E-6 through E-9 with a minimum of eight years' experience can compete each year for appointment as warrant officers (WO). Successful candidates are chosen by a board and then commissioned as chief warrant officer two (CWO2) in one of twenty-one specialties. Over time, chief warrant officers may be promoted to chief warrant officer three (CWO3) and chief warrant officer four (CWO4). The ranks of warrant officer (WO1) and chief warrant officer five (CWO5) are not currently used in

2414-463: A large insurance payout if Tugg dies. He attempts to convince Pecker to play along by promising a Gulfstream V jet and "lots of money." Kirk, Alpa, Jeff, and Kevin discover Flaming Dragon's heroin factory. After witnessing Tugg being tortured, they plan a rescue attempt based on the film's script. Kirk impersonates a farmer towing a "captured" Jeff on the back of a water buffalo , distracting Tran and his guards so Alpa and Kevin can infiltrate and find

2556-486: A map and scene listing that will lead to a helicopter waiting at the end of the route. Unknown to the actors and production, the group has been dropped in the middle of the Golden Triangle , the home of the heroin-producing Flaming Dragon gang. Just as the group is about to set off, Damien inadvertently steps on an old land mine and is blown up, stunning the actors. Tugg, believing Damien faked his death to encourage

2698-467: A minimum of five years on active duty. Most graduates are assigned to duty aboard Coast Guard cutters immediately after graduation, either as Deck Watch Officers (DWOs) or as Engineer Officers in Training (EOITs). Smaller numbers are assigned directly to flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola , Florida or to shore duty at Coast Guard Sector , District, or Area headquarters units. In addition to

2840-538: A nomination by the Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor . In a November 2008 issue by Entertainment Weekly , Downey's film role was considered one of the three contenders for Best Supporting Actor. As a way of extending the film-within-a-film "universe" into real life, there were at least two online "For Your Consideration" ads touting Downey's character, Kirk Lazarus, for Best Supporting Actor; one of these contains "scenes" from Satan's Alley that were not in

2982-465: A presumed negative perception of satire in the [American] industry: George S. Kaufman , the great Broadway playwright and director, and screenwriter, once said: 'Satire is what closes on Saturday night.' An excellent wisecrack, but it led the way to a general belief in America that satire is not commercial. When you pitch a satirical film idea, don't refer to it as satire. I used to, and I was met with

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3124-469: A ragged bass voice; he then auditioned Lazarus' voice over the phone to Stiller, who approved the characterization immediately. Downey revealed that he modeled the character on actors Russell Crowe , Colin Farrell , and Daniel Day-Lewis . The initial script was written for Downey's character to be Irish, but was altered after Downey stated he could improvise better as an Australian, having previously played

3266-530: A result of the move from July, 20th Century Fox moved its family comedy Meet Dave in the open slot. The August 13 release date was also the opening weekends for the animated family film Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the horror film Mirrors . Studios consider the third week of August to be a weaker performing period than earlier in the summer because of students returning to school. Previous R-rated comedies such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Superbad were released in mid-August and performed well at

3408-486: A result of the protest, the normally unobstructed views of the red carpet leading to the premiere were blocked off by 10-foot (3-m)-high fences and there was an increase in the number of security personnel present. No protests were held at the United Kingdom's September premiere. The North American release was scheduled for July 11, 2008, but was delayed until August 15, before being brought forward to August 13. As

3550-678: A separate federal agency, also within the Treasury Department, with fulltime paid crews. In 1915 these two agencies, the Revenue Cutter Service and the Lifesaving Service, were merged to create the modern United States Coast Guard. The Lighthouse Service and the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation were absorbed by the Coast Guard 1939 and 1942 respectively. In 1967, the Coast Guard moved from

3692-636: A service of the Department of the Navy . This arrangement has a broad historical basis, as the Coast Guard has been involved in wars as diverse as the War of 1812 , the Mexican–American War , and the American Civil War , in which the cutter Harriet Lane fired the first naval shots attempting to relieve besieged Fort Sumter . The last time the Coast Guard operated as a whole within the Navy

3834-424: A similar outlandish Australian character in the film Natural Born Killers . Downey's practice of remaining in character between takes and even off the film set was also written into the script for his character to perform. Downey required between one-and-a-half and two hours of makeup application. According to Downey, "One makeup artist would start on one side of my face and a second makeup artist would start on

3976-591: A sketch at the 2008 MTV Movie Awards which featured the actors attempting to create a successful viral video to promote the film with awkward results. In September 2008, Stiller and Downey attended the San Sebastián International Film Festival to promote the film. A screening was shown, but it was not chosen to compete against the other films at the festival. Between April 2008 and the film's commercial release in August 2008,

4118-407: A special 30-minute fictional E! True Hollywood Story aired about the making of Tropic Thunder . In video games, a themed scavenger hunt was incorporated into Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 , and Stiller allowed his likeness to be used in the online Facebook application game based on the film. As a tie-in for the film's release, Paramount announced it would market the energy drink known in

4260-509: A staff job, or an operations ashore billet. OCS is the primary channel through which the Coast Guard enlisted grades ascend to the commissioned officer corps. Unlike the other military services, the Coast Guard does not have a Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program. However, the Coast Guard does have the Select Reserve Direct Commission, an officer program for prospective candidates interested serving as

4402-411: A summary table of the authorities of the Coast Guard's 192 special agents and 3,780 maritime law enforcement boarding officers. Coast Guardsmen have the legal authority to carry their service-issued firearms on and off base. This is rarely done in practice, however; at many Coast Guard stations, commanders prefer to have all service-issued weapons in armories when not in use. Still, one court has held in

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4544-547: A surprise for his fans worldwide. Paparazzi have ruined what should have been a fun discovery for moviegoers." The photography agency INF, who debuted the image, responded with a statement: "While these pictures were taken without breaking any criminal or civil laws , we've decided to pull them from circulation effective immediately." Serving as a last-minute replacement, Tobey Maguire was available to be on set for only two hours to film his scenes in Satan's Alley . Downey said he

4686-447: A total of $ 195,702,811 worldwide. "It's so funny to me that the role is a guy who is an Oscar-seeking moron. His whole motivation is Oscars ... Irony is synonymous with pretty much everything that is going on." —Downey reacting to his Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of Kirk Lazarus. In October 2008, Paramount chose to put end-of-year award push funds behind Tropic Thunder and began advertising for Downey to receive

4828-437: A total workforce of 87,569. The formal name for a uniformed member of the Coast Guard is "Coast Guardsman", irrespective of gender. "Coastie" is an informal term commonly used to refer to current or former Coast Guard personnel. In 2008, the term "Guardian" was introduced as an alternative but was later dropped. Admiral Robert J. Papp Jr. stated that it was his belief that no Commandant had the authority to change what members of

4970-478: Is a triumphant late summer comedy." Metacritic gave a film score of 71 out of 100 based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. Michael Cieply from the New York Times stated that the film was "shaping up as one of [DreamWorks]'s best prospects for the summer." Claudia Puig of USA Today gave

5112-412: Is leveraged as a force of both diplomatic soft power and humanitarian and security assistance over the more overtly confrontational nature of "gray hulled" warships. As a humanitarian service, it saves tens of thousands of lives a year at sea and in U.S. waters, and provides emergency response and disaster management for a wide range of human-made and natural catastrophic incidents in the U.S. and throughout

5254-527: Is managed and used by the Coast Guard for tracking pollution and safety incidents in the nation's ports. The National Maritime Center (NMC) is the merchant mariner credentialing authority for the USCG under the auspices of the Department of Homeland Security . To ensure a safe, secure, and environmentally sound marine transportation system, the mission of the NMC is to issue credentials to fully qualified mariners in

5396-603: Is on the grounds of the former St. Elizabeths Hospital in the Anacostia section of Southeast Washington, across the Anacostia River from former Coast Guard headquarters. The fiscal year 2016 budget request for the U.S. Coast Guard was $ 9.96 billion. The Coast Guard's current district organization is divided into 9 districts. Their designations, district office and area of responsibility are as follows: Shore establishment commands exist to support and facilitate

5538-478: Is the maritime security , search and rescue , and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services . The service is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the United States military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission with jurisdiction in both domestic and international waters and

5680-554: Is the oldest continuously operating naval service of the United States. As Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton headed the Revenue-Marine, whose original purpose was collecting customs duties at U.S. seaports. By the 1860s, the service was known as the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service and the term Revenue-Marine gradually fell into disuse. The modern U.S. Coast Guard was formed by a merger of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service and

5822-517: The Coast Guard , has never left the United States, and that he wrote his "memoir" as a tribute. As the actors continue through the jungle, Kirk, who has become convinced that Tugg's ineptitude is jeopardizing them, and Kevin, the only actor who bothered to properly prepare for his role, discover that Tugg is leading them in the wrong direction. The resulting argument results in Kirk leading the rest of

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5964-610: The Department of the Treasury from its inception until 1967. A congressional authority transfer to the Navy has only happened once: in 1917, during World War I . By the time the U.S. entered World War II in December 1941, the U.S. Coast Guard had already been transferred to the Navy by President Franklin Roosevelt . Created by Congress as the Revenue-Marine on 4 August 1790 at the request of Alexander Hamilton , it

6106-415: The U.S. Department of the Treasury to the newly formed U.S. Department of Transportation , an arrangement that lasted until it was placed under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2003 as part of legislation designed to more efficiently protect American interests following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 . In times of war, the Coast Guard or individual components of it can operate as

6248-515: The U.S. Life-Saving Service on 28 January 1915, under the Department of the Treasury. In 1939, the U.S. Lighthouse Service was also merged into the U.S. Coast Guard. As one of the country's six armed services, the U.S. Coast Guard and its predecessor have participated in every major U.S. war since 1790, from the Quasi-War with France to the Global War on Terrorism . As of December 2021,

6390-462: The iTunes Store after the film's release and was also included on the home video release. Amy Powell, an advertising executive with Paramount, reflected on the timing of the release of Madness : "We always thought that people would be talking about Tropic Thunder at the water cooler, and that's why we decided to release Rain of Madness two weeks into Tropic ' s run—to keep this positive buzz going." Tropic Thunder held an early screening at

6532-851: The political , religious , or social variety. Works using satire are often seen as controversial or taboo in nature, with topics such as race, class, system, violence, sex, war, and politics, criticizing or commenting on them, typically under the disguise of other genres including, but not limited to, comedies , dramas, parodies , fantasies and/or science fiction . Satire may or may not use humor or other, non-humorous forms as an artistic vehicle to illuminate, explore, and critique social conditions, systems of power ("social, political, military, medical or academic institutions" ), hypocrisy , and other instances of human behavior . Film director Jonathan Lynn generally advises against marketing one's work as "satire" because according to Lynn it "can substantially reduce viewing figures and box office" due to

6674-403: The "Best Comedy Trailer" award at the 9th annual Golden Trailer Awards . DreamWorks also released a red band trailer , the first of its kind used by the studio to promote one of its films. Stiller, Downey, and Black appeared on the seventh-season finale of American Idol in a sketch as The Pips performing with Gladys Knight (via archival footage ). The three actors also later performed

6816-555: The 2008 San Diego Comic-Con , two weeks before it officially premiered on August 11, 2008, at the Mann Village Theatre in Westwood, California and two days before its wide release. Members of several disability groups picketed before the premiere, protesting at the portrayal of intellectual disability shown in the film. The groups revealed that it was the first time that they had ever protested together at an event. As

6958-566: The Academy, prospective officers, who already hold a college degree, may enter the Coast Guard through Officer Candidate School (OCS), also located at the Coast Guard Academy. OCS is a 17-week course of instruction that prepares candidates to serve effectively as officers in the Coast Guard. In addition to indoctrinating students into a military lifestyle, OCS provides a wide range of highly technical information necessary to perform

7100-571: The American box office with $ 142.6 million. Tropic Thunder opened in 3,319 theaters and, for its first five days of American and Canadian release, earned $ 36,845,588. The film placed first in the weekend's box office with $ 25,812,796, surpassing Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Mirrors , which debuted the same weekend. Reacting to the film's opening receipts, DreamWorks spokesman Chip Sullivan stated, "We're thrilled, quite frankly. It played out exactly how we hoped." In foreign markets for

7242-530: The Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2006, upon the declaration of war and when Congress so directs in the declaration, or when the President directs, the Coast Guard operates under the Department of Defense as a service in the Department of the Navy . As members of the military, Coast Guardsmen on active and reserve service are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice and receive

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7384-473: The Coast Guard are called as the term Coast Guardsman is found in Title 14 USC which established the Coast Guard in 1915. "Team Coast Guard" refers to the four components of the Coast Guard as a whole: Regular, Reserve, Auxiliary, and Coast Guard civilian employees. Commissioned officers in the Coast Guard hold pay grades ranging from O-1 to O-10 and have the same rank structure as the Navy. Officers holding

7526-651: The Coast Guard as the federal agency responsible for maritime SAR operations, and the United States Air Force as the federal agency responsible for inland SAR. Both agencies maintain rescue coordination centers to coordinate this effort, and have responsibility for both military and civilian search and rescue. The two services jointly provide instructor staff for the National Search and Rescue School that trains SAR mission planners and coordinators. Previously located on Governors Island, New York,

7668-452: The Coast Guard is frequently lauded for its quick responsiveness and adaptability in a broad range of emergencies. In a 2005 article in Time magazine following Hurricane Katrina , the author wrote, "the Coast Guard's most valuable contribution to [a military effort when catastrophe hits] may be as a model of flexibility, and most of all, spirit." Wil Milam, a rescue swimmer from Alaska told

7810-535: The Coast Guard joined with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps to adopt a new maritime strategy called A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower that raised the notion of prevention of war to the same philosophical level as the conduct of war. This new strategy charted a course for the Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Corps to work collectively with each other and international partners to prevent regional crises, man-made or natural, from occurring, or reacting quickly should one occur to avoid negative impacts to

7952-543: The Coast Guard operate under Department of the Navy operational control while other Coast Guard units remain under the Department of Homeland Security . The Deployable Operations Group (DOG) was a Coast Guard command established in July 2007. The DOG established a single command authority to rapidly provide the Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, Department of Justice and other interagency operational commanders adaptive force packages drawn from

8094-423: The Coast Guard to be placed under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security . The transfer of administrative control from the U.S. Department of Transportation to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was completed the following year, on 1 March 2003. The U.S. Coast Guard reports directly to the civilian Secretary of Homeland Security. However, under 14 U.S.C.   § 3 as amended by section 211 of

8236-603: The Coast Guard's deployable specialized force units. The DOG was disestablished on 22 April 2013 and reorganized into Deployable Specialized Forces (DSF) units were placed under the control of the Atlantic and Pacific Area Commanders. The planning for the unit began after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, and culminated with its formation on 20 July 2007. Its missions included maritime law enforcement, anti-terrorism , port security , pollution response, and diving operations . There were over 25 specialized units within

8378-509: The Coast Guard. Chief warrant officers may also compete for the Chief Warrant Officer to Lieutenant Program. If selected, the warrant officer will be promoted to lieutenant (O-3E). The "E" designates over four years' active duty service as a warrant officer or enlisted member and entitles the member to a higher rate of pay than other lieutenants. Enlisted members of the Coast Guard have pay grades from E-1 to E-9 and also follow

8520-828: The Deployable Operations Group including the Maritime Security Response Team , Maritime Safety and Security Teams , Law Enforcement Detachments, Port Security Units , the National Strike Force , and Regional Dive Lockers. The DOG also managed Coast Guard personnel assigned to the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command and was involved in the selection of Coast Guard candidates to attend Navy BUD/S and serve with Navy SEAL Teams . The new Department of Homeland Security headquarters complex

8662-430: The Los Angeles and interior scenes. Tropic Thunder was the first major studio production on Kaua'i in five years. It is the largest production filmed on the island to date, and contributed more than $ 60 million to the local economy. Tim Ryan, the executive editor of Hawaii Film & Video Magazine , commented on the filming on the island: "I think Tropic Thunder will give Kaua'i much needed and long idled publicity in

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8804-526: The Navy in various armed conflicts including the American Civil War . A separate federal agency, the U.S. Life-Saving Service , developed alongside the Revenue-Marine. Prior to 1848, there were various charitable efforts at creating systems to provide assistance to shipwrecked mariners from shore-based stations, notably by the Massachusetts Humane Society . The federal government began funding lifesaving stations in 1848 but funding

8946-940: The South Vietnamese coastline and assisted the U.S. Navy during Operation Sealords . Coast Guard Squadron Three , was a combat unit formed by the United States Coast Guard in 1967 for service during the Vietnam War . Placed under the operational control of the United States Navy and based in Pearl Harbor . It consisted of five USCG High Endurance Cutters operating on revolving six-month deployments. A total of 35 High Endurance Cutters took part in operations from May 1967 to December 1971, most notably using their 5-inch guns to provide naval gunfire support missions. Often units within

9088-635: The Treasury Alexander Hamilton lobbied Congress to fund the construction of ten cutters , which it did on 4 August 1790 (now celebrated as the Coast Guard's official birthday). Until the re-establishment of the Navy in 1798, these "revenue cutters" were the only naval force of the early United States. As such, the cutters and their crews frequently took on additional duties, including combating piracy, rescuing mariners in distress, ferrying government officials, and even carrying mail. Initially not an organized federal agency at all, merely

9230-405: The U.S. Coast Guard is the second smallest of the U.S. military service branches in terms of membership, the service by itself is the world's 12th largest naval force. The Coast Guard carries out three basic roles, which are further subdivided into eleven statutory missions. The three roles are: With a decentralized organization and much responsibility placed on even the most junior personnel,

9372-572: The U.S. Coast Guard's authorized force strength is 44,500 active duty personnel and 7,000 reservists. The service's force strength also includes 8,577 full-time civilian federal employees and 31,000 uniformed volunteers of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary . The service maintains an extensive fleet of roughly 250 coastal and ocean-going cutters , patrol ships, buoy tenders, tugs, and icebreakers; as well as nearly 2,000 small boats and specialized craft. It also maintains an aviation division consisting of more than 200 helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. While

9514-421: The U.S. Navy , as well as officers from the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps are assigned to the Coast Guard to perform chaplain-related functions and medical-related functions, respectively. These officers wear Coast Guard uniforms but replace the Coast Guard insignia with that of their own service. The Navy and Coast Guard share identical officer rank insignia except that Coast Guard officers wear

9656-534: The United States maritime jurisdiction. The six uniformed services that make up the U.S. Armed Forces are defined in Title 10 of the U.S. Code : "The term "armed forces" means the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard." The Coast Guard is further defined by Title 14 of the United States Code : "The Coast Guard as established January 28, 1915, shall be a military service and

9798-523: The United States. During the launch of the new U.S. maritime strategy at the International Seapower Symposium at the U.S. Naval War College in 2007, Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen said the new maritime strategy reinforced the time-honored missions the service has carried out in the United States since 1790. "It reinforces the Coast Guard maritime strategy of safety, security and stewardship, and it reflects not only

9940-409: The antics here are pretty thin, redundant and one-note." Glenn Kenny of RogerEbert.com said that the film was "intermittently amusing but entirely smug and hateful." Rick Groen of The Globe and Mail said that it was "an assault in the guise of a comedy—watching it is like getting mugged by a clown." J.R. Jones of Chicago Reader stated, "The rest of the movie never lives up to the hilarity of

10082-445: The authority to: (1) carry a firearm; (2) execute and serve any order, warrant, subpoena, summons, or other process issued under the authority of the United States; (3) make an arrest without a warrant for any offense against the United States committed in the officer's presence or for a felony, cognizable under the laws of the United States committed outside the officer's presence if the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that

10224-642: The best films of 2008. Stephen King placed it at the fourth position, calling the film "the funniest, most daring comedy of the year." The Oregonian ' s Marc Mohan, placed it sixth, and several critics placed it seventh: Elizabeth Weitzman of the New York Daily News , Premiere magazine, Mike Russell of The Oregonian , as well as Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle . David Ansen of Newsweek placed it eighth and Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly included

10366-466: The box office for the four weeks prior to the release of Tropic Thunder . Bob Thompson, a writer for the National Post , speculated that Tropic Thunder ' s opening weekend would outperform The Dark Knight for the weekend. In a list compiled prior to the summer's film releases, Entertainment Weekly predicted that the film would be the tenth highest-grossing film of the summer at

10508-405: The box office. Reacting to Tropic Thunder' s release date, Rob Moore , vice chairman of Paramount Pictures, stated, "For a young person at the end of summer, you want to have some fun and forget about going back to school. What better than a crazy comedy?" Tropic Thunder was released in the United States on DVD and Blu-ray on November 18, 2008, three months after its release and a week after

10650-480: The case of People v. Booth that Coast Guard boarding officers are qualified law enforcement officers authorized to carry personal firearms off-duty for self-defense. The Coast Guard traced its roots to the small fleet of vessels maintained by the United States Department of the Treasury beginning in the 1790s to enforce tariffs (an important source of revenue for the new nation). Secretary of

10792-471: The cast back toward the resort they are staying at as an increasingly delirious Tugg is captured by the Flaming Dragon guards. Taken to their base, Tugg believes it is a POW camp from the script. He is then brought forward to the gang's boss, the 12-year-old Tran, who discovers that Tugg is the star of their favorite film, the box-office bomb Simple Jack , and forces him to reenact it several times

10934-420: The cast to give better performances, assures the others that Damien is alive and that they are still shooting the film. Kirk is unconvinced but joins them in their trek to escape the jungle. When Four Leaf and pyrotechnics operator Cody Underwood try to locate the deceased director, they are captured by Flaming Dragon guards. Four Leaf is revealed to have hands; he confesses to Underwood that he actually served in

11076-718: The communications and operations center for the National Response Team, the NRC maintains agreements with a variety of federal entities to make additional notifications regarding incidents meeting established trigger criteria. The NRC also takes Maritime Suspicious Activity and Security Breach Reports. Details on the NRC organization and specific responsibilities can be found in the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan. The Marine Information for Safety and Law Enforcement (MISLE) database system

11218-476: The crew was required to be 3,000 feet (910 m) away for their safety. A trailer for the film was released in April 2008. The Calgary Herald gave it a rating of 3/5, commenting: "This could either be good or very, very bad." Gary Susman of Entertainment Weekly questioned whether the film would "... turn into precisely the kind of bloated action monstrosity that it's making fun of." The trailer received

11360-428: The difficult terrain. The film advising company Warriors Inc. was enlisted to ensure that the war scenes looked authentic, including the attire worn by the actors. Former members of the U.S. military taught the actors how to handle, fire, and reload their weapons, as well as to perform various tactical movements. The opening war scene was filmed over three weeks and required 50 stuntmen. Animatics were used to map out

11502-410: The duties of a Coast Guard officer. Graduates of OCS are usually commissioned as ensigns, but some with advanced graduate degrees may enter as lieutenants (junior grade) or lieutenants . Graduating OCS officers entering active duty are required to serve a minimum of three years, while graduating reserve officers are required to serve four years. Graduates may be assigned to a cutter, flight training,

11644-563: The end of its theatrical run in the U.S. and Canada. The film was released on home video on January 26, 2009, in the United Kingdom. Special features include audio commentaries (including one featuring Stiller, Downey, and Black, with Downey providing his commentary as Lincoln Osiris, a nod to a joke in the film that Lazarus never breaks character until he completes the DVD commentary), several featurettes, deleted scenes , an alternate ending. A 2-disc director's cut, with 12 minutes of extended footage,

11786-460: The explosions and crashes were embellished to look more destructive. The visual effects supervisor Michael Fink reflected on the exaggerated explosions: "We worked really hard to make the CG crashing helicopter in the hot landing sequence look real. Ben was adamant about that, but at the same time he wanted the explosion to be huge. When you see it hit the ground, it was like it was filled with gasoline! It

11928-454: The film a somewhat positive review: "There are some wildly funny scenes, a few leaden ones and others that are scattershot, with humorous satire undercut by over-the-top grisliness. Still, when it's funny, it's really funny." Other reviewers were more critical. Todd McCarthy's review in Variety stated: "Apart from startling, out-there comic turns by Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise, however,

12070-481: The film also received mixed reviews. David Ansen of Newsweek approved of the trailers: " Tropic Thunder is the funniest movie of the summer—so funny, in fact, that you start laughing before the film itself has begun." Christy Lemire of the Associated Press called the trailers "the best part of the trip." Robert Wilonsky of The Village Voice was critical, saying that the trailers' comedy "resides in

12212-418: The film as "Booty Sweat". Michael Corcoran, Paramount's president of consumer products, commented on the release: "We're very excited, because it has the potential to live for quite a while, well beyond the film." The drink was sold in college bookstores, on Amazon.com , and at other retailers. Several faux websites were created for the characters and some of their prior film roles. A website for Simple Jack ,

12354-485: The film being called a spoof Ben Stiller developed the premise for Tropic Thunder while shooting Empire of the Sun , in which he played a small part. He wanted to make a film based on the actors he knew who became "self-important" and "self-involved" and appeared to believe that they had been part of a real military unit after taking part in boot camps to prepare for war film roles. Co-writer Justin Theroux revealed that

12496-543: The film had over 250 promotional screenings. On August 3, 2008, Stiller, Downey, and Black visited Camp Pendleton , a U.S. Marine Corps base in California , to present a screening to over a thousand military members and their families. The screening was on behalf of the United Service Organizations and included the actors heading to the screening by helicopter and Humvees . On August 8, 2008,

12638-413: The film in the tenth position. Stacey Snider , the chief executive of DreamWorks, suggested that the film would earn around $ 30 million in its opening weekend and go on to be as successful as Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan , which earned $ 129 million in the U.S. and Canada and $ 260 million worldwide. The Dark Knight had been the number one film at

12780-433: The film's opening weekend, it was released in 418 Russian and 19 United Arab Emirates locations earning $ 2.2 million and $ 319,000, respectively. The film maintained its number one position at the American and Canadian box office for the following two weekends, making it the second film in 2008 (after The Dark Knight ) to hold the number-one position for more than two consecutive weekends. The film's widest release

12922-477: The global reach of our maritime services but the need to integrate and synchronize and act with our coalition and international partners to not only win wars ... but to prevent wars," Allen said. Title 14 USC, section 2 authorizes the Coast Guard to enforce U.S. federal laws. This authority is further defined in 14 U.S.C.   § 522 , which gives law enforcement powers to all Coast Guard commissioned officers, warrant officers, and petty officers. Unlike

13064-610: The inevitable response that satirical films don't make money. This view is factually incorrect. Plenty have done so, if budgeted right. Film, more than television, offers advantages for satire, such as the "possibility of achieving the proper balance" between realism and non-realism , using the latter to communicate about the former. The ideal climate for a satirical film involves "fairly free" political conditions and/or independent producers with "modest" financial backing. UK USA Japan United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard ( USCG )

13206-511: The inexperienced director Damien Cockburn, who cannot control them, resulting in a million-dollar pyrotechnics scene being wasted. With the project months behind schedule, studio executive Les Grossman gives Damien an ultimatum: get the cast under control, or the project will be canceled. On Four Leaf's advice, Damien drops the actors into the middle of the jungle, with hidden cameras and rigged special effects explosions to film " guerrilla-style ." The actors have guns that fire blanks , along with

13348-528: The initial script concept was to have actors go to a mock boot camp and return with post traumatic stress disorder . The final script was developed to satirize Vietnam War films such as Apocalypse Now , Rambo , Missing in Action , Platoon , Full Metal Jacket , Hamburger Hill , and The Deer Hunter . Theroux pointed out that viewers have an increased awareness of the inner workings of Hollywood due to celebrity websites and Hollywood news sources, so

13490-409: The island sought 500 residents to portray the villagers in the film. Two units shot simultaneously on the island from the ground, and an aerial unit shot from helicopters. Many of the sets and the bridge used for one of the final scenes were built in three months. The island's erratic weather hampered filming with rain and lighting. The crew also faced complications in moving the equipment and cast due to

13632-497: The land of the obvious, easy chuckle." Downey, Stiller, Black, and Cruise were repeatedly singled out for praise by numerous critics, claiming that they "stole the show", were "off-the-charts hilarious", and would bring viewers "the fondest memories" of their work. Scott Feinberg of the Los Angeles Times criticized the concept of Downey's portrayal of an African-American: "I just can't imagine any circumstance under which

13774-476: The magazine, "In the Navy, it was all about the mission. Practicing for war, training for war. In the Coast Guard, it was, take care of our people and the mission will take care of itself." The eleven statutory missions as defined by law are divided into homeland security missions and non-homeland security missions: The U.S. Coast Guard Search and Rescue (CG-SAR) is one of the Coast Guard's best-known operations. The National Search and Rescue Plan designates

13916-454: The maritime and cyber domains, the U.S. Coast Guard is at any given time deployed to and operating on all seven continents and in cyberspace to enforce its mission. Like its United States Navy sibling, the U.S. Coast Guard maintains a global presence with permanently-assigned personnel throughout the world and forces routinely deploying to both littoral and blue-water regions. The U.S. Coast Guard's adaptive, multi-mission "white hull" fleet

14058-458: The media. In November 2007, images of Cruise wearing a bald headpiece and a fatsuit appeared on Inside Edition , as well as on the Internet. Cruise's attorneys threatened a lawsuit if photos showing Cruise in costume were published. They approached various sites that were hosting the image and quickly had it removed. A representative for Cruise stated: "Mr. Cruise's appearance was supposed to be

14200-564: The mission of the sea and air assets and Coastal Defense . U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters is located in Southeast Washington, D.C. Examples of other shore establishment types are Coast Guard Sectors (which may include Coast Guard Bases), Surface Forces Logistics Center (SFLC), Coast Guard Stations , Coast Guard Air Stations , and the United States Coast Guard Yard . Training centers are included in

14342-429: The most positively praised for his performance. However, the depiction of people with disabilities and the use of blackface makeup attracted controversy. The film opened at the top of the American box office and retained the number-one position for three consecutive weeks, ultimately grossing more than $ 195 million worldwide before its release on home media on November 18, 2008. Downey was nominated for an Academy Award ,

14484-472: The necessary camera angles for filming. Six companies working on different scenes and elements created 500 shots of visual effects in the film. These were at times altered weekly due to the reactions of test audiences in screenings. CIS Visual Effects Group assisted with the Scorcher VI faux trailer and twenty additional shots for the home media release. To expand on the comedy in the film, some of

14626-399: The new character, Les Grossman, as a middle-aged businessman. The role required that Cruise don a fatsuit , large prosthetic hands, and a bald cap. It was Cruise's idea to give the character large hands and dance to " Low ". Stiller intended to keep Cruise's role a secret until the film's release. In addition, Paramount Pictures refused to release promotional pictures of Cruise's character to

14768-526: The onset of the annual Hollywood film award season at the end of 2008, Tropic Thunder began receiving nominations and awards starting with a win for "Hollywood Comedy of the Year Award" at the 12th annual Hollywood Film Festival on October 27, 2008. The film was nominated for Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical, for the Satellite Awards . In addition, Downey was nominated for Best Actor in

14910-481: The opening, partly because the large-scale production smothers the gags but mostly because those gags are so easy to smother." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave 3.5/4 and wrote, "The movie is, may I say, considerably better than Stiller's previous film, Zoolander (2001). It's the kind of summer comedy that rolls in, makes a lot of people laugh and rolls on to video." The faux trailers before

15052-516: The opposition: " Tropic Thunder is drawing fire from special interest groups" for "its frequent use of the word 'retard', but discerning audiences will know where the humor is targeted. And they'll be laughing too hard to take offense." In January 2009, Entertainment Weekly included Tropic Thunder in its list "25 Great Comedies From the Past 25 Years" for its "spot-on skewering of Hollywood." The film also appeared on several critics' top ten lists of

15194-868: The other branches of the United States Armed Forces , which are prevented from acting in a law enforcement capacity by 18 U.S.C.   § 1385 , the Posse Comitatus Act , and Department of Defense policy, the Coast Guard is exempt from and not subject to the restrictions of the Posse Comitatus Act. Further law enforcement authority is given by 14 U.S.C.   § 703 and 19 U.S.C.   § 1401 , which empower U.S. Coast Guard active and reserve commissioned officers, warrant officers, and petty officers as federal customs officers . This places them under 19 U.S.C.   § 1589a , which grants customs officers general federal law enforcement authority, including

15336-463: The other side, and then they'd meet in the middle." Downey acknowledged the potential controversy over his role: "At the end of the day, it's always about how well you commit to the character. If I didn't feel it was morally sound, or that it would be easily misinterpreted that I'm just C. Thomas Howell [in Soul Man ], I would've stayed home." Co-star Brandon T. Jackson stated: "When I first read

15478-463: The palm trees used in the explosion were moved to the specific location after the crew determined the impact of the lighting and necessary camera angles. Due to the size and cost of the 1.25-second explosion, it was performed only once and was captured from twelve cameras. For the safety of the crew and cast, the detonators were added one hour before the explosion and nobody was allowed to be within 400 feet (120 m) during detonation. The explosion

15620-471: The part while on vacation in Hawaii . Downey said on CBS ' The Early Show that his first reaction was, "This is the stupidest idea I've ever heard!" and that Stiller responded, "Yeah, I know – isn't it great?" In another interview, Downey said that he accepted the part but, having no idea where or even how to start building the character of Lazarus, eventually settled on a jive-esque speech pattern and

15762-660: The person to be arrested has committed or is committing a felony; and (4) perform any other law enforcement duty that the Secretary of Homeland Security may designate. The U.S. Government Accountability Office Report to the House of Representatives , Committee on the Judiciary on its 2006 Survey of Federal Civilian Law Enforcement Functions and Authorities, identified the Coast Guard as one of 104 federal components that employed law enforcement officers . The report also included

15904-555: The premiere on August 11. After representatives for the groups attended the private screening and were still offended by its content, the groups picketed outside the film's premiere. Timothy Shriver , the chairman of the Special Olympics, stated, "This population struggles too much with the basics to have to struggle against Hollywood. We're sending a message that this hate speech is no longer acceptable." Satire (film and television) Film or television satire may be of

16046-501: The prisoners. Still, a combination of broken Mandarin Chinese and inconsistencies in his story sets off Tran. Knowing their cover has been blown, the actors begin firing, fooling the gang members into surrendering. Their control of the gang falls apart when Jeff grabs Tran and heads for the drugs, and the gang, realizing the guns fire blanks, recover their guns and fight back. The four actors locate Four Leaf, Underwood, and Tugg and cross

16188-399: The production arena.... It should put Kaua'i back on the production consideration radar." Preliminary production crews were on the island starting in December 2006, and principal photography began in July 2007, with filming lasting 13 weeks over seven separate locations on the island. Much of the filming took place on private land as well as conservation status designated areas. Casting calls on

16330-564: The rank of ensign (O-1) through lieutenant commander (O-4) are considered junior officers, commanders (O-5) and captains (O-6) are considered senior officers, and rear admirals (O-7) through admirals (O-10) are considered flag officers. The Commandant of the Coast Guard and the Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard are the only members of the Coast Guard authorized to hold the rank of admiral. The Coast Guard does not have medical officers or chaplains of its own. Instead, chaplains from

16472-517: The real action and danger. Tropic Thunder parodies many prestigious war films (specifically those based on the Vietnam War ), the Hollywood studio system , and method acting . The ensemble cast includes Nick Nolte , Danny McBride , Matthew McConaughey , Bill Hader , and Tom Cruise . Stiller developed Tropic Thunder 's premise during the production of Empire of the Sun in

16614-747: The rocket's path. The crew return to Hollywood , and footage from the hidden cameras is compiled into the feature film Tropic Blunder , which becomes a major critical and commercial success. The film wins Tugg his first Academy Award, which Kirk presents to him at the ceremony. Several actors and celebrities portray themselves, including Tobey Maguire , Tyra Banks , Maria Menounos , Martin Lawrence , The Mooney Suzuki , Jason Bateman , Lance Bass , Jennifer Love Hewitt , Alicia Silverstone , Christine Taylor , Mini Anden , Anthony Ruivivar , Yvette Nicole Brown , Rachel Avery , Sean Penn , and Jon Voight . Co-writer Justin Theroux appears in two brief roles as

16756-821: The same pay and allowances as members of the same pay grades in the other uniformed services. The service has participated in every major U.S. conflict from 1790 through today, including landing troops on D-Day and on the Pacific Islands in World War II , in extensive patrols and shore bombardment during the Vietnam War , and multiple roles in Operation Iraqi Freedom . Maritime interception operations, coastal security, transportation security, and law enforcement detachments have been its major roles in recent conflicts in Iraq . On 17 October 2007,

16898-545: The same rank structure as the Navy. Enlisted members in pay grades of E-4 and higher are considered petty officers and follow career development paths very similar to those of Navy petty officers. Petty officers in pay grade E-7 and higher are chief petty officers and must attend the Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Academy , or an equivalent Department of Defense school, in order to be advanced to pay grade E-8. The basic themes of

17040-440: The school are: Enlisted rank insignia is also nearly identical to Navy enlisted insignia. The Coast Guard shield replacing the petty officer's eagle on collar and cap devices for petty officers or enlisted rating insignia for seamen qualified as a "designated striker" . Group Rate marks (stripes) for junior enlisted members (E-3 and below) also follow Navy convention with white for seaman, red for fireman, and green for airman. In

17182-582: The school is now located at Coast Guard Training Center Yorktown at Yorktown, Virginia. Operated by the Coast Guard, the National Response Center (NRC) is the sole U.S. Government point of contact for reporting all oil , chemical , radiological , biological , and etiological spills and discharges into the environment, anywhere in the United States and its territories. In addition to gathering and distributing spill/incident information for Federal On Scene Coordinators and serving as

17324-414: The script was easier to write. Dialogue for unscripted portions of the storyboard was developed on set by the actors or was improvised. Stiller's original plan was to cast Keanu Reeves as Tugg Speedman and himself as Rick Peck. Etan Cohen created the role of Kirk Lazarus as a way of lampooning the great lengths that some method actors go to depict a role. Robert Downey Jr. was approached by Stiller about

17466-423: The script, I was like: What? Blackface ? But when I saw him [act] he, like, became a black man ... It was just good acting. It was weird on the set because he would keep going with the character. He's a method actor." Stiller commented on Downey's portrayal of a white actor playing a black man: "When people see the movie – in the context of the film, he's playing a method actor who's gone to great lengths to play

17608-794: The shore establishment commands. The military college for the USCG is called the United States Coast Guard Academy which trains both new officers through a four year program and enlisted personnel joining the ranks of officers through a 17 week program called Officer Candidate School (OCS). Abbreviated TRACEN, the other Training Centers include Training Center Cape May for enlisted bootcamp, Training Center Petaluma and Training Center Yorktown for enlisted "A" schools and "C" schools, and Coast Guard Aviation Technical Training Center and Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile for aviation enlisted "A" school, "C" schools, and pilot officer training. The Coast Guard has

17750-519: The site appeared to be insensitive to people with disabilities." A coalition of more than 20 disability advocacy groups, including the Special Olympics and the Arc of the United States , objected to the film's repeated use of the word "retard". DreamWorks offered to screen the film for the groups on August 8 to determine if it still offended them. The screening was postponed to the same day of

17892-468: The spring of 1987, and later enlisted Theroux and Cohen to complete a script. The film was greenlighted in 2006 and produced by Stuart Cornfeld , Stiller, and Eric McLeod for DreamWorks Pictures and Red Hour Productions as an international coproduction between the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Filming took place in 2007 on the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i over thirteen weeks and

18034-543: The trailer as released in theaters. At least one of the ads was produced by Paramount Pictures and intended for early For Your Consideration awareness for Downey's role. On January 22, 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated Downey for Best Supporting Actor. At the 81st Academy Awards , Downey lost to Heath Ledger , who won posthumously for his role as The Joker in The Dark Knight . With

18176-421: The world. The U.S. Coast Guard operates under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security during peacetime. During times of war, it can be transferred in whole or in part to the U.S. Department of the Navy under the Department of Defense by order of the U.S. President or by act of Congress . Prior to its transfer to Homeland Security, it operated under the Department of Transportation from 1967 to 2003 and

18318-482: The year. By September 2009, 2,963,000 DVD units had been sold, gathering revenue of $ 49,870,248. An HDR Dolby Vision mastered Ultra HD Blu-ray was released through Kino Lorber . The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives Tropic Thunder a rating of 82% based on 252 reviews and an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "With biting satire, plenty of subversive humor, and an unforgettable turn by Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder

18460-502: The younger moviegoers who are abandoning him." Several critics commented on the controversy over lines in the film about the mentally disabled. Duane Dudek of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote that the film "is just sophomoric enough to offend. And while it is also funny, it is without the empathy or compassion to cause us to wonder why we are laughing." Christian Toto of The Washington Times argued against

18602-585: Was also nominated by both the Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts for Best Supporting Actor awards. Tropic Thunder was criticized by the disability advocacy community. The website for Simple Jack was withdrawn on August 4 amid several groups' concerns over its portrayal of intellectual disability . A spokesman for DreamWorks said, "We heard their concerns, and we understand that taken out of context,

18744-709: Was also released, containing additional special features and the Rain of Madness mockumentary. For the film's first week of release, Tropic Thunder placed on several video charts. It reached second place on the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales chart and Nielsen's Blu-ray Disc chart, earning $ 19,064,959 (not including Blu-ray sales). In rentals, it placed first on the Home Media Magazine ' s video rental chart. The DVD sales in 2008 totaled $ 42,271,059, placing it in 28th for DVD sales for

18886-400: Was amazed Maguire would agree to do the film and felt like they were creating a " karmic pay-off" for their scenes together in the 2000 film Wonder Boys , where Downey's character has a one-night stand with Maguire's character. After Cruise vacated the role of Rick Peck, Owen Wilson was cast to play the part. Following his suicide attempt in August 2007, Wilson dropped out of the film and

19028-482: Was first scouted as a possible location to film Tropic Thunder in 2004. Stiller spent more than 25 hours over six weeks exploring the island, using all-terrain vehicles, boats, and helicopters. DreamWorks gave the green light for filming in 2006, but preproduction lasted for six months, most of this time spent on scouting additional locations for filming. Filming occurred on sets at Universal Studios in Hollywood for

19170-518: Was in World War II , in all some 250,000 served in the Coast Guard during World War II. Coast Guard Squadron One , was a combat unit formed by the United States Coast Guard in 1965 for service during the Vietnam War . Placed under the operational control of the United States Navy, it was assigned duties in Operation Market Time . Its formation marked the first time since World War II that Coast Guard personnel were used extensively in

19312-411: Was in 3,473 theaters, placing it in the top 25 widest releases in the U.S. for 2008. For 2008, the film was the fifth-highest-grossing domestic R-rated film. The film's U.S. and Canada gross of over $ 110 million made Tropic Thunder Stiller's most successful film as a director. The film has had gross receipts of $ 110,515,313 in the U.S. and Canada and $ 85,187,498 in international markets for

19454-406: Was inconsistent and the system still relied on all-volunteer crews. In 1871, Sumner Increase Kimball was appointed chief of the Treasury Department's newly created Revenue Marine Division, and began the process of organizing the Revenue-Marine cutters into a centralized agency. Kimball also pushed for more funding lifesaving stations and eventually secured approval to create the Lifesaving Service as

19596-400: Was made up of twelve individual explosions and resulted in a mushroom cloud that reached 350 feet (110 m) in the air. For the scene in the film, Danny McBride's character, Cody Underwood, was the only actor shown in the shot of the explosion. All the other characters were added digitally. The explosion of the bridge in one of the final scenes used nine cameras to capture the shot, and

19738-411: Was released. The mockumentary was a parody of Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse . It follows co-writer Justin Theroux as a fictitious documentarian named Jan Jürgen documenting the behind-the-scenes aspects of the film within the film . Marketing for the faux documentary included a movie poster and an official website prior to Tropic Thunder ' s release. The mockumentary was released on

19880-618: Was replaced by Matthew McConaughey . Southern California and Mexico were considered for the main unit filming, but Stiller selected the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i where he has a home for the majority of the shooting. Kaua'i was chosen over Mexico because a tax credit was negotiated with the Kaua'i Film Commission for in-state spending. Cinematographer John Toll stated that the island was also selected for its similarity to Vietnam, based on its dense foliage, variety of terrains, and weather. Kaua'i

20022-473: Was the largest film production in the island's history. The extensive marketing campaign included faux websites for three of the main characters and their fictional films, a fictional television special, and selling the energy drink advertised in the film, "Booty Sweat". Tropic Thunder was released in the United States on August 13, 2008. It received generally positive reviews for its characters, story, faux trailers, and cast performances, with Downey Jr. being

20164-498: Was the same thing with Ben's sergeant character, who almost intercepts a hand grenade ... Now, I was in the Army for three years and no hand grenade would make an explosion like that ... But it was a big dramatic moment and it looks really cool ... and feels kind of real." Filming the large napalm explosion in the opening scene of the film required a 450-foot (137-meter) row of explosive pots containing 1,100 gallons (4,165 liters) of gasoline and diesel fuel. All

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