Based on short stories from Robert Boswell's collection, seven vignettes explore the difference between fantasy and reality, memory and history, and the joy and agony of the human condition.
Double crosses, adultery, murder, mistaken identity, and revenge ensue when a mysterious power player and his sultry wife hire a disgraced Los Angeles property broker to discreetly market and sell their Malibu villa.
The biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for.
Director:
Oliver Stone
Stars:
Tom Cruise,
Raymond J. Barry,
Caroline Kava
As students at the United States Navy's elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in the class, one daring young pilot learns a few things from a civilian instructor that are not taught in the classroom.
When a sports agent has a moral epiphany and is fired for expressing it, he decides to put his new philosophy to the test as an independent agent with the only athlete who stays with him and his former secretary.
Director:
Cameron Crowe
Stars:
Tom Cruise,
Cuba Gooding Jr.,
Renée Zellweger
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.Written by
Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au>
The actor that plays Dr. Wilhaire (seen briefly in the scene when Rowdy is in the hospital) is the same one who plays Tom Cruise's adversary, Dr. Bruner, in Rain Man (1988). See more »
Goofs
When the tractor trailer is pulled over, the shot of the cop car behind the trailer shows the sun setting but still plenty of light. When the trailer and cop car are both on the side of the road the shot with the crew all getting lined up against the trailer the sun is completely down and it is completely dark outside. See more »
Quotes
[During a pit stop]
Harry Hogge:
All right. While we're still under a caution, I want you to go back out on that track and hit the pace car.
Cole Trickle:
Hit the pace car?
Harry Hogge:
Hit the pace car.
Cole Trickle:
What for?
Harry Hogge:
Because you've hit every other goddamned thing out there, I want you to be perfect.
See more »
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.
7 of 10 people found this review helpful.
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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.