Days of Thunder [Blu-ray]

Tom Cruise plays race driver Cole Trickle, whose talent and ambition are surpassed only by his burning need to win. Discovered by businessman Tim Daland (Randy Quaid), Cole is teamed with legendary crew chief and car-builder Harry Hogge (Academy Award. winner Robert Duvall) to race for the Winston Cup at the Daytona 500. A fiery crash nearly ends Cole's career and he must turn to a beautiful doctor (Nicole Kidman) to regain his nerve and the true courage needed to race, to win and to live.

Days of Thunder came out when Tom Cruise was the biggest name in Hollywood and if you wanted a hit movie you had him star in it. I am a huge NASCAR fan and while this movie may be a bit more cheesy with the rivalry’s and love story for a sports related film, it turns out to be a fun ride and the story holds together especially with the performances from Robert Duvall and Randy Quaid. Tom Cruise as Cole Trickle turns out a great performance and delivers a very likeable character.

The photography is excellent and while this Blu-ray version seems to have a bit more noise than I would have liked it is a huge improvement over the original DVD offering. The 5.1 Dolby TrueHD audio delivers nicely and will have your subwoofer working over time with every race sequence. This movie is a bit dated being nearly twenty years old. The body styles have changed a few times since this movie first came out and the music that accompanies the story gives it an older feel, but one thing that every good sports movie gives you is a look inside the sport and provides a jargon that will stand the test of time. With Days of Thunder we get, “rubbin’s racin’” a phrase that can always be heard at any NASCAR track on the circuit in today’s era of racing. 

There aren’t any bonus features on this disk other than the Theatrical Trailer and obviously that has to do with the era in which the film was made.