 I don't know about you guys, but I am super pumped for Top Gun 2, but then it occurred to me, Adam, Top Gun 2 came out back in 1990. It was called Days of Thunder. I don't know what my problem is, but for some reason, young Adam skipped out on all the classic Tom Cruise movies until just recently I had not seen Top Gun, I had not seen Cocktail, I had not seen Days of Thunder. I've since rectified all those issues, Cocktail's fantastic, Top Gun, not great, Days of Thunder I'm somewhere in the middle on. I think it's better than Top Gun, yeah I do, even though planes I think are cooler than race cars, this movie works better for me. It's like director Tony Scott and TC, short for Tom Cruise, looked back on what worked in Top Gun and more importantly what didn't and tweaked the formula just enough to work better. We still have that tacked on love story, but this time it's implemented better within the storyline, it makes sense that he's talking to the doctor and how she's implemented into this picture. We still have our rivalry on the road, this time instead of Iceman, we have Rowdy Burns played by Michael Roker. Tom Cruise is the exact same character again, except his name's not Maverick, it's Cole Trickle. Who I read is based on an actual race car driver, but it doesn't matter, it's Tom Cruise playing a hot headed, cocksher racer who can do anything until it's proven he can't and has to take a reality check. We got a very young John C. Riley in this, we got Randy Quaid who's somewhat normal in this movie for once, and then there's the best part of this movie for me which is Cole's relationship with Robert Duvall's character Harry, the mentor-mentee thing really works. We get to see the frustration with Harry when Cole doesn't listen to him because this guy knows what he's talking about, he gets cars and what makes them run and how the driver needs to respond to it and treat it like an extension of themselves. And like Top Gun, we got Hans Zimmer back this time behind the wheel of a car making badass music. No days of thunder doesn't have Kenny Loggins, there's no danger zone to be heard, put through some freaking guns and roses here. The plot of this is very straightforward, Cole is a fantastic stock car racer who's trying his hand at the big leagues. He's now a NASCAR driver competing in the Daytona 500. One thing that's held up impeccably well were the visuals in Top Gun. That plain porn, it's top notch, especially with the orange motif Tony Scott goes for. He brings that here again to NASCAR, the oranges are back, the beautiful sweeping shots of the racetrack are in full effect. We got race car vision, we got crashes, and TC was right on the money when he hand picked Nicole Kidman for this role, that's right, he's the one that casted her in this thing, perfectly done, much better than Charlie. The Cole rowdy rivalry is far better too than it was in Top Gun, which never really made much sense to me. Here, these guys are measuring each other up, they're really at it to win, all they want to do is prove who the best driver is. Yes, that was kinda what it is in Top Gun, but we have more time with these guys, we even see them race down a hospital aisle in their wheelchairs. It does unfortunately lead to a terribly corny sequence later where they race each other to a restaurant for lunch, just so badly done, and it's mainly because the music they play is borderline 70s porn. I might get copyright strike because that was pretty much spot on. I totally get why Days of Thunder got a bad rap, it's not ranked very well, a lot of people dismissed it as a copycat of Top Gun, it absolutely is a copycat of Top Gun. I'm just telling you, it's a better version than Top Gun, it holds up better. If you sat these two next to each other, I'm going Days of Thunder every time, no it's not as iconic, no it doesn't have the cool shades throughout the film, no it doesn't have the grade one liners like you're writing checks your body can't cash, what it has though is a more competent screenplay, more likeable characters, an easier to follow storyline, amazing visuals still especially for a 1990, and just an all around better film. So if you're looking for a Tom Cruise to watch before you head out to Maverick in a few weeks, I highly suggest Days of Thunder. If you're familiar with the film, let me know in the comments if I'm spot on on this or if you have a different take, is it really just a poor man's Top Gun and I'm seeing things that aren't there, or do you agree it's the better version of the two? And please think about subscribing to the channel, Adam Does Movies, as I post movie content all the time here. Love to talk about it, love to have you, hopefully I'll see you next time. If there's other videos you can watch over here, I suggest you do that. Come on man, come on, just click on the videos over here.