The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Kyle Brandt are more afraid of being nothing than they are of being hurt after rewatching Tony Scott’s 1990 sports action classic ‘Days of Thunder,’ starring Tom Cruise, Robert Duvall, Michael Rooker, and Nicole Kidman. Watch this episode on our Ringer Movies YouTube channel! Producer: Craig Horlbeck Video Producers: Chia Hao Tat and Jon Jones Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What is the Rewatchables Film Festival?
Hey, Rewatchables fans, you already knew we were coming to Boston for a sold-out show on March 27th, but what you didn't know is we're sticking around that weekend. We're going to host our first ever Rewatchables Film Festival while we're in Boston. We're screening some of our favorite movies, movies that we have done on this podcast.
plus maybe a couple others, at the historic Coolidge Corner Theater. We're doing it all weekend from March 28th through March 30th. One of my favorite theaters in America. We might even make a few surprise appearances at a couple of these screenings. It's your chance to see some of our favorites as they were meant to be seen on... The big screen.
Classic mob heist, Boston movies we love, Goodfellas, The Town, The Departed. Oh, yeah, we're doing Heat. Again, it's going to kick off Friday, March 28th at the Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline. Visit theringer.com slash events for showtimes and ticket information. Hopefully, we'll see you there. The Rewatchables is brought to you by The Ringer Podcast Network, where you can find...
What's it called? The Watch? Yes. That's it, right?
The Unprestiged TV Podcast.
CulturePod with you and Andy Greenwald. You're on the big picture as well. Try not to sound too excited. Ringer Philly specials sometimes. Yeah. Not a lot of Sixers talk there lately. Kyle Brandt. Yeah. We can find you. Where can we find you? Tell us. It's Offseason NFL.
You can find me on the Good Morning Football program, as always. I did it this morning for four hours. I'm ready to do more content with you for the NFL Media Group. And I'm ready. Let's do it.
Is it good to get you groggy after four hours of content or are we just getting like, I don't know. It's like you've played your second NFL game in the same day. I'm concerned.
No, but the good news is I had a 72 ounce mellow yellow, so I'm ready to rock, Bill. Let's go. Change my tires.
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Chapter 2: Why is Days of Thunder significant?
Yeah, I think if you're redoing this movie and you could cast anybody from any era, this is like a Brad Pitt mid-2000s part.
Well, they're doing it now, right? I mean, kind of with F1.
This is like, you want the guy to be handsome, a little enigmatic. I can't read him. Cruise... Cruz has too much charisma to do that, and I think he wanted to be that, but eventually you can't contain your inner Tom Cruise if you're Tom Cruise, Kyle.
I think some of the things he has going for him in this movie is great Cruz hair, really, really cool hair for 1990.
Maybe the best hair he's ever had.
Really, like a full Pert Plus commercial, a lot of body, and then listen.
Yeah.
The Top Gun comparison, he's really good at a tight shot of his face, wearing a helmet with his name stenciled across it, saying one line at a time. When he says, Harry, this guy's going down, it's fucking awesome. And it feels like Maverick is back. It's cool.
You left out one piece of the cruise pie, the... The blank face of fear. I don't know how this is going to turn out. Maybe I shouldn't do this, which they use leverage perfectly with the smoke scene. Yeah, driving through the wreck being the... The blank cruise, I'm not sure this is a good idea face.
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Chapter 3: What are the main themes explored in Days of Thunder?
I'm not positive he was that easy to work with from time to time. So you have him and then you have Robert town who's on the set with like crazy power. And then you have Cruz and it's the four guys. And then sometimes Cruz just arguing about everything because they keep changing the script.
the crew members apparently made so much overtime that they didn't have to work for like six months after scenes were written day of the filming. I, I, this almost seems too crazy to be true, but apparently crews would have cue cards on the windshield because the scenes are being rewritten so fast. He wouldn't know his lines.
And Towns sometimes would be on the radio telling him what to say.
Well, Cruz ends up almost crashing because of the cue cards. So they decide that's a bad idea. They have to put the earplugs like he's a quarterback in football with Towns as the OC calling him plays. What were you saying, Kyle?
Tom, Tom, right now on this turn, say, I'm dropping the hammer.
Say it, say it. Tom, just I'm dropping the hammer really quick. Filming finished three months late. And it's crazy shit. Towns really wanted, I guess Duvall's character, to have an awesome barn. So they built the barn. Towns like, I don't like it. Let's do it again. Knock it down. They build it again. And now, still didn't get it right. They knock it down. They build it a third time. It's like,
nah let's use the one we scouted before so they built three barns didn't use any of the barns for like four weeks of filming now i just want to say yeah i will die on the hill of robert town should get to do this and this is what i right for yeah when you hear stories like this you kind of understand why they shoot everything on the volume now and everything is like vfx and cgi it's like we're never getting back to the place where one coked up screenwriter could be like build me another barn
Well, Chris, that video that you sent of the real race where they shot this movie, one thing that jumped out to me is in the CBS coverage, there is a shot of Cole Trickle on a spine board being lifted up from a helicopter that is not in the movie. So they paid for a fucking helicopter to lift up Tom Cruise.
But they show shots. They show them. They don't show. Yeah, they don't show the wide shot in the movie. You're right.
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Chapter 4: How was the production of Days of Thunder unique?
There was one of the stories about it. They're talking about the gym.
Yeah.
And they make a point of saying how Cruz didn't work out in the gym because he was renting a house and built his own gym in the house. They're just like... They're shooting $100 bills all around the Carolina area.
Has there ever been a scene-stealing location award for something that's not even in the movie? Yeah, I know. I want to hang in that gym so bad.
Well, they did a lot of press, too, about... This paramount deal they did. They took the newspaper ads for themselves, congratulated themselves. They did all that. So Hollywood was lined up at this point. Hollywood was in full fuck these guys mode. CR sent us a spy magazine one pager where some of the stuff that we're talking about was in there. It's like 450 words. The vultures were out.
And it's everything you need to know about Hollywood access. It's somehow... It's basically written like a very, very erudite party report. And this person is obviously talking to people on the set, but it's just such a great portrait of these guys just going full Babylon.
Well, and it fucked up. So their next movie is supposed to be Beverly Hills Cop 3.
Yeah.
And still catching Eddie, the tail end of before, I think he moved into a different phase of comedy. And that gets delayed for three years. By the time they make it, it ends up being one of the worst sequels in a while. But then Simpson just... Is a fucking mess for most of the 90s. And then has the one last comeback with Bad Boys and Crimson Tide.
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