516. Days Of Thunder (1990)

Starring: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Robert Duvall

Director: Tony Scott

Running Time: 107 mins

Days Of Thunder is an American film about a young maverick racing driver, who gets his chance at the top level of NASCAR racing, however there’s tension between him, his team and his new girlfriend.

Right, just to make it clear, if you’ve seen Top Gun, you’ve seen this. All this film really is is Top Gun, but on the ground, but apart from that, it’s nearly identical, from Tom Cruise’s character, to the whole ‘rags to riches’ storyline, as well as the seemingly irrelevant romance that goes along the side.

The only difference I can make out between the two films, apart from the aeroplane vs. car theme, is the fact that this is just a little more fun than Top Gun. Maybe that’s because that was a seriously stuck-in-the-80s cheesy romance story, but this doesn’t put as much emphasis into the romance, and a little more into the action and excitement.

There’s nothing that you can particularly accredit to this film in terms of its plot, because it is just so generic and predictable. The problem with that is, although occasionally allowing you to sit back, relax and enjoy a very simple story, it becomes very boring incredibly quickly.

Then, the romance. I still have a serious problem with Hollywood’s inability to interweave a romance story with any other genre, and it’s the same case here. All you get in this film is various interludes, whether it be action, drama or romance, but it’s never all brought together to create any sense of emotional peril or excitement that could be so easily brought in in this type of story.

However, I was pleased to see a little bit more action come through. I can live with the cheesy drama and formulaic plot, so you do eventually get some excitement and real enjoyment during the periods on the racetrack, culminating in a truly entertaining, although predictable climax, which is a huge relief after the boredom of everything else that’s gone on before.

Overall, I’ll give this a 6.4, because although it was horrible cheesy, often boring, generic and predictable film, it definitely shone through with entertainment in its action sequences.