DVD Reviews

Days Of Thunder (Blu Ray)

If you were to ponder about Tom Cruise behind the controls of a powerful vehicle capable of tremendous speeds, with electric guitar riffs playing in the background, you would automatically clue in to Top Gun, am I right?  That’s because that movie had more of a lasting effect than its recycled counterpart Days Of Thunder, in which Cruise stars as a hot shot race car driver, once again feeling the need for speed under the familiar direction of Tony Scott and producers Jerry Bruckheimer and the late Don Simpson.

Thunder is almost a script beat copycat to Gun when you really compare the two films.  Cruise’s character Cole Trickle essentially goes through the same highs and lows as Maverick.  He achieves early success, only to be sidelined by a tragic accident that mentally challenges him to once again get behind the wheel.  An early rival of Cole’s becomes an ally by film’s end, and he even falls in love with a woman who, career wise, is out of his league (ironically in this case, that would be his real life ex, Nicole Kidman).  It’s no surprise that she soon hops on the back of his motorcycle. He has father issues, and blows his cool when rubbed the wrong way.  Even sequences have identical results, as is the case when Cole wins the day and is raised on the shoulders of his comrades, you almost expect Cruise to say to his arch-enemy Cary Elwes/Russ Wheeler (a clear Val Kilmer/Iceman knock-off) “You can be my wingman anytime.”

That’s not to say Days Of Thunder is a bad movie, because it is well-made for a stock car racing story, as Scott puts the cameras in the middle of the high-flying vehicles much like he did before with jet fighters in the sky.  If you’re looking for complexity in the plot, and character driven performances, you won’t find it here.  Thunder is light, almost mindless entertainment that serves as a prime example of what many consider popcorn summer movies to be.  On Blu-ray DVD the film has never looked better, with colors popping to life with incredible vibrancy.  But the film still suffers from some clear amounts of grain and age even with the new transfer.  The sound is another story altogether, ripping away at your speakers pretty impressively for a film that came out almost two decades ago, but it only really does so in the racing sequences. 

The release is surprisingly bare bones, but then again so was the Top Gun HD DVD release a couple of years ago.  There are no additional features to speak of, with the exception of a pathetic little Theatrical Trailer that at least is also presented in high definition.  It’s a shame that Paramount continues to release these films in HD without some meat and potatoes to back up the main feature, taking into account the obvious absence of Cruise because of their high-profile split with the star after the release of Mission: Impossible III .

Still, it may be questionable, but arguable that Days Of Thunder’s style may have been responsible for films like The Fast and The Furious.  It presents racing in a truly excitable visual way, enough so that it spawned a pretty impressive theme park ride at Canada’s Wonderland for several years.  Even though it may not be remembered as well as Cruise’s other iconic films, nor nearly as commercially successful as others, it has a certain charm that qualifies for a repeat viewing experience even in today’s day and age.  If you love films about putting the petal to the medal, then Days Of Thunder will deliver for you.

Review By Ryan Young