Great NASCAR movie, a must see for NASCAR fans

Rating: 7/10 (27 March 2008)

This movie seems a bit cheesy and cliché at first glance and it somewhat is, but I still loved it. Tom Cruise basically re-acted Maverick from Top Gun (which is one of my all-time favorites. It's as if he changed his name from Pete Mitchell to Cole trickle, took off the flight suit and put on a NASCAR fire suit and there you have it. The story itself is cheesy, but that's why I liked it. A hotshot rookie NASCAR driver works his way up, gets in a big wreck, falls in love with a doctor, goes on to win the Daytona 500 after overcoming his trauma from the wreck. This wasn't some shakespearean intellectual masterpiece, which is why most people bash it. The Racing scenes are awesome and if you love car-action movies, you will watch these scenes over and over. The only thing is the excessive amount of bumping and rubbing. It added some degree of excitement, but was unrealistic for NASCAR. The only reason this gets a 9/10 is because the film and sound quality is not that good, compared to other movies at the time. The film seems a bit grainy to me, like it could have been shot in the 1970's. Overall, great movie, watch if your a fan of NASCAR, car action, or Tom Cruise. Im just waiting for a "digitally remastered" DVD.