Days Of Thunder (Wide Screen)

Advantages: Good action and adrenalin
Disadvantages: Too similar to Top Gun

...are so many similarities between Days of Thunder and Top Gun that you could be forgiven for thinking that you have just watched a remake of it, but on 4 wheels. Firstly it brings together again, the acting and directional pairing of Tom Cruise and Tony Scott. Secondly, the film focuses on a man who has the ability to be the best, but his own tempestuous nature causes him to fall short. Thirdly, the rivalry between the drivers is very similar to that ...
...being a bit critical, because Days of Thunder is essentially a Hollywood crowd pleaser, with plenty of action and good looking stars, and achieves what it sets out to do. In the lead role of Cole Trickle you have Tom Cruise (Top Gun); this is definitely not his best performance as I found myself struggling to cheer him on. It felt as if he was there in body but not in mind, as he excelled in the action sequences but the moment it required any depth ... Read review

Advantages: great racing sequences, true to life cars, reasonable acting performances
Disadvantages: unrealistic portrayal of NASCAR drivers, lame love story

The general consensus on this flick is that it was a re-hashed 'Top Gun', released to cash in on the combined popularity of a post 'Top Gun' Tom Cruise and the NASCAR racing series. This was echoed by critics when it was released, panning it as shallow and unoriginal. In my eyes, this is harsh, as this is an unpretentious, exciting film to appeal to anyone who likes to give their brain a rest, and their eyes a shock once in a while. The basic storyline ...
...driver, who makes it to the NASCAR racing series, only to be confronted by problems such as a conservative team manager/mechanic worried about his driving style, a rival driver giving him grief on and off the track, and a sadly predictable love story involving nurse Nicole Kidman tacked on to the film for good measure. Although the love story of the film was very shallow and predictable, it shouldnt detract from the excelent racing sequences peppered ... Read review

Advantages: Not too bad as action goes, Robert Duval is excellent
Disadvantages: Very similar to Top Gun, not very accurate portrayal of NASCAR

...up again for racing flick Days of Thunder. However that was not where the similarities ended. The plots are so similar as to beggar disbelief. Enter Tom Cruise as the young hot-shoed race driver. Just after his first win in the seemingly banger-car world of NASCAR racing he has a big crash and is carted off to hospital, where at least the wheelchair racing seems to keep him amused. Enter Nicole Kidman as the woman he falls in love with, who tries ...
...ends up being on his side, in eerily similar fashion to Kelly McGillis’s character in Top Gun. Meanwhile Cruise’s character undergoes a crisis of confidence and lots of criticism before shining through. Very similar to Top Gun. The main difference in my mind was the introduction of Robert Duval as Cruise’s mentor. Duval is superb, although his part calls for a lot of shouting which he seems suited to. Being fair, Duval fits into whatever role his ... Read review

Advantages: Another Tom Cruise Film
Disadvantages: Can be too loud

Days of Thunder came on our screens in 1990, after the big hit Top Gun. This film is directed by Robert Towne and Tom Cruise and was directed by Tony Scott. Robert Towne also wrote Outer Limits, Shampoo and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Tony Scott also directed another film that Tom Cruise has been in, the famous Top Gun and has also directed Man on Fire and The Last Boy Scout. The music is written by Hans Zimmer, who has also written music for Pirates ...
...next to Tom Cruise on Days of Thunder, that she fell in love with him for real. Randy Quaid - Tim Daland ******************************* He is an admired actor on the world's stage and television and feature film screens, an actor that has been recognized by Hollywood and the world's finest directors. Cary Elwes - Russ Wheeler *********************** He moved to the US and studied acting at Sarah Lawrence College after finishing school at the ... Read review

Advantages: Tom Cruise
Disadvantages: Poor Sub Plots

This films flopped at the boxoffice because Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson spent so much time and money on stunts and the film in general they never spent quality time on promotion and advertising before its release. With Tom Cruise playing the now infamous Cole Trickle, he delivers an excellent performance of someone once down and out but now given a second chance at his dream. A former sprint car racer, Trickle is given his chance in stock cars ...
...top is defintely a rocky one but his rivally with fellow driver Roudy Burns (played by Michael Rooker) is a memorable part of this film. Cruise also paired up with Nicole Kidman for the first time, which incidently is where the two meet and dated. As all sport related films, Cruise's character starts at the bottom but after careful guidance and the right mentor (Duvall) he rises to the top and challenges the ultimate in stock car goals....Daytona. ... Read review