10 Movies Much Better Than The One Thing You Remember Them For

6. Tropic Thunder

Les Grossman Tropic Thunder Tom Cruise
DreamWorks Pictures

What You Remember It For: Tom Cruise dancing/Robert Downey Jr. doing blackface

When it comes to Tropic Thunder, it’s a direct 50/50 split between what people remember the most: Tom Cruise’s bonkers movie producer, Les Grossman; or Robert Downey Jr’s eccentric actor, Kirk Lazarus, doing blackface until the DVD commentary.

Both are hilarious in their roles, with Cruise playing so far against type that it's almost unbelievable to watch, and Downey earning an Academy Award nod for his work. They're both flamboyant, larger-than-life characters, so it's no surprise to see that they've become Tropic Thunder's mascots, and while they do deliver many of its standout comedic moments, they're not the sole reasons the movie works as a whole.

Ben Stiller's direction is fantastic, with the funnyman somehow managing to find the humour in a blood-and-guts-filled satire of older Vietnam War films. Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey and Stiller also turn in memorable performances, and there are tons of hilarious gags, like the opening riff on Apocalypse Now's famous explosion, and the whole "I killed a panda" section.

And that's even without mentioning some of the fake trailers seen throughout the movie. Who doesn't want to see Scorcher VI: Global Meltdown?!

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Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.