"I spoked to a professional person, who has told me that what was happening to me, was what they described as a pre-meltdown penultimate." "This are perhaps the last haunting words of director Damien Cockburn, the director of the film Tropic Thunder, a film that like a cinematic Titanic, was doomed to sink, taking with it it's cast and crew, before it even come ashore" "on the shores of the American cinema." "War, a theme that has inspired countless directors and Hollywood productions." "But what is war?" "What is it mean to take another man's life?" "War is murder, or institutionalized genocide?" "What is it in our nature, that compels perfectly rational human beings to kill one another?" " It turns!" " And action!" "None of these questions interested me." "What interests me is making a documentary about making of a film, that led to it's on unmaking." "Hello." "I am documentary filmmaker, Jan Jürgen." "For many years, I have been fascinated by the most magicalist of all places, Hollywood." "As a boy growing up in Wiesbaden, Germany," "I would go to the cinema, and marvel at the larger than life film gods on the silver screen." "Mark Hamil, James Garner, and of course, Barbara Hershey." "But I also remember thinking to myself:" ""Is there are a more forbidding sinister side to Hollywood," ""than the lies perpetuated by the studio system?" "Of course, these are the questions of a child." "But that question still lingers to this day." "Last year I was ask to document the making of a Vietnam war classic called Tropic Thunder." "What you're about to see, is it unflinchingly as possible a look at the making of a Hollywood nightmare." "My nightmare:" "Tropic Thunder." "In the fall of 2007, the renowned Broadway theater director, Damien Cockburn was shooting one of the most expensive Vietnam war movie ever made." "Roll camera, please!" "Costing well over 300 million, and filming on location in Vietnam," "Tropic Thunder boasted one of the most unlikely cast of all time." "Don't fucking whine." "What do you think, I am a dick?" "Cracking under the pressure of a blockbuster filmmaking," "Damien and his cast suddenly and mysteriously disappeared." "Rumors abundant about the whereabouts of actors Tugg Speedman and Jeff Portnoy..." "Studio's head, Les Grossman refuses to finance additional search effort saying, quote:" ""I spend all the money I am going to spend on this film. "" "But what actually happened to the cast and crew of Tropic Thunder?" "To answer these questions, we must take a journey, not just in the heart of the conflict that was the Vietnam War, but also a journey into madness." "In 2005, Damien purchased the rights to an obscure memoir, called Tropic Thunder, written by retired army sergeant, and Vietnam veteran," "John "Four Leaf" Tayback." "Four Leaf, named such because of it's incredible luck in battle was the platoon sergeant of an elite handpicked group of soldiers, code named:" "Tropic Thunder." "Sent on suicide mission behind enemy lines, the men of Tropic Thunder never returned." "However, Four Leaf miraculously survived, and single handedly completed the mission." "But in the process he lost every single hand." "The studio director, Les Grossman, chairman and CIO of ImagiCorp, sensing commercial success, snapped up the auction of the script." "He wanted to go in the production immediately." "Virtually overnight," "Grossman lavished over 140 million American dollar on the film." "Flushed with cash, Damien's confidence seemed to grow exponentially in proportion with the new budget." "How would you describe yourself directorially?" "I often get asked this question, and the most succinct way, to describe myself:" "50% Werner Herzog, 50% Hal Ashby, and 50% Peter Bogdanovich." "Yes, but that's 150%." "Yes, I guess it is." "With set built, and the crew in place, Damien began casting the film." "The first actor to be cast was the reclusive Australian Method actor and notorious bad boy from down under, Kirk Lazarus." "No doubt, because of his award cache, Grossman offered him the lead." "Every day, than I wake up, I thank my father for being an abusive alcoholic." "Because it was that exact kind of environment, that I find, makes great talent." "Lazarus total commitment on past roles had been borderline unnerving." "While in Ireland, preparing to play the gay priest in "Satan's Alley", he was once found circumcising an adult male behind a pub in Belfast." "However, Lazarus, who have claimed that was no acting challenges left for him, shunned the part of Four Leaf, and insisted instead to play the black sergeant," "Lincoln Osiris." "In preparation, Lazarus went to extraordinary and controversial lengths, when he had his skin surgically altered in a Singapore clinic." "The results, however, were simply astonishing." "He was a true carbon copy of the original man." "During pre-production, we visited him on several occasions." "Never once did he dropped character." "But you got to walk a mile in a man shoes." "Thats what I did." "I walked a mile in shoes, thats right." "Now, this are 1977 sneakers." "That's what you gotta do." "There is a myriad of black actors we could cast, but that's what people do." "Who else are you thinking?" "The list is endless." "Denzel Washington," "Sidney Poitier." "I could go on." "Damien seemed blind to the pitfalls of casting a white actor to play the part of an African American." "We talked about, whether if it was racist or not." "We came to the conclusion that it definitely not racist, so that was reassuring." "The race no longer an issue," "Lazarus demanded, that the actual family of the real Sergeant Osiris, flown from Galveston, Texas all the way to Vietnam." "His commitment to the role was breathtaking." "It's working." "It's working." "Back in L.A., Les Grossman and his producer, Rob Slolom, continued their search for the role of Four Leaf." "Smelling a bargain, their top choice was action colossus Tugg Speedman." "Speedman "Scorcher" franchise grossed over 3.4 billion worldwide." "However, Speedman's fee, which used to be 25 million dollars of picture, had fallen sharply just under five million." "Here we go again." "Again!" "The reason?" "Several failed attempt to expend his appeal to audiences." "Simple Jack, the story of an intellectually challenged horse whisperer was a nauseating and cloying attempt, not just to win awards, but also respect in Hollywood." "I like, when we touch heads." "He desperately needed to revive his anemic career." "Wake up, Pom-Pom." "Many people questioned, whether Speedman had the intelligence to tackle the complexity of such a role." "You have been casted for the role of Four Leaf." "What is it about this American hero, that made you so desperate, to play this role?" "It's an interesting exploration of the American... thing." " One more question..." " Thank you." "You are going to be allowed to push hair?" "Speedman got the part." "The next role to be cast was the part of Fats." "Again, Grossman inserted himself in the process, by inexplicably casting celebrity train wreck, and known drug addict, Jeff Portnoy." "A man-child who had made millions on its ability, to make himself fart on command." "Gross!" "Portnoy first become known to the American audiences in his hit television series:" "Heat Vision and Jack, where he played a maverick genius astronaut whose best friend was a talking motorcycle." "Knowledge is power." "For real." "His fame went global, when he began starring in a string of pre-pubescent teenage fart comedy's, such as Fart Club, and his flagship franchise:" "The Fatties." "Portnoy frequent and dazzling public meltdowns didn't seem to matter one bit." "Fix it, fucking dope." "His run-ins with the law, drunk driving convictions, and his continued intravenous drug problems made him a risk." "He was virtually uninsurable." "Damien, obviously devastated by Grossman hideous casting choices, seemed determined to remain optimistic." "We got a lot' em." "We got Little Timid." "We got Commando." "There is also Holly Go Lightly." "I'm sitting up wind." " I'm sorry about that." " No, but the wind..." " sometimes changes direction." " Let me go this way." "Yeah, but it still looping around, hitting me in the face." "In their search for guaranteed box office success, the ImagiCorp nonsensical casting choices continued." "I was puzzled yet again, when I overheard Damien bragging about casting Al Pacino for the role of Motown, the black 19 year old from Detroit." "I later learned, that they were casting the rapper, Alpa Chino, singer of the hit single "I Love Tha Pussy"." "Say hello to my little friend!" "In his contract with the ImagiCorp, he was also promised product placement in the film, for his line Bust-A-Nut energy bars and Booty Sweat energy drinks." "I work with Tugg Speedman." "I love' em." "Thank you, Les Grossman, for giving me the job." "With Mr. Chino now playing Motown, there was just one person left to cast," "Brooklyn." "Snatching the role was a complete unknown," "Kevin Sandusky." "His only credit to date, was a surprisingly touching pharmaceutical commercial, for a teenage erectyl dysfunction medication, called Prom Night." "Five days away from the first day of shooting, and with his platoon finally in place, Damien frustrations began to mount." "To encourage realism and close bond with the actors," "Damien arranged for a 5 day survival boot camp, with Gulf War veteran, Drake "The Stick" Longwood." "Sadly, only Sandusky was eager to attend." "Jesus fuck!" "Oh, fuck!" "Sorry." "Sorry, Damien, I'm sorry." "You better be fucking sorry, because you're fucking dead." " Get down and give me fucking 50." " Can I take a break?" "Get down, motherfucker, and do it." " Do what he says." " Who the fuck are you?" "I am the director." " Oh, no!" "My God!" " Damn." "The boot camp experience itself seemed to be an omen of things to came." "Finally, the first day of filming had arrived." "Damien spent the whole night prying, putting the finishing touches on the script." "He arrived on the set in fantastic spirit." "The choppers had landed, the effects team was in place, the camera was ready." "Everything was going willingly." "Everything, except for the actors." "Lazarus refused even to acknowledge Damien's presence, unless he was wearing fatigues." "Sandusky, perhaps traumatized by the boot camp, was acting erratic." "Alpa Chino refused to leave us alone, believing we were a crew from MTV." " That's MTV?" " No." "We just..." "Yeah." "Yo, we going to do a small show, agree?" "Check this out." "Yours boy, Alpa Chino doin' it real big." "We're doing the same." "Deal every day on my new movie, Tropic Thunder, you know how we do it, baby." "He continually heckled us, looking for free publicity." "Damn, Booty Sweat from Alpa Chino on sale soon." "And Portnoy, sadly, was clearly and actively still abusing narcotics." "You go and get' em." "Worst of all," "Speedman, was yet to even step a foot outside his trailer." "Work came to a virtual standstill." "Finally, Damien was pressed to do something about it." "It's a fuck, it's a cunt." "Fucking 200,000 dollars fucking breakfast." "This is ain't gonna be pretty." " Hey." " What's coming on?" "Nothing, just dropping by, to make sure the captain is shipshape." "What is that?" " Desperate Housewives." " Alright." " You ever seen this show?" " I know, I heard about it." " It's fucking awesome." " Oh yeah?" "My girlfriend got me hooked." " Are you ready?" " Kind of." "I be right out." "OK." "And get me the seasons from Desperate Housewives." " Are you sure?" " Yes, I'm hooked." " OK!" " I only watching two minutes," " and I'm frigging hooked." " You will hate me." "I will hate you, if you don't show up on the set." "Yeah." "Fuck." "Yeah..." "I think that..." "As David said to Goliath:" " "I think we understand each other."" " Oh, hey." "Are you..." " They..." " The Survivor is here?" "The season one." "Call me, if you want season 2." " Don't hate me." " I don't." "Come here." "Just like Big Brother or something?" "After several hours of waiting," "Speedman finally emerged, to commence work." "Keep rolling, and go!" "However, when the cameras rolled, it became apparent, that he yet to learn any of his lines." "To all present, it was clear that the press-on would be madness." "Lazarus seemed to be at breaking point." "We gonna be here all day, all lookin' at you, fucked up again." "Alright, hotshot." "By 4 o'clock, Speedman had cost to production 1.6 million dollar." "Also, behind the scenes, the cultural differences between Vietnamese and the American crew began to bubble over." "Nowhere was this cultural divide more clearly illustrated, than in the mind of the film special effects and stunt coordinator," "Cody Keith Underwood." "What was this place like before your came here?" "Was it..." "This place was incredible." "This is an animal sanctuary here, first off, and I believe, it's a sacred land." "The bush was thick, the wildlife was thick, so it took us, maybe, six or seven days, basically just to get that shit out of here, and just get it ready for what we are doing." "Something like that, right there." "I'm not trying to be dirty, but that kind of stuff, honestly, almost give me a boner..." "There is Mother Nature, who is obviously way bigger, than we are, but here we are taking a piss on Mother Nature face right here." "This is how we show, that we are human." "It's our instinct, to just fucking crack out of it, and beat her in the little mouth." "Look at that." "Thats beautiful." "I don't know how long those trees had been growing for..." "But look what I'm fucking doing to him." "I win." "I just beat nature today." "What happened to the theme of courage, heroism, and arrogance of America foreign policy?" "Almost uniformly, people seemed indifferent to this subject matter altogether, making idiotic statements, that, from a P.R. perspective, would do more harm than good." "The only difference between this film and Vietnam is that with this film, we're gonna win." "Day 2 started out even worst than day 1." "Adding to the tension, the actual man, "Four Leaf"Tayback had traveled to Vietnam for the first time in 30 years, with the express purpose to advising Speedman on his POW scene." "I was just sitting down to interview Four Leaf, when my producer, Friedrich, slipped me a note." "Tugg Speedman wanted to participate in the interview." "It was the first time, when Tugg had willingly sat down in front of my lens." "I was happy to accommodate." "It was also the first time the two men had met." "It's been extremely difficult to learn how to use the hooks?" "I am holding an espresso." "Four Leaf, how hard has it been, since you lost your hands?" "When I lost these, it was like I saw through" "these, for the first time." "Then I begin to realize that," "I have never really used these." "And I'm trying to explain to him, that he has to use something in himself, somewhere." "I have to find another coffee." "This type, he looks like a Buddha." "I want to rub his belly for luck." "Shortly after I turned off my camera for these interviews, some alarming news came over the wire." "A tropical typhoon was threatening the coastline, and was projected to slam hard somewhere in the Southeast Asia." "By morning, the threat of typhoon had became more dire." "The first signs of what was to came began to show themselves." "Despite this, Damien whipping his crew onward like sled dogs demanded work continue." " Mr. Cockburn, are we cutting?" " No, we are still rolling." " Still rolling." " Still rolling." "But by noon, the situation was hopeless for the film." "Speedman fled to Hollywood in his private plane." "Lazarus, again refusing to drop character, charted a C-130 cargo plane to airlift himself, his fake family, and thankfully, myself and my crew, back to his fake real hometown, Galveston, Texas." "It was here that we chose to raid out the storm." "But the storm had seemed to had come to Texas with us." "Hey, I heard that!" "Lazarus, more than ever, did not seem himself." "He was acting erratic, refused to sleep, and was suffering explosive outbursts." "I'm the fucking king of the mountain!" " You're crazy." " I'm crazy?" " Damn!" "Holy shit." " What?" "Yeah?" "Something was terribly wrong." "What we are seeing, is an acute form of P.P.S.D." "I never heard of this." "I'm sorry." "Post-Platoon Stress Disorder." "The first documented case was Charlie Sheen." "And when you have an actor, like Mr. Lazarus..." "Hold on, don't move." "We cool." "What?" "...it would be unusual, if he didn't suffer from this disorder." "I gave you life." "I gave you a coat." "These fucking chips, that's all me too, baby!" "It's all my shit!" "I run this shit!" "The same diagnose has been given to Colin Farrell after "Tigerland"," "Jim Caviezel after "Thin Red Line", and incredibly, even Robin Williams after shooting "Good Morning, Vietnam"." "I was grateful at the end of it, when we were able to return to the madness of Vietnam." "Upon our return to Southeast Asia, I was stunned." "Total devastation." "All the sets has been smashed, like children's toothpicks, and an entire battlefield was washed in the Mekong river." "In just under two weeks and five days of shooting, the production had lost almost 240 million dollar." "All that he showed for it, was several discombobulated scenes and a script, that was in ruin." "Les Grossman, in a rage, called the accounting to say, he was pulling the plug the following morning." "Faced with such an impossible deadline, there was little hope in reviving the film." "Later that night, however, in a brilliant move," "Damien did something that was both politically sawy, and economically feasible." "He courageously chose to shot the most heartbreaking and moving scene in the script." "It was Speedman's monologue." "Set it night, in a trench," "Four Leaf, knowing his man an being led to the slaughter, he is faced with the task of urging his men not just to fight, but to fight bravely and to the death." "If Damien could pulled off," "Les Grossman would certainly see the film Oscar potential, and loosen the purse strings yet again." "Damien seemed calm." "The mood, by contrast, was thick with anticipation." "Four Leaf comes in and talks to them, almost like a Christ-like figure," " if I could say that." " Yes, you can." "He is an almost Christ-like figure then." "I said that." "There is a wonderful speech where he said:" ""Death is, but a moment." "Cowardice is a lifetime of affliction."" "The idea, that death being a moment, is just... both terrifying and yet strangely comforting." "Just be discreet." "He knows that we maybe coming." "Follow me." "Hey, don't mind the guys, they just covering, so..." " Reality show." " Reality show." " I wanted to talk to you..." " Okay, okay." " ..." "About the speech." " Shoot, daddy." "I was wondering, maybe you could skip some of my lines I got, some of the other guys." "Because it feels a little bit like..." "I don't know, it's a little bit talky." "You hear me?" "Yeah, it's a lot of words, but..." "I liked you to say:" ""Death spring not from darkness." "Yet be not afraid gentlemen, for hope is its handmaiden." "Do not fear death, because death is only a moment." "Cowardice is a lifetime of affliction."" "That's what I am saying." "For me, I know my audience understand." "They don't understand words, like "affliction" and "cowardish"." " It's cowardice." " What is that mean?" " What do you mean?" " It's like a female coward." "Not "cowardess", it's cowardice." " Cowardess?" " I-C-E, ice..." "Okay, but you're understand that while we have this conversation," "I gonna get popcorn and take a piss." "Oh, boy." "You know, it should be like:" ""Look, we are going out there, right?" "We gonna... kick some ass, right."" "Or should be like:" ""Tomorrow is gonna suck." "Suck up and deal." "Cock the gun." "Don't say it, do it." "Maggots." "Over and out."" "High five." "Don't say it, do it." " I..." " "Over and out"." " I don't know, what that means." " "Over and out"?" "That we say on walkie-talkie, when we finished talking." "No, sorry." "Excuse me." "I know what "Over and out" means." "Yeah, it's something that everybody knows." "Fucking cunt!" "The following morning, after a fruitless night of shooting," "Damien had become uncooperative." "I don't care no more." "You're part of the machine." "You're part of the machine." "You think you are outside, but you're part of the machine." "Deal with it, dude." "I don't give a shit." "So..." "He seemed to be almost totally unhinged." "Shoot that." "Put that ass as an attachment, and send it as an email to Les Grossman." " Good night, Vienna." " But in moments of this exchange, word came down, that Les Grossman had pulled the plug." "So, it's finally over." "No, it's not over." "This is just the beginning." "This is just the beginning." "These cryptic words would come back to haunt me." "In what would be my final interview with him, it was clear that something inside of Damien had completely shattered." "I am in a place, now, which is..." "Umm, it's a place of total clarity." "I don't feel anger, I feel just..." " Love, perhaps." " I feel..." "Yeah, I feel love." "I don't bear any kind of..." " Resentment." " Resentment or grudge..." " I am calm and I feel united..." " With yourself." "Yeah, but let me fucking finish." "Interrupting me, Jesus!" "Anyway, I am feeling better." "Damien was anything but feeling better." "Early the next morning roused from my slumber," "I received urgent and terrible news." "What?" "What is it?" "Damien and the cast had gone missing." "What?" "The greatest fear of every documentarian, is that they themselves will become their own subject, but with this new developments, I had no choice." "I leaped into action, and hatched an action plan." "Find Damien and the cast." "They were last seen boarding a chopper, that had flown in a north-west direction into one of the most lethal and dangerous part of Southeast Asia." "We had many kilometers to cover, and the jungle would be unforgiving." "However, by nightfall, we had made faint signs of progress." "We just come across this, which appears to be some blood." "I going to touch it." "I don't like touching things, it's dirty, but i am going through." "Yes, thats blood." "I will try it." "Yes, it's blood." "Taste like iron." "Two more hours we trekked through the jungle, and just when we were about to turn ourselves back, we came across the most tantalizing piece of evidence so far." "Looks like a video recorder." "There is a tape inside." "It's very exciting." "I returned to the hotel with pits in my stomach, eager to play the tape." "Damien was indeed on the tape, and so was the rest of the actors." "But also there was something so shocking and so awful that I questioned whether my eyes were actually lying to me." "Worst of all, it had actually happened to human beings." "The thought, that people had experienced this, made me question life, God, humanity and the point of living." "Several weeks after shooting, I even became suicidal." "This is probably the single most disturbing, awful and disgusting film I ever seen." "I watch it one more time." "Let's go, and make the greatest war movie ever!" " Yeah!" " Yeah!" "Yes!" "And watched again, I did." "What is important, it's not the amazing footage, which you will never see, but instead the lives of artists who tried to make Tropic Thunder." "I remember them as the human beings they were, not the grotesque pieces of human remains they become." "What is it, that drove Damien to the edge of lunacy?" "Why did the cast sabotaged itself?" "And finally, what about Hollywood, the land of false promises?" "What is the answer to all of these questions?" "I will never tell you." "What I have showed you, is in the end, the truth." "Not this spoon-fed Hollywood version of it." "This time, unlike Hollywood, you must decide for yourself, what is real and what is illusion." "But be warned, you may find yourself a prisoner to Hollywood, and it's torrential rain of madness." "From out of the dark is the South Central g., ready hand steady on a bloody machete." "A devil is on my shoulder." "Should I kill it?" "Hell, yeah!" "I slice Jack, took an ax, and gave that bitch, Jill, forty wacks." "With my hip-hop, it don't stop, until heads roll off the cutting block." "Da Lench Mob" " Cut Throats Planet Of Da Apes 1994"