Days of Thunder is an almost beat-for-beat sequel to Top Gun according to one fan theory. Released in 1986, Top Gun was a huge hit for helmer Tony Scott and star Tom Cruise. The tale of Maverick, a feckless test pilot with a “need for speed” was a massive success at the box office, even though critics were not as bowled over by the familiar plot in Top Gun’s early reviews.
However, the decades since its initial release have been kind to Top Gun, and the movie is now fondly remembered as one of Cruise and Scott’s best. Despite this, it has taken until 2021 for the first Top Gun sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, to reach theater screens. That is unless viewers buy into a fan theory that claims the 1990 racing drama Days of Thunder is a stealth sequel to the action-thriller.
To be fair to this far-fetched claim, there are a lot of similarities between the two outings that lend credence to the theory. Not only did Days of Thunder reunite star Tom Cruise with the iconic action director Tony Scott, but both movies also have similar plots and follow familiar formulas. The storylines of both Top Gun and Days of Thunder are near-perfect replicas when it comes to numerous pivotal plot points, with both movies being stories of a speed-obsessed cocksure young antihero who must learn to slow down when tragedy strikes. That said, the places where Days of Thunder diverges from Top Gun’s story are as important as the similarities between the two movies.
Top Gun and Days of Thunder Similarities Explained
Both Top Gun and Days of Thunder have similar plots. The former follows a cocky young test pilot in the titular flight school who terrorizes his instructors with Top Gun‘s famously panic-inducing stunts but is undeniably gifted, while the latter follows the exploits of a NASCAR driver who is similarly averse to sensible speed and equally incredibly talented behind the wheel. One may be airborne while the other takes place mostly on the track, but there is no getting around the fact that Days of Thunder is another Tony Scott action movie about a reckless young antihero whose ego gets him into speed-based trouble before he is humbled by a romantic subplot and personal tragedy. Not only that, but both movies feature a string of near-identical roles for the supporting cast.
How Top Gun Shaped Days of Thunder’s Characters
First and foremost, Tom Cruise’s character in both movies is given a grizzled older mentor (Viper in Top Gun and Harry Hogge in Days of Thunder), as well as a spunky love interest who refuses to be wooed until he swallows his pride somewhat (Charlie in Top Gun and Nicole Kidman’s Claire in the latter movie). However, the most galling and obvious lift is the role of rival-turned-best-friend, which in Top Gun goes to Iceman and in Days of Thunder is taken on by Rowdy Burns. A fellow driver, Burns has a long-standing beef with Cruise’s character that results in him chewing the driver out for failing to win despite his braggadocios attitude, a dressing down that is nearly identical to the rants that Iceman directs at Maverick throughout Top Gun. As if to further cement the comparison, Burns and Cruise are eventually forced into friendship via tragedy, much like Val Kilmer’s Top Gun “villain” gains begrudging respect for Maverick after Goose’s untimely death.
What Days Of Thunder Does Worse
Although the NASCAR race sequences are competently staged by the always-solid action helmer Scott, they can’t hope to match the high-flying heroics of Top Gun in terms of sheer visual thrills. The fact that Top Gun’s action was always military-adjacent (even though the actual involvement of enemy combatants is mostly limited to the opening and closing scenes) meant that the threat of death lingered over the movie’s action, making the sequences of flying more high-impact and viscerally thrilling. Despite NASCAR being a sport plagued by horrific real-life crashes that have occasionally resulted in death on the track, the same sense of danger does not translate to the screen, and Cruise’s fast-paced racing can’t compare to Maverick’s impressive display against the MiG-28s of Top Gun’s finale as a result.
What Days Of Thunder Changes From Top Gun’s Formula
While the similarities are striking enough to give rise to the credible fan theory that the movie is a stealth sequel to Top Gun, despite the claims of some critics, Days of Thunder is more than a rip-off of Scott’s earlier effort. Although the thrills are not as impressive, the dramatic elements are arguably more effective in Days of Thunder, lending further credence to the idea that the movie was created in an attempt to right the wrongs of Top Gun. The script, from Chinatown’s Robert Towne, ensures that Claire is not an afterthought the way that Top Gun’s Charlie is, and metes out the second act tragedy on Cruise’s rival instead of an unrelated third party like Goose.
The fact that it is Rowdy Burns himself who is permanently injured (although not quite killed) in the accident is an important and clever change, as it makes Cruise’s character growth less dependent on death and more reliant on seeing his competitor as a fellow human. Even the triumphant ending of Top Gun still sees Maverick charmed by his own arrogance despite his newfound team player attitude, whereas Days of Thunder truly forces its hero to consider his former enemy over himself before the movie hands the protagonist his big climactic win. This switch-up makes it far more effecting when his rival forgives him and insists he returns to racing for the big finale, making the bromance the movie centers around stronger than Iceman and Maverick’s close bond. Ultimately, these changes further reinforce the idea that Days of Thunder was written at the very least with Top Gun in mind, and even if the racing drama is not a direct follow-up to the earlier movie, it is an outing that allowed the director and star to build on its themes and attempt to rework the story into a more cohesive whole.
