Tropic Thunder Review

Release Date: Aug 5, 2008
Label: Lakeshore
Genres: Rock & Roll, Hard Rock, Blues-Rock
Number Of Tracks: 14
The soundtrack to the movie, “Tropic Thunder� reminds audiences what the music was like during the Vietnam War, but it does not show many reflections of modern day music.

Sound:	7
Lyrics:	8
Impression:	7
Overall rating:	7.3
Users rating:	10
Comments:	8

overall: 7.3

Featured review by: UG Team, on august 08, 2008

Sound: The soundtrack to Ben Stiller’s upcoming movie, “Tropic Thunder” digs up a few old time favorite tracks like “War” by Edwin Starr and made famous by Bruce Springsteen’s emotional rendition of the tune, and MC Hammer’s rousing hip hop roped “U Can’t Touch This.” I can’t tell you how these two songs play out in the movie which will be out in theaters on August 15, but other highlights include Enigma’s electro-pop gilded/techno-cubed hit single “Sadeness, Pt. 1,” and The Crystal Method trip-hop elixir “The Name Of The Game.” The soundtrack brings to the surface some tracks that have not seen the light of day since they came out in the ‘70s like Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Run Through The Jungle,” Ten Years After’s “I’d Love To Change The World,” Steppenwolf’s “The Pusher,” and The Edgar Winter Group’s “Frankenstein.” These songs possibly relate the themes about war in the movie, to the music that was around during the Vietnam War in the early ‘70s. The soundtrack carries a few dance-pop spuds like The Temptations number “Ball Of Confusion (That’s What The World Is Today),” Ben Gidsjoy’s hip hop jam “Ready Set Go,” and Ja’Net DuBois’ funky ditty “Movin’ On Up” which was made famous as the theme song to the ‘70s hit TV series “The Jeffersons.” The soundtrack is like a time machine taking audiences back to the honeyed soft-pop rays of “Sometimes When We Touch” from the ‘70s hit maker Dan Hill, and showing how the modern rockers, The Mooney Suzuki handle their remake of Rare Earth’s soul-rock lubed “I Just Want to Celebrate.” For the most part, the soundtrack takes audiences back to the ‘70s and offers a few sips of ‘90s pop, but when it comes to 2000’s The Mooney Suzuki, the album does not cover one of the band’s original songs but a song that they re-did for the movie from the ‘70s. // 7

Lyrics and Singing: Keeping with the war theme in the movie, the song “War” should be the one that hits audiences the strongest, especially when the lyrics thrust, “War! Huh! / Good God / What is it good for / Absolutely nothing! / Listen to me / War, I despise / ‘Cause it means destruction / Of innocent lives / War means tears to thousand of mothers’ eyes / When their sons go off to fight / And lose their lives.” Although, the movie is being promoted as a comedy, the song does not offer a setting that would project a comedy, but here it is on the soundtrack. // 8

Impression: The soundtrack to the movie, “Tropic Thunder” reminds audiences what the music was like during the Vietnam War, but it does not show many reflections of modern day music. And when it does showcase a modern rock band like The Mooney Suzuki, the song that they play is from the past. If the soundtrack is anything like the movie, audiences will feel like they are watching a spoof of the melodrama, “Apocalypse Now,” a film shot during another time in the past, but not really something that reflects what is going on in 2008. It’s a good soundtrack for those people who want to remember music from days that have gone by, and return to it on the movie screen. // 7

- Susan Frances aka sweetpeasuzie (c) 2009

Comments

[brentondig]

It's a shame they didn't just play songs from the 60's/70's. Playing "Can't Touch This" makes nearly less sense than playing brand new songs. Keep it authentic, man!

[hippyguitardude]

so the reviewer says that the songs make it seem like a spoof of apocalypse now but isn't that sort of the general idea of the movie. it is set in vietnam after all.

[Riaghan]

brentondig....the film doesn't take place in the 60s/70s, why would it only make sense to play songs from that era?

[Lacebad]

The soundtrack brings to the surface some tracks that have not seen the light of day since they came out in the ‘70s like Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Run Through The Jungle,” bullshit, if nothing else that song is in "the big lebowski" all so creedence are one of the best bands ever

[Infamou$17]

Riaghan wrote:

brentondig....the film doesn't take place in the 60s/70s, why would it only make sense to play songs from that era?

Because the movie is about a movie set in that era. Since the movie outside of..... eh f*ck it, you know what I mean. The actual movie is set today so the hip hop and techno, in a sense, does work.

[Riaghan]

Infamou$17 wrote:

Riaghan wrote:

brentondig....the film doesn't take place in the 60s/70s, why would it only make sense to play songs from that era?


Because the movie is about a movie set in that era. Since the movie outside of..... eh f*ck it, you know what I mean. The actual movie is set today so the hip hop and techno, in a sense, does work.

yeah, because very likely, those songs aren't used in the context of the movie inside of the movie.

[Masterbeefy]

I really dont care when its set, because I think that this movie looks like it is going to kick hard ass xD

[Masterbeefy]

And Robert Downey Jr, one of the whitest guys in Hollywood, makes one damned good black guy xD I didn't even recognise him they've done that so well.