Days of Thunder is an auto racing drama film released in 1990 by producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer and director Tony Scott. The cast includes Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Robert Duvall, Randy Quaid, Cary Elwes and Michael Rooker. The film also features appearances by real life racers, such as Rusty Wallace and Neil Bonnett. Commentator Dr. Jerry Punch, of ESPN, has a cameo appearance.
The title was used as the name of a NASCAR-style racing series in Europe from 2003-04, but was later changed to Stock Car Speed Association.
Days of Thunder revolved around a talented, hot-shot auto racing rookie, Cole Trickle (Cruise), who, after trying his hand in the American open wheel ranks, seeks to win on the NASCAR circuit. His mechanic mentor, Harry Hogge (Duvall), acts as his crew chief and Dr. Claire Lewicki (Kidman) is a young brain surgeon who tries to tame Cole.
The plot was very loosely based on some real-life NASCAR personalities: Duvall's character was based on crew chief Harry Hyde, Cruise's on Tim Richmond, and Randy Quaid's on a composite of several owners, one of whom was Rick Hendrick. Hendrick also provided the movie cars, driven by then-NASCAR drivers Greg Sacks, Tommy Ellis, Bobby Hamilton, and Hut Stricklin, with Hamilton making his Cup debut at Phoenix in 1989 in a movie car. Although this was not acknowledged by the film publicly this was obvious to fans from many coincidences between the film and well known events.
Days of Thunder revolved around a talented, hot-shot auto racing rookie, Cole Trickle (Cruise), who, after trying his hand in the American open wheel ranks, seeks to win on the NASCAR circuit. His mechanic mentor, Harry Hogge (Duvall), acts as his crew chief and Dr. Claire Lewicki (Kidman) is a young brain surgeon who tries to tame Cole.
The plot was very loosely based on some real-life NASCAR personalities: Duvall's character was based on crew chief Harry Hyde, Cruise's on Tim Richmond, and Randy Quaid's on a composite of several owners, one of whom was Rick Hendrick. Hendrick also provided the movie cars, driven by then-NASCAR drivers Greg Sacks, Tommy Ellis, Bobby Hamilton, and Hut Stricklin, with Hamilton making his Cup debut at Phoenix in 1989 in a movie car. Although this was not acknowledged by the film publicly this was obvious to fans from many coincidences between the film and well known events.
Ironically, a similar event to Trickle's intentional wrecking of another competitor happened later that season in the running of the Southern 500. Early in the race, drivers Morgan Shepherd and Ken Schrader made contact, sending Schrader into the wall. An angry Schrader returned to the race, and rammed Shepherd into the wall, knocking both drivers out of the race.
In another part of the movie, Trickle is told he can not pit because the team is too busy eating ice cream. This incident took place with Harry Hyde as crew chief and Benny Parsons as driver in the 1973 Southern 500.
Aldo Bennedetti is most likely a reference to Aldo Andretti.
The movie received middling reviews from critics who mostly shrugged off the sometimes over-the-top special effects and plot in many ways resembling the earlier Bruckheimer, Simpson, Scott and Cruise vehicle, Top Gun (some calling it "Top Gun on wheels"). An early working title for the movie actually was Top Run. Some NASCAR aficionados also took offense at the overuse and exaggeration of the "rubbing" (bumping) action of NASCAR, featuring maneuvers between cars that were uncommon and dangerous, especially for the period of time in NASCAR history the movie depicted. This included a scene where Cole, after having been knocked out of a race at the very end by an opponent, instructed his pit crew to replace his flattened tires, proceeding to run out on the track and smash his car into the victorious rival who knocked him out of the race. (Although previously unheard-of, a similar event occurred during a NASCAR Busch Series race in 2006, when an angry Carl Edwards rammed his car into race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr after a race at the Michigan International Speedway).
Kidman's casting as a brain surgeon was also panned by some critics; they considered that the actress, who was 23 at the time, was too young to play the role of a surgeon, which typically requires many years of training.
The score for Days of Thunder was composed by Hans Zimmer; Jeff Beck made a guest appearance on guitar. A score album was never released, although a bootleg was later available. However, the track "The Last Note of Freedom" on the soundtrack was based on Zimmer's score. A soundtrack album was released in 1990 by Geffen. Maria McKee's Show Me Heaven was released as a single alongside the movie. The album is also notable for the inclusion of Guns N' Roses' cover of Bob Dylan's Knockin' on Heaven's Door, a month before the song was released on the Use Your Illusion double album. |
