Review: New Blu-ray of 'Days Of Thunder' Roars, but Never Soars

After the smash hit that was 1986's "Top Gun," Tom Cruise and Tony Scott were hot to rejoin for another round of unmitigated macho fun. That second collaboration was 1990's "Days of Thunder," which received mixed reviews on release, with many critics opining that it tried too hard to reignite the magic the duo once had. What "Top Gun" had, with its bravado and fetish for the technical aspects of flying jets, "Days of Thunder" tries to recreate with cars, to a much lesser degree.

That being said, the new 4K Blu-ray from Paramount Pictures of "Days of Thunder" is the best the film has looked at home, and the release comes coupled with an audio track that amplifies the NASCAR action in ways that will have your speakers blaring. While this isn't Scott or Cruise's best work, it's still an admirable attempt at reviving "Top Gun," but in the world of professional car racing.

Cole Trickle (Cruise) is a young racer who has won championships in the United States Auto Club and impressed Chevy tycoon Tim Daland (Randy Quaid) to the point where Daland offers him a spot on his race team in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Daland recruits Harry Hogge (Robert Duvall), retired pit crew chief and car builder, to teach Trickle the ropes of NASCAR, all the while dealing with years of grief bubbling up because of a prior accident that forced him out of racing forever. After a crash leaves both Trickle and rival Rowdy Burns (Michael Rooker) in the hospital with major psychological and physical injuries, Trickle develops a romantic relationship with Dr. Claire Lewicki (Nicole Kidman).

What "Days of Thunder" lacks in tech fetishism it gains in the story of men being left to rot by NASCAR after they've been used up and can't drive anymore. Rowdy Burns goes from being a hothead to struggling to regain any sense of machismo after the crash with Cole. His insistence that he's fine is emblematic of what happens when you spend your whole life to become something and then have that taken away from you in a moment. Unfortunately, that narrative thread doesn't really call for much reflection on Trickle's part, and we're forced back into the main tale of his ascension to NASCAR greatness.

As mentioned earlier, the new 4K Blu-ray looks and sounds terrific. Not only is it an improvement, by leaps and bounds, over the original Blu-ray, but it also presents a much more natural color palette that looked oversaturated in the previous release. There isn't much in the way of special features, but that won't matter to you if you're already a fan of the film. Special features include:

� Filmmaker Focus
� Trailer

"Days of Thunder"
4K Blu-ray & Digital
$29.99
https://www.paramountmovies.com/movies/days-of-thunder