Houdini's Magic Movie Ticket

A coworker of mine once remarked that "Days of Thunder" is essentially "'Top Gun' on wheels." How true, how true. But I like "Top Gun," and I also enjoy "Days of Thunder."

In "Top Guy," Tom Cruise confronts a competitor, has an accident, loses his confidence, and then regains it to save the day. In "Days of Thunder," he does the exact same thing. The only difference is that the action takes place on a race track, and not in the air.

Another similarity is the "secret weapon" part, where Cruise explains or demonstrates a methodology that will come into play during the movie's climax. In "Top Gun," Cruise uses the "old" trick of, "I'll hit the breaks, he'll fly right by," early on, and then uses it in battle near the end. In "Days of Thunder," Cruise demonstrates with sugar packets how a driver can draft an opponent and then slingshot past to win the race. At Daytona, he does just that.

Cary Elwes in "Days of Thunder" portrayed Cruise's rival. Then in "Hot Shots," a spoof of "Top Gun," Elwes starred as the joke version of Val Kilmer, who played Cruise's rival in "Top Gun." Spoof or non-spoof, it's Elwes vs. Cruise!

If you enjoyed this post, please think about becoming a subscriber to my RSS feed.