Days of Thunder
Directed by	Tony Scott
Produced by	Jerry Bruckheimer Don Simpson
Written by	Robert Towne
Starring	Tom Cruise Robert Duvall Nicole Kidman Randy Quaid Cary Elwes Michael Rooker J.C. Quinn
Music by	Hans Zimmer
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	27 June 1990
Running time	107 min.
Language	English
Budget	US$60,000,000
IMDb profile

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.

Plot

Harry Hogge (Duvall) and Cole Trickle (Cruise) in Days of Thunder.

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. ^{[citation needed]} 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. ^{[citation needed]} Although this was not acknowledged by the film publicly this was obvious to fans from many coincidences between the film and well known events. ^{[citation needed]}

Real life comparisons

#46 City Chevrolet used by Cole Trickle.

Ironically, a similar event to Trickle's intentional wrecking of another competitor happened later that season in the running of the Southern 500. ^{[citation needed]} Early in the race, drivers Morgan Shepherd and Ken Schrader made contact, sending Schrader into the wall. ^{[citation needed]} An angry Schrader returned to the race, and rammed Shepherd into the wall, knocking both drivers out of the race. ^{[citation needed]}

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. ^[1]

Aldo Bennedetti is most likely a reference to Aldo Andretti. ^{[citation needed][vague]}

Reception

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, Scott and Cruise vehicle, Top Gun (some calling it "Top Gun on wheels")^{[citation needed]}. 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.^{[citation needed]} 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).^{[citation needed]}

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. ^{[citation needed]}

Music

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. ^{[citation needed]} However, the track "The Last Note of Freedom" on the soundtrack was based on Zimmer's score. ^{[citation needed]} 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. ^{[citation needed]}

Soundtrack track listing

1. The Last Note of Freedom - David Coverdale
2. Deal for Life - John Waite
3. Break Through the Barrier - Tina Turner
4. Hearts in Trouble - Chicago
5. Trail of Broken Hearts - Cher
6. Knockin' on Heaven's Door - Guns N' Roses
7. You Gotta Love Someone - Elton John
8. Show Me Heaven - Maria McKee
9. Thunderbox - Apollo Smile
10. Love Live the Night - Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
11. Gimme Some Lovin' - Terry Reid

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• Kyle Busch raced a Craftsman Truck for Billy Ballew Motorsports, truck #51, and painted similarly to the Rowdy Burns car from the movie, winning at Lowe's Motor Speedway in May 2006. Busch even went so far as to have "Rowdy Busch" over the driver's side door where his name would normally be. He used the paint scheme and name while touring the United States in his late model team that he started in 2007. The original Rowdy Burns Exxon #51 from the movie was used by Hamilton in his Cup debut in 1989 at Phoenix.

• A licensed video game was released the same year for many formats. ^{[citation needed]}

• In a scene where Cole is giving out an autograph to a teenage girl, Tom Cruise actually gave out his own autograph to the girl. ^{[citation needed]}

• The Hardees food chain as well as Matchbox and Racing Champions distributed 1:64-scale die-cast cars from the movie to the public. Many of these cars can be found still on eBay. ^{[citation needed]}

• Many shots of in-movie races both at the 2 Daytona 500's and the July Firecracker 400 were taken from the actual 1990 Daytona 500. ^{[citation needed]}

• John C. Reilly's first of two NASCAR-themed movies he starred in, as he also played the role of Cal Naughton Jr. in the 2006 movie "Talladega Nights" starring Will Ferrell. ^{[citation needed]}

• When Cole is first introduced Jenny, wife of competitor Rowdy Burns, she says "Hi Tom". ^{[citation needed]}

• All of the character's cars in the movie were built by Hendrick Motorsports. ^{[citation needed]}

• Monogram produced the #18 Hardee's, #46 City Chevrolet, #51 Mello Yello Chevrolet Luminas has 1:24th scale model kits, the decals for the #46 Superflo Oil and #51 Exxon can be found in the aftermarket. ^{[citation needed]}

• In the 2007 film Redline, Cole's Superflo Oil Chevy is in the film. But is #66 and is blue instead of pink. ^{[citation needed]}

• During the NASCAR Busch Series races on ESPN, the announcers will often use quotes from the movie during and before the race. ^{[citation needed]}

• One of the City Chevrolet sponsored cars from the movie was an actual Winston Cup car owned by Rick Hendrick and driven by Tim Richmond, upon whom the character of Cole Trickle was based. The car has since been re-re-skinned to its original appearance, and is on display at the Hendrick Motorsports Museum in Charlotte. ^{[citation needed]}

• Another movie car driven by Tom Cruise in close-ups is on display at the real City Chevrolet dealership in Charlotte, which is owned by Rick Hendrick's family. ^{[citation needed]}

• Some scenes are adopted in Pixar´s Cars. ^{[citation needed]}

• When Cole and Rowdy are told to drive to dinner together and they rent another car and wreck both of them. The taurus is actually rented from Hertz and the Lumina is rented from Avis. ^{[citation needed]}

• The Kings Dominion in Richmond, Va used to have a Days of Thunder themed ride. They still have a replica of the #51 Mello Yello Chevy parked at the ticket windows. ^{[citation needed]}

• Indian Film Ta Ra Rum Pum was copied from this film. ^{[citation needed]}

Awards & nominations

Days of Thunder was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound.

Images

On pit road

Tom Cruise during filming

Camera vehicle leads the cars around the track

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Days of Thunder (film)

• Days of Thunder at the Internet Movie Database
• Days of Thunder at Rotten Tomatoes
• Days of Thunder at Box Office Mojo
• Movie stills

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