Days of Thunder (1990)

A young hot-shot stock car driver gets his chance to compete at the top level.

Director:

Tony Scott

Writers:

Robert Towne (story), Tom Cruise (story),

Stars:

Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Robert Duvall

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Cruise	...	Cole Trickle
Nicole Kidman	...	Dr. Claire Lewicki
Robert Duvall	...	Harry Hogge
Randy Quaid	...	Tim Daland
Cary Elwes	...	Russ Wheeler
Michael Rooker	...	Rowdy Burns
Fred Dalton Thompson	...	Big John
John C. Reilly	...	Buck Bretherton
J.C. Quinn	...	Waddell
Don Simpson	...	Aldo Bennedetti
Caroline Williams	...	Jennie Burns
Donna W. Scott	...	Darlene (as Donna Wilson)
Chris Ellis	...	Harlem Hoogerhyde
Peter Appel	...	Cole's Crew
Stephen Michael Ayers	...	Crewmember

Storyline

Cole Trickle enters the high-pressure world of Nascar racing. He's a hot driver with a hot temper, and this attitude gets him into trouble not only with other drivers, but members of his own team as well.

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Plot Keywords:

driver | nascar | racing | stock car | team | 

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Taglines:

You can't outrun the thunder.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Romance | Sport

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

27 June 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Días de trueno

Filming Locations:

Bristol, Tennessee, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$82,670,733 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (analog 70 mm prints) CDS (digital 35 mm and 70 mm prints) Dolby SR (analog 35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Robin Wright was first suggested for the role of Claire Lewicki but was unavailable.

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Goofs

In the final Daytona 500, when Cole tells Harry, "I'm gonna make a hole to get through here" the car alongside Russ Wheeler changes from the #33 Skoal car to the #26 Quaker State car and back twice.

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Quotes

Harry Hogge: [discussing Cole's fearfulness after his big crash by intentionally destroying his engine during a race] You done it deliberate... done it deliberate! Nine thousand, four hundred RPM... according to the little tell-tale button.

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Connections

Referenced in Bad Movie Beatdown: Beverly Hills Cop III (2009)

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Soundtracks

"KNOCKIN' ON HEAVEN'S DOOR"
Written by Bob Dylan
Performed by Guns N' Roses
Produced by Mike Clink
Guns N' Roses courtesy of Geffen Records

User Reviews

Painting by numbers produces an average film despite the cast

Eager for a winning formula, team owner Tim Daland puts together the inexperienced but naturally talented Cole Trickle and the retired but skilled mechanic Harry Hogge to hopefully bounce off each other to create a winning combination. After the expected bumps and friction between the two, they seem to blend well and start winning races. However, a major accident between Cole and his main rival, Rowdy Burns, puts them both in the hospital under the care of the professional and leggy Dr Lewicki. But will Cole be able to overcome the physical and mental scars that he got.

The comedian Rich Hall did a great routine once where he summed up the films of Tom Cruise by basically saying that each of them involves him being great at his job (pilot, bartender, driver) before suffering a crisis of confidence but meeting a beautiful lady who helps him over it in time to come good – hilarious in the telling because he was right and, true to form, Days of Thunder sets its stall out in the same way. That the plot is formulaic (father/son stuff, macho posturing, love interest, final big race etc) and it is a bit tiring at times because it is nothing new and it produces large sags during the film. The father/son stuff is OK if hackneyed but the romance is so sudden and fake that it left me cool and never engaged once. The racing stuff is fun, noisy and fast which I suppose is what most of its audience want; but this is still not a great action movie but kudos to Scott for managing to make a load of cars going round a circular track appear exciting.

The cast is more impressive on paper than they are in reality. Cruise plays his usual character and does it with no real charm or ability. He is trading off his fame here and his macho nonsense is rather tiresome. Kidman may have been Cruise's offscreen partner but viewers of this film will have seen their divorce coming because they have zero chemistry and she is poor throughout. It's not all her fault though, the script gives her nothing to work with. Thank god then, for Robert Duvall; he may be playing a fairly clichéd character but he does it well and steals every scene from his pretty but empty co-star. Support is good from Quaid and Rooker but Ewles is given too little time to make anything but a negative impression and Reilly had yet to prove his versatility and doesn't do it here.

Overall this is very much painting by the numbers in many regards. The plot is easy and lacks any sort of spark or innovation meaning that, when the cars are off the screen, it is easy for the film to get dull. The action scenes are OK but, as with F1, I find many motor sports to be dull and didn't get drawn into the predictable races as much as I wanted to. The script gives the cast nothing to really work with, and only Duvall comes out with any real dignity even if he has a cliché as opposed to a real person to play. This has all the failings you would expect and the end result of so little imagination is an average film that is watchable but no more than that.