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Guilty pleasure for me. Works better than Top Gun for me.

I was surprised as I watched "Days of Thunder" that I was enjoying the film. After all, I don't really care much for auto racing nor am I a Tom Cruise fan. But still, it's a pretty good film and I was pleasantly surprised.

The first portion of the film is great. I enjoyed watching Cole (Cruise) rise from a talented but ROUGH rookie to his finally becoming a winner. Much of this is because, unlike his films like "Top Gun", Cruise's character isn't so cocky. He needs to learn a lot...and is willing to admit it. It's pretty exciting, too, as he battles his nemesis, Rowdy Burns (Michael Rooker).

Midway through the film, Cole and Rowdy are involved in a wreck and are briefly hospitalized. There, Cole becomes mesmerized by a sexy doctor (Nicole Kidman) and to me, this was a huge distraction from the plot. It didn't feel real and I wanted to see Cole back behind the wheel. Does it get better when he resumes racing? Find out for yourself.

It's funny, but as I watched I realized that the plot to "Talladega Nights" really is much like "Days of Thunder"...with dopey (and hilarious) comedy and a much, much dimmer leading man! In fact, seeing both would make for a nice double-feature...one good serious film about NASCAR and one insanely stupid one!

This movie is basically paying homage to Top Gun. The same team that made that movie a success got together to create another pumped up movie.

Cruise plays Cole Trickle, a very cocky and smooth indy car driver that lost his ride and decided to head to NASCAR with team owner Tim Daland,(Randy Quaid), and be coached by legendary crew chief Harry Hogge (Robert Duvall). During the Daytona 500 Cole and nemesis Rowdy Burns are involved in a nasty wreck that hospitalizes both of them and threaten to end their careers. They become friends but Cole realizes his mortality and must overcome it if he is to ever race effectively again.

This has better romantic chemistry than Top Gun. Due in part to the fact that Cruise and Kidman really were attracted to each other and we know the rest is history. The action scenes are great and filmed superbly. It's also a very loud movie. It received an Oscar nomination for best sound. It's just another mindless action movie to help relieve boredom. 7 out of 10.

Yeah, Top Gun is the one that made all the very BIG bucks back in 1986 and put Tony Scott and Tom Cruise on the map in bigger ways then they had been before (not to mention producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer), but somehow, much as with De Palma/Pacino with Scarface and Carlito's Way, the follow-up seemed to probably be the actual better film of the two. Does this mean that Days of Thunder, following the travails of an up-and-comer racecar star (Cruise), is a really good movie? Well, in some ways yes, and in other ways not so much.

I give the production this: it moves fast and slick, and whenever cars are on the track it's visually compelling and exciting as the filmmakers know how to cut stuff together for Fast Impact (lest not forget the camera-work, filled with colors and smoke and cool contours, even a shot with Nicole Kidman standing at one point on the side of the frame is great to look at). And the casting here is fantastic; and forget Cruise, how about Robert Duvall (has he ever been anything less than solid, and here he's actually giving this conventional Trainer-cum-Mentor some soul), or Nicole Kidman (who gets really some of the best lines in the film), or Michael Rooker (by now something of an underrated character actor national treasure, and here imbuing an a-hole with a lot of sympathy and pathos)? Why not throw in John C. Reilly in there too, he has a couple of memorable moments too.

Where it flails? Sadly, and I'm not sure if this is really on Towne's end - and one should note that Cruise has his only (?) writing credit here as co-story author - or the producers, but this all the same is light-weight stuff. There's not much conflict to the proceedings, or much that sticks to the gravel, no pun intended (OK, some). This is the kind of movie that gives people like Duvall some excellent scenes to at least try to overcome the clichés of the sports movie (and make no mistake, that's what this is deep down, and a "programmer" of the old-time-studio variety, not a terrible thing inherently)... and then you got Cary Elwes as "Russ Wheeler". The last time one saw a motorist with the last name Wheeler was in a Disney Goofy cartoon about Motor Madness. And Randy Quaid, who is OK, also is saddled with some very basic material to work with here as the businessman who turns on a dime. There may be some stakes, like for Rooker's character, yet for Cruise there's not much there that makes it feel like 'Oh no, s***'s getting real here!'

In other words, Days of Thunder has some genuinely good stuff to it, and it has some personality and verve and, for a couple of moments, sex appeal in that, uh, late 80's/early 90's style (and hey, this was the movie Cruise and Kidman met after all, so you can see the chemistry as white hot as they come). But it's hard not to eye-roll at some of the story choices and character motivations, or things like, say, the movie ending on an unironic freeze frame at a very silly moment.

It's one of those things where I give it a tepid recommendation and/or a very strong put-down, if that makes sense. Quality, dumb-studio filmmaking for the masses - and, for sure, a step up from the waste of Top Gun. 6.5/10

Tom Cruise cruises like thunder as Cole Trickle in Jerry Bruckheimer's, Days of Thunder. Cole Trickle, a name that became an icon, an inspiration and a hero for auto racing drivers way back in early 90's. An enthralling and roller coaster ride jammed with high octane racing action, enough to blast you off the seat. Days of Thunder gave birth to the sparkling chemistry between once upon a time two of the most memorable on-screen and off-screen couples Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

The story revolves around a young and smashing, auto racing rookie, Cole Trickle (Tom Cruise), who, after trying in the American open wheel ranks, seeks to grab a win on the NASCAR circuit. Harry Hogge (Robert Duvall), his mentor is his crew's chief. He also develops a romantic relationship with Dr. Claire Lewicki (Nicole Kidman), a brain surgeon who's not so easy to convince when it comes to love. Claire works on Cole after a severe race accident, while racing with his competitor, Rowdy Burns (Michael Rooker). But then comes the arrogant and dangerous newcomer, Russ Wheeler (Cary Elwes) with owner Tim Daland (Randy Quaid), challenges Cole for a comeback to the race track. Finally after being convinced by his friend Rowdy, Cole hits the race track to complete his unfinished business against Russ.

Tom Cruise's classy portrayal of a hot shot auto racing rookie oozing with galvanizing confidence and energy won the millions of heart for his adorable and mesmerizing display of power and aggression as Cole Trickle. Starting with his stunning intro coming out from the smoke with a bike to defeating his rival Russ Wheeler at the end, he ignites an emulsifying inspiration in this journey of powerhouse racing. Cruise and Kidman's electrifying chemistry scorches the screen with witty dialogues and sizzling romance. Robert Duvall plays an absolute superb cameo complementing Cruise to the top.

Tony Scott's and Cruise's record breaking deadly combination that gifted the 1986's blockbuster, Top Gun reunited to recreate the same magic in Days of Thunder, which can be said as a sequel to Top Gun. Hans Zimmer's remarkable and awesome background score ecstatically blends with the mood when it comes to the racing events and defining the characters. Days of Thunder gives two of the best all time classic tracks: "The Last Note of Freedom" by David Coverdale and "Show Me Heaven" by Maria McKee.

If you are desperately into racing then Days of Thunder is the perfect one to punch the required inspirational boost within. It has its own indefinable class, style and persona that can't be left unnoticed. A must watch for Cruise fans; witness him cruising the top like never before.