Released June 27th 1990, and starring Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, & Robert Duvall, Days of Thunder tells the story of a young hot-shot stock car driver who gets his chance to compete at the top level. With appearances by real life NASCAR racers, such as Rusty Wallace, Neil Bonnett, and Harry Gant, it arrived to mostly positive reviews and was widely praised for its action sequences, Hans Zimmer's musical score, fast pace, and the performances of Cruise and Kidman. .
Here are 5 fast facts for Days Of Thunder as it celebrates its 30th anniversary...
1. Reportedly, Tom Cruise handpicked Nicole Kidman to be his love interest in Days Of Thunder after seeing her performance in 1989s Dead Calm. After becoming romantically involved whilst filming, the pair married in December 1990, and went on to make two other films together; Far and Away and Eyes Wide Shut.
2. Tom Cruise had been enthused to make a film based on the world NASCAR drivers after he and Paul Newman, during a break from shooting 1986s The Color Of Money, were invited to test one of Rick Hendrick's race cars (Hendrick being owner of American NASCAR Team, Hendrick Motorsports, formally named All Star Racing). Tom's first lap was in excess of one hundred eighty miles per hour! Hendrick then provided the cars used by the main characters in Days Of Thunder.
3. While Days Of Thunder was neither based on a true story, nor a biographical film, Cruise's character Cole Trickle was very loosely based on the careers of American Motorsport drivers Tim Richmond and Geoff Bodine, and several scenes reenacted or referenced real-life stories and personalities from NASCAR history.
4. Some footage for the movie was shot during the 1990 Daytona 500, on February 18th of that year. Two additional cars, driven by real life stock car drivers Bobby Hamilton and Tommy Ellis, were added to the rear of the field for the express purpose of shooting them for Days Of Thunder. They were not officially scored, and left the racetrack after one hundred miles (forty laps) were completed. At one point in the race, leader Dale Earnhardt even lapped the movie cars.
5. Production began on Days Of Thunder without a finished script, with scenes often written the day of filming. During one driving sequence, Tom Cruise had to read his lines off cue cards attached to his windshield, which resulted in a minor car accident. For subsequent driving sequences, Cruise was fitted with a special earpiece to have lines fed to him. Reportedly it was only after shooting was finished that the filmmakers discovered they had neglected to film Cole Trickle's car crossing the finish line at Daytona!
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