3. Days of Thunder (1990)
Original: Top Gun (1986) Moving out of the lawsuit territory and into the if it aint broke dont fix it arena, Days of Thunder is less of a sequel than it is a remake of Top Gun. It may have different characters and a different setting, but dont be fooled. After early supporting roles in Taps and Francis Ford Coppolas The Outsiders amongst others, Tom The Cruiser Cruise came to prominence for many the moment he slid though his living room in his pants and socks to the tune of Bob Segers Old Time Rock and Roll in 1983s Risky Business. Dollar signs appeared in the eyes of producers and casting agents throughout Hollywood. 3 Years later The Cruiser found the need, the need for speed and the star was born. Inspired by a 1983 magazine article about fighter pilots, producing pair Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer hired some writers, recruited the wannabe film director but then advertisement maker Tony Scott (whose Saab commercial served as an inadvertent audition) and signed up rising star Tom Cruise and set about making their film. In 1986 the high concept, high octane, homoerotic, style over substance, (
see Tarantino in the film Sleep with Me) juggernaut of a blockbuster Top Gun was released on the world and all to the tune of a killer, quintessentially 80s soundtrack. The world could not get enough. Made for around $15 million, the worldwide box office was over $350 million (and could even increase if it gets its mooted 3D re-release). In 1990, Simpson, Bruckheimer, Scott and Cruise did it all again, the result? Days of Thunder. Replacing the planes of Top Gun for the racecars of Days of Thunder and making a few supporting-player substitutions, notably replacing Kelly McGillis with the future Ms Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Simpson and Bruckheimer kept most elements the same. Same basic story, same one mans individual triumph over adversity, same soundtrack chock-full of power ballads.
In
his review of Days of Thunder legendary film critic Roger Ebert spells out the formula in a useful 9-point analysis (he is not only referring to the similarities between Top Gun and Days of Thunder but Cruise powered vehicles The Colour of Money and Cocktail too):
1. The Cruise character, invariably a young and naive but naturally talented kid who could be the best, if ever he could tame his rambunctious spirit. 2. The Mentor, an older man who has done it himself and has been there before and knows talent when he sees it, and who has faith in the kid even when the kid screws up because his free spirit has gotten the best of him. 3. The Superior Woman, usually older, taller and more mature than the Cruise character, who functions as a Mentor for his spirit, while the male Mentor supervises his craft. 4. The Craft, which the gifted young man must master. 5. The Arena, in which the young man is tested. 6. The Arcana, consisting of the specialized knowledge and lore that the movie knows all about, and we get to learn. 7. The Trail, a journey to visit the principal places where the masters of the craft test one another. 8. The Proto-Enemy, the bad guy in the opening reels of the movie, who provides the hero with an opponent to practice on. At first the Cruise character and the Proto-Enemy dislike each other, but eventually through a baptism of fire they learn to love one another. 9. The Eventual Enemy, a real bad guy who turns up in the closing reels to provide the hero with a test of his skill, his learning ability, his love, his craft and his knowledge of the Arena and the Arcana.
Days of Thunder was a commercial success, although more modest than Top Gun in terms of box office, taking closer to $150 million, the release of the movie on home video is thought to have taken around $40 million in rentals whilst helping to inaugurate a new era of supercharged, glossy blockbusters.