Tropic Thunder
During the filming of Vietnam veteran John "Four Leaf" Tayback's memoir, Tropic Thunder, the actors—fading action hero Tugg Speedman, five-time Academy Award-winning Australian method actor Kirk Lazarus, rapper Alpa Chino, and drug-addicted comedian Jeff Portnoy—behave unreasonably (with the exception of newcomer supporting actor Kevin Sandusky). Rookie director Damien Cockburn is unable to control the actors during the filming of a large war scene, and just five days into shooting the production is reported to be a month behind schedule. Cockburn is ordered by studio executive Les Grossman to get filming back on track.
Acting on Tayback's advice, Cockburn drops the actors into the middle of the jungle, where he has installed hidden cameras and special-effect explosions rigged so he can film "guerrilla-style". The actors have guns that fire blanks, along with a map and scene listing that will guide them to a helicopter waiting at the end of the jungle route. Unbeknownst to the actors and the production, the group have been dropped in the middle of the Golden Triangle, the home of the heroin-producing Flaming Dragon gang. Shortly after the group set off, the five actors are stunned to see Cockburn blown up by a land mine. Speedman, believing Cockburn faked his death, persuades Chino, Portnoy, and Sandusky that Cockburn is alive and that they are still shooting the film. Lazarus is unconvinced that Cockburn is alive, but joins the other actors in their trek through the jungle.
When Tayback and pyrotechnics operator Cody Underwood attempt to locate the now-dead director, they are captured by Flaming Dragon, at which point Tayback reveals that he fabricated his memoir. As the actors continue to forge through the jungle, Lazarus and Sandusky discover that Speedman is leading them in the wrong direction. The four actors, tired of walking through the jungle and hoping to be rescued, leave Speedman, who goes off by himself and is captured by Flaming Dragon and taken to their heroin factory. Believing it is a prisoner-of-war camp from the script, he continues to think he is being filmed. The gang discovers that he is the star of their favorite film, the box office bomb Simple Jack, and force him to reenact it several times a day. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Speedman's agent Rick Peck is trying to negotiate with an uninterested Grossman an unfulfilled term in Speedman's contract that entitles him to a TiVo. Flaming Dragon calls the two and demands a ransom for Speedman, but Grossman instead berates the gang. Grossman attempts to convince Rick about the benefits of allowing Speedman to die and collecting the insurance.
Lazarus, Chino, Portnoy, and Sandusky discover Flaming Dragon's heroin factory. After seeing Speedman being tortured, they plan a rescue attempt based on the film's script. Lazarus impersonates a farmer towing a captured Portnoy, distracting the armed guards so Chino and Sandusky can locate where the captives are held. After the gang notices inconsistencies in Lazarus' story, the actors open fire on the gang, temporarily subduing them. When the gang realizes that the actors are using guns filled with blanks, they begin firing.
The four actors locate Tayback, Underwood, and Speedman and cross a bridge rigged to explode to get to Underwood's helicopter. Speedman asks to remain behind with the gang which he considers his "family", but quickly returns with Flaming Dragon in pursuit. Tayback detonates the bridge, allowing Speedman to reach safety, but as the helicopter takes off, the gang fires a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) at the machine. Peck unexpectedly stumbles out of the jungle carrying a TiVo box and throws it in the path of the RPG, saving them all. The actors and crew return to Hollywood, where footage from the hidden cameras is compiled into a feature film, Tropic Blunder, which becomes a major critical and box office hit.
