Days of Thunder

I was surprised as I watched "Days of Thunder" that I was enjoying the film. After all, I don't really care much for auto racing nor am I a Tom Cruise fan. But still, it's a pretty good film and I was pleasantly surprised.

The first portion of the film is great. I enjoyed watching Cole (Cruise) rise from a talented but ROUGH rookie to his finally becoming a winner. Much of this is because, unlike his films like "Top Gun", Cruise's character isn't so cocky. He needs to learn a lot...and is willing to admit it. It's pretty exciting, too, as he battles his nemesis, Rowdy Burns (Michael Rooker).

Midway through the film, Cole and Rowdy are involved in a wreck and are briefly hospitalized. There, Cole becomes mesmerized by a sexy doctor (Nicole Kidman) and to me, this was a huge distraction from the plot. It didn't feel real and I wanted to see Cole back behind the wheel. Does it get better when he resumes racing? Find out for yourself.

It's funny, but as I watched I realized that the plot to "Talladega Nights" really is much like "Days of Thunder"...with dopey (and hilarious) comedy and a much, much dimmer leading man! In fact, seeing both would make for a nice double-feature...one good serious film about NASCAR and one insanely stupid one!

Regardless of your opinion of NASCAR racing, this is an incredibly fun movie for guys.

Is it creative? No. It's pretty obvious that it's the same thing as Top Gun. The only difference is maturity. Over the years, Tom Cruise had developed into a fine actor, and when coupled with Robert Duvall (in a spectacular performance) and a surprising Randy Quaid, Days of Thunder becomes a film which gets pretty much any guy involved in it.

I personally hate NASCAR, but still I find this film absolutely riveting, and every time I watch it, I suddenly have a desire to go race my car down the highway. In fact, the biggest argument against this movie is that it does get to the testosterone.

The music for Days of Thunder sets it up perfectly. Hans Zimmer does an effective job with his second Cruise film in two years (Rain Man was the other), and The Spencer Davis Group's Gimme Some Lovin' makes some plotless racing scenes worth watching.

The script, penned by Bob Towne, is far more clever than the average action movie and actually creates some serious character depth for Cole and Rowdy, although Cary Elwes' character seems excessively evil.

But, all in all, this is an action movie that works for Cruise fans, even if they don't like action movies. 8.5 out of 10 (On a pure enjoyment basis).

Guilty pleasure for me. Works better than Top Gun for me.

I like NASCAR, and I enjoyed Days of Thunder. The opening sequence at the Daytona 500 gives me goosebumps and makes me want to crank up the surround sound - a homage to NASCAR, the late 80s, and Americana. There were other fun sequences in the movie, like when Cole Trickle is crashing his car every week and when his crew played a prank on him after winning his first race. The movie came out during the height of the "Tom Cruise is Cool" era. And, Cruise is cool in this movie. Robert Duvall, who plays his crew chief, is even better in the film.

That said, there were so many errors in this film, it's laughable. The racing shots were taken from real races, and the film editing did a poor job of disguising real race cars (like Dale Earnhardt's No. 3) for fictional ones. The timing is off. There's a scene where Tom Cruise is talking but his lips don't move. There's another scene where a character in the movie calls him Tom instead of Cole - really inexcusable that a error that big was missed. The scenes of cars ramming into one another while leading the race wouldn't be possible in reality: they would wreck or cause too much damage to remain at top speed.

By conventional standards, it's a terrible movie. But, somehow, it's still a fun movie! Action on the race track is similar to the action in the sky in Top Gun. If you're up for a little escapism and wish fulfillment, then Days of Thunder lives up to the billing. But, if you're a critical viewer, you won't be impressed by this film - unless you're looking for ways to laugh at its mistakes.

The producers, director and star of Top Gun get together again for this above average racing drama. Its nowhere near as good as Top Gun of course but its no disaster. Tom Cruise is good as the daftly named racing driver Cole Trickle and the ever reliable Robert Duvall offers classy support. Michael Rooker is excellent as Toms rival and Randy Quaid shows a more serious side to those who only know him from the Vacation movies. Surprisingly the usually good Nicole Kidman is rather bland as the love interest although to be fair she's not given a heck of a lot to work with. The music is of course all important in a movie like this and it has a pretty good soundtrack including Maria McKee's Number One hit Show Me Heaven, but again Top Gun had a much better soundtrack with Hans Zimmmer no match for Harold Faltermeyer. Tony Scott directs with his usual style, if you have seen Top Gun or Beverly Hills Cop 2 you'll no what to expect, very flashy and VERY LOUD. With a slightly less predictable story this could have been a lot better but as it is its a pretty enjoyable way to pass a couple of hours.