Days of Thunder
Days of Thunder | |
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Directed by | Tony Scott |
Screenplay by | Robert Towne |
Story by |
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Produced by | |
Starring |
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Cinematography | Ward Russell |
Edited by | |
Music by | Hans Zimmer |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 108 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $60 million[1][2] |
Box office | $157.9 million |
Days of Thunder is a 1990 American
Days of Thunder was released in the United States on June 27, 1990, by Paramount Pictures. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its racing sequences, Hans Zimmer's musical score, and the performances of Cruise and Duvall, but criticized its lack of originality, screenplay, and similarities to Top Gun, and has grossed $157 million worldwide against a production budget of $60 million.
Plot
Young racer Cole Trickle, from
Cole makes his first start at
The rivalry between Cole and Rowdy intensifies throughout the season until the
Daland hires another hot-shot rookie, Russ Wheeler, to fill Cole's seat until Cole returns, and then expands his team, with Daland now fielding two cars – the second car driven by Russ, despite Harry's disapproval. Though Cole shows signs of his old self, he falls into a new rivalry with Russ, leading to an engine failure at Atlanta. Daland offers no help to Cole or his crew, as he is defensive of his newest driver. At North Wilkesboro, Russ blocks Cole's path during their pit stop, and later forces Cole into the outside wall on the last lap to win the race. Cole retaliates by crashing into Russ' car after the race, leading to a fight between Harry, Daland, and both of Cole and Russ's pit crews, with Daland firing both Cole and Harry in the process.
Rowdy learns he has to undergo brain surgery to fix a broken blood vessel, and asks Cole to drive his car at the Daytona 500 so his sponsor will pay for the year. Cole reluctantly agrees and convinces Harry to return as his crew chief. Hours prior to the race, Harry discovers metal in the oil pan, a sign of engine failure, and manages to procure a new engine from Daland, who still believes in his former driver's promise. During the race, Cole's car is spun out by Russ and suffers a malfunctioning transmission, but the combined efforts of Harry's and Daland's pit crews manage to fix the problem and get Cole back on the lead lap. On the final lap, Russ predicts that Cole will attempt his signature slingshot maneuver from outside, but Cole tricks him with a crossover, overtaking him from the inside to win his first Daytona 500.
Cole drives into Victory Lane, where he and his pit crew celebrate with Claire. He approaches Harry, sitting alone, who is impressed by Cole's performance. Cole asks Harry to walk with him and Harry agrees, challenging him to a foot race to Victory Lane.
Cast
- Tom Cruise as Cole Trickle, a young race car driver out to make a name for himself in NASCAR. He drives the No. 46 City Chevrolet, the SuperFlo Chevrolet and later the No. 51 Mello Yello Chevrolet. The character was patterned after Tim Richmond, while his name is a nod to veteran racer Dick Trickle.[3][4]
- Robert Duvall as Harry Hogge, Cole's crew chief (patterned after Harry Hyde).
- Randy Quaid as Tim Daland, a wealthy car dealership and race team owner who first recruits Cole into NASCAR (patterned after Rick Hendrick).
- Nicole Kidman as Dr. Claire Lewicki, a neurosurgeon who develops a relationship with Cole.
- Exxon Chevrolet (patterned after Dale Earnhardt).
- car chief, and Buddy Bretherton's son.
- Cary Elwes as Russ Wheeler, a rookie driver who fills in for Cole, but later on becomes his teammate and bitter rival.[5] He drives the No. 18 Hardee's Chevrolet (patterned after Rusty Wallace).
- Fred Thompson as Big John, president of NASCAR (patterned after "Big Bill" France).
- Caroline Williams as Jennie Burns, Rowdy's wife.
- J. C. Quinn as Waddell, Rowdy's crew chief.
- Nick Searcy as a highway patrol officer.
Richard Petty, Rusty Wallace, Neil Bonnett, Harry Gant, and Dr. Jerry Punch all appear in cameo roles as themselves. Bob Jenkins had a voice-over role as a public address announcer, and his ESPN colleagues Benny Parsons and Ned Jarrett portray radio announcers.
In addition, character actress Margo Martindale is seen in her first film role, as Harry's timekeeper, while Don Simpson, one of the film's producers, has a cameo as driver Aldo Bennedetti, patterned after Mario Andretti and using his twin brother Aldo Andretti's first name.
Production
Principal photography took place in early 1990 in and around Charlotte and Daytona Beach. It was plagued with delays due to frequent arguments on set between Simpson and Bruckheimer, Scott, and sometimes Towne over how to set up a shot. Crew members sat idle for long hours; some later said they had accumulated enough overtime pay to go on vacation for a full four months after filming was completed. The completion date was pushed back many times, with filming being completed in early May,[6] three months later than it had originally been scheduled. At one point, following the third revision of the shooting schedule in a single day, the unit production manager, who represents the studio on the set or location, confronted Simpson and Bruckheimer and was told bluntly that the schedule no longer mattered.[7]
In Daytona, Simpson and Bruckheimer spent $400,000 to have a vacant storefront in their hotel converted into their private gym, with a large neon sign reading "Days of Thunder". Simpson also kept a closet full of
With the delay in completion of filming and no delay in release date, post production had to be completed in five weeks rather than the five months it would normally take for such a film.[10]
Race cars
The cars used as those of Cole Trickle, Rowdy Burns, and Russ Wheeler were provided by
Music
The score for Days of Thunder was composed by Hans Zimmer, with Jeff Beck making a guest appearance on guitar. This was the first of an ongoing list of films in which Zimmer would compose the score for a Jerry Bruckheimer production. An official score album was not released until 2013, by La-La Land Records.[14] The film's theme song "Last Note of Freedom" was sung by David Coverdale of the band Whitesnake at the request of Tom Cruise himself. Coverdale's vocal parts were recorded in 1990 in Los Angeles during a day off of the Whitesnake Slip of the Tongue Liquor and Poker world tour.[15] "Show Me Heaven", written and sung by Maria McKee, reached number one in the music charts of the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway.
Release
Days of Thunder was released on Wednesday, June 27, 1990 on 2,307 screens in the United States and Canada and grossed $21,502,162 in its first five days.[6] It opened on 170 screens in Japan on June 29 and grossed $2,105,932 for the weekend.[16] The film was a financial success grossing a total of $157,920,733.[17][18] The film was also successful on home video.[19]
Home media
Having been previously released on
Reception and legacy
Critical response
The film received mixed reviews from critics who mostly shrugged off the sometimes over-the-top special effects and plot which greatly resembled the earlier Bruckheimer, Simpson, Scott and Cruise vehicle
Reassessment
Following Tony Scott's death in 2012,
Quentin Tarantino said the film was his favorite big budget racing movie:
Yeah, yeah, you laugh but seriously I'm a big fan. To me Days of Thunder is the movie Grand Prix and Le Mans should have been. Sure, it had a big budget, big stars and a big director in Tony Scott, but it had the fun of those early AIP movies. I just don't think it works if you take the whole thing too seriously.[27]
In popular culture
While the movie was neither based on a true story, nor a
A year after the film's release, the fictional
The Darlington throwback race weekend has also seen drivers race with paint schemes based on those from the film. The
The 1991 Simpsons episode "Saturdays of Thunder" is named after the film.[26]
In 2015, M&M's released a promo video on YouTube to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Days of Thunder and to promote M&M's Crispy. The video features driver Kyle Busch and crew chief Adam Stevens parodying scenes from the film.[40]
Accolades
The film was nominated for the
Video games
In 1990,
.References
- ^ a b Days of Thunder at the American Film Institute Catalog
- ^ a b "Battle of the Biceps". People Magazine. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
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- ^ Mathews, Jack (1990-07-07). "Hollywood Knows Fakin', Not Racin'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2012-11-03. Retrieved 2010-10-24.
- ^ Loud, Lance (1990-01-06). "Going for the 'Glory'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2012-07-11. Retrieved 2010-10-24.
- ^ a b Van Gelder, Lawrence (June 26, 1990). "'Days of Thunder' Set for Wednesday Release". The Spokesman-Review. The New York Times. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
- ^ a b Brady, Celia (August 1990). "Fast Cars, Fast Women, Slow Producers: Days of Thunder". Spy: 40. Archived from the original on July 31, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
- ^ Slate. Archived from the originalon September 1, 2012. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
- ^ Fleming, Charles (April 25, 1990). "Rush hour for summer pix". Variety. p. 1.
- ^ "11/05/1989 race: Autoworks 500 (Cup) - Racing-Reference.info". Racing-reference.info. Archived from the original on 1 November 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
- ^ Glick, Shav (1990-02-17). "Motor Racing Daytona 500". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2012-06-06. Retrieved 2010-10-24.
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- ^ Days of Thunder Archived 2013-12-03 at the Wayback Machine at La-La Land Records
- ^ "Whitesnake". Archived from the original on 2011-03-08. Retrieved 2014-04-07. "It was a personal request from Mr Cruise...& when I discovered the producer was Trevor Horn, I didn't hesitate to get involved...I recorded the song in LA during a 2 or 3-day break on the Slip of the Tongue US tour...( or the Liquor & Poker Tour...ahem )..." "Whitesnake". Archived from the original on March 8, 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-02.
{{cite web}}
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- ^ Hunt, Dennis (1991-02-21). "VIDEO RENTALS : Three New Players Enter the Top Five". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2012-11-04. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
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- ^ a b Halliwell's Film Guide, Halliwell's Film Guide Leslie Halliwell, John Walker. HarperPerennial, 1996 (p. 288).
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- ^ FilmSlot: Vulgar Auteurism: As Low As It Goes - Filmkrant
- ^ a b How One Movie Killed The 1980s - Patrick (H) Willems on YouTube
- ^ "QUENTIN TARANTINO: MY FAVOURITE RACING MOVIES" F1 Social Diary 21 August, 2013 Archived 2014-07-07 at archive.today accessed 5 July 2014
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- ^ Poole, David (2005): TIM RICHMOND: The Fast Life And Remarkable Times Of NASCAR's Top Gun (Sports Publishing LLC, Champaign, IL), pp. 155–8
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