Tom Cruise's 'Tropic Thunder' Ranked No. 2 in Collider's Funniest Movies List

Rachel SchneiderSun, September 6, 2026 at 4:20 AM UTC

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There are comedies that make you laugh, and then there are the ones where you can recite the jokes and still lose it when they come around. Tropic Thunder without a doubt belongs to the latter group, and to boot, it’s one of those comedies that fans find themselves quoting and laughing about, well, all the time.

The 2008 action comedy is a fan favorite and according to Collider, it belongs at No. 2 on its list of the 10 Funniest Movies in Film History. And considering how completely unhinged Tropic Thunder is, it’s hard to argue the movie doesn’t deserve the recognition.

‘Tropic Thunder’ Is Still One of the Funniest Movies Around

The movie stars Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Jr. as three wildly different actors who find themselves stranded in an actual war zone while filming a Vietnam War movie.

Naturally, the actors don’t initially realize what’s happening. They’re so committed to the movie they’re making that they essentially continue treating the situation like another day on set … even as the danger around them becomes increasingly real.

That’s the basic premise, anyway. From there, Tropic Thunder takes aim at pretty much every ridiculous Hollywood cliché it can find, including egotistical actors, awards-season desperation, method acting, bloated movie productions, and studios that will do almost anything to make a hit.

But the cast is a huge part of what makes the whole thing work.

Black plays Jeff Portnoy, an actor whose career is built around a wildly successful comedy franchise. Stiller plays action star Tugg Speedman, while Downey Jr. plays Kirk Lazarus, an intensely committed method actor who takes his craft to an almost unbelievable extreme.

And Tom Cruise is not to be forgotten.

Tom Cruise Nearly Steals the Entire Movie

Cruise’s appearance as foul-mouthed Hollywood producer Les Grossman was one of the movie’s biggest surprises.

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The actor was almost unrecognizable beneath the bald cap, facial hair, prosthetics, and padded costume. Grossman spends much of the movie screaming at people, issuing increasingly ridiculous threats, and generally behaving like the world’s most aggressive studio executive.

Somehow, Cruise’s tiny supporting role became one of the most memorable parts of the entire movie. It was also a performance that earned Cruise a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

And that pretty much sums up Tropic Thunder: It’s a movie packed with people who are funny on their own, somehow thrown into an even funnier situation.

The Movie Was Basically a Giant Hollywood Roast

Part of what makes the movie so rewatchable is that its jokes aren’t limited to one target.

The entire premise is a send-up of Hollywood’s obsession with making movies about important subjects, the actors who take themselves far too seriously, and the ridiculous lengths performers will go to in pursuit of acclaim.

That was especially true of Downey Jr.’s Kirk Lazarus, whose extreme approach to method acting is one of the movie’s central jokes.

Years later, Stiller acknowledged that some elements of the movie would be considerably harder to make today, particularly its most controversial material. He also said the movie was fortunate to get made at the scale it did.

Yet that’s also part of the reason the comedy has stuck around.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Sep 6, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”