13: Days Of Thunder

This week, it’s Top Gun on the ground as Tony Scott returns with 1990’s Days of Thunder. Is this film as bad as its reputation? What happened to kill the era of the producer-led blockbuster? How does it feel to go back to the well?

Content warning: injury, trauma, sex work, sexual assault

Unanswered Questions:

  • Was there a version of this film — one of the many drafts, perhaps — that would have connected with audiences?
  • Are the comparisons to Top Gun justified?
  • How do we judge Nicole Kidman’s first American blockbuster in the context of the rest of her career?

Further reading:

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Join us next time as we begin the new year with Ron Howard’s sprawling romantic epic, Far and Away!


The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

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