--- title: "Days of Thunder: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/days-of-thunder/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/days-of-thunder" critics_score: 36 critics_reviews: 7 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Days of Thunder (1990): what the critics said Critics' score 36 from 7 reviews: 1 positive, 1 mixed, 5 negative. Most critics find Days of Thunder a loud, expensive Tom Cruise vehicle that recycles the Top Gun formula and has little to say beyond it. Five of the seven reviews are negative, and the complaints repeat: stock situations, a story that plays every scene at the same pitch, and a commercial’s idea of drama. Where there is praise, it goes to two places. Tony Scott’s racing footage is credited with making the audience feel the speed, and Robert Duvall’s performance is singled out almost everywhere as the film’s one reliable pleasure. The disagreements are small and sit near the bottom of the scale. RogerEbert.com is the only outright recommendation, allowing that the film is predictable but entertaining. Variety credits Robert Towne’s screenplay with reaching for substance; the Los Angeles Times calls it malnourished. Slant Magazine goes furthest, calling the film hollow and misogynistic in its handling of its female lead, an angle the earlier reviews barely raise. ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 27 June 1990. The film is an entertaining but predictable Tom Cruise vehicle that recycles familiar elements from his earlier hits like Top Gun. It excels in its fast, loud stock-car racing footage and strong supporting performances, particularly from Robert Duvall. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/days-of-thunder-1990) ## Los Angeles Times — Sheila Benson Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 27 June 1990. The NASCAR racing footage and Tom Cruise's grin provide the main appeal, but Robert Towne's screenplay is malnourished and the film feels flat overall despite its flashy style. Director Tony Scott delivers exciting race sequences that make audiences feel the speed. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-06-27-ca-446-story.html) ## The New York Times — Janet Maslin Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 27 June 1990. The movie is a noisy, adrenaline-pumping commercial-like spectacle focused on Tom Cruise and racing cars, but it lacks coherent storytelling and makes every scene feel equally intense. Tony Scott directs with visual flair but fails to translate the enthusiasm for stock-car racing into effective drama. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1990/06/27/movies/review-film-tom-cruise-and-cars-and-a-lot-of-them.html) ## Time Out — NF Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. A flashy, pre-packaged racing picture with stock situations that loses momentum and becomes tedious after a key crash. The critic singles out Robert Duvall's sterling performance and Nicole Kidman's spirited scenes for relief from the tedium. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/days-of-thunder) ## Variety Rating **. 31 December 1989. This expensive stock-car racing film recycles elements from Top Gun but benefits from Robert Towne's screenplay aiming for more substance. The real glory is Robert Duvall's performance, while the mix of Cruise's charm and emotional portrayal is uncertain and unsatisfying. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1989/film/reviews/days-of-thunder-1200428447/) ## Empire — Ian Nathan Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The film fails awfully as a preordained commercial product lacking surprise, romance or heart. It is a formulaic, shallow automaton of a movie with technical skill but no humanity, suited only for die-hard fans. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/days-thunder-review/) ## Slant Magazine — Clayton Dillard Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 25 June 2015. The critic dismisses the film as hollow and misogynistic, arguing it functions as a masturbatory fantasy for dumb dudes rather than offering any meaningful critique of its macho, commercial world. He singles out the film's crude treatment of its female lead and pervasive sexual innuendo mixed with racing jargon for particular scorn. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/summer-of-90-days-of-thunder/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/days-of-thunder.md