Welcome to Tony Scott Summer.
At least, that’s what I’m calling it.
After the conversation referenced in my tweet below, I decided to check out the entirety of Scott’s filmography. The brother of three-time Best Director nominee Ridley Scott, Tony was a British master of his craft who made some of the most action-packed movies of his time — from Days of Thunder to Top Gun to the all-time classic True Romance.
Upon rewatch of Days of Thunder, and just a few weeks after what would’ve been his 80th birthday, I felt like I should talk about what makes Scott’s style so unique. His films look f**king great, straight up.
As seen in his early films, Scott’s eye for visual flair is insanely keen, and it becomes even more evident when watching several of his movies consecutively. Starting with Top Gun, in particular, the movie is filled with gorgeously-shot flight sequences, stunning sunsets and insanely good composition — the shot of the helicopter picking Maverick up after Goose’s death stands out.
Beverly Hills Cop II is also well-shot, as is his team-up with Kevin Costner: 1990’s Revenge (same year as Days of Thunder), which takes place in Mexico. As such, there’s absolutely phenomenal vistas of the landscape in the latter, and he also knows how to make things shine at night, from the burning cabin below to the insane opening football sequence in The Last Boy Scout.
And yes, I know Scott wasn’t the cinematographer on these, but the director’s eye is a huge factor in how the finished product looks. See below.
Who needs generic, boring blue skies when you can have stunning sunsets filled with clouds, the grime of a racetrack and vibrant paint schemes?
Vibrancy is a key part of any good-looking movie, and Scott’s films are no exception. From what I’ve watched to date, Days of Thunder might be the best-looking. Yes, the bevy of NASCAR paint schemes lend themselves to a pretty colorful palette no matter what, be it 1990 or the present day. For the latter, it’s the bright blue of Kyle Larson‘s No. 5, the Menards yellow of multiple Team Penske entries, the orange of the Bass Pro Shops cars, all the different Jordan cars Tyler Reddick runs and so many more.
Back then, even just in the context of the movie, it was the green-and-yellow livery of Cole Trickle’s City Chevrolet car, Russ Wheeler’s blazing orange-and-blue Hardee’s No. 18 and the pink/white combination of Trickle’s SuperFlo Chevy.
I’d also like to think it helped make things even more visually interesting for those, say, who went and saw it while not being fans of racing in general.
The third photo in the below tweet is quite possibly my favorite shot in the entire film.
Scott’s filmmaking techniques also make things visually interesting without needing a glowing sunset or colorful paint schemes in view. There’s an early scene where Robert Duvall and Tom Cruise are talking to each other, but they’re both facing the same direction, and the camera rack-focuses as each delivers their dialogue to put them in focus.
The blocking is another huge contributor to this movie: I recently rewatched Jaws, and it’s practically perfect. The blocking — where people and things are placed during a scene — is top-notch in that. Scott does this well, too: the camera pans around scenes without cutting, and I’ll use an example from the same scene as the above rack-focus.
Cruise pulls into the pit. We cut to Cruise in the driver’s seat and John C. Reilly putting down the window net and talking, Randy Quaid coming up and telling Cruise about his lap time, dolly upward as Cruise exits the car and makes a formal introduction with Reilly and then finally cut to a new angle.
It’s a roughly 30-second shot that might seem small in the larger scale of the movie, but Scott’s ability to use that kind of blocking, scene setup and minimal cuts (he was famous for his extensive coverage to get all possible angles of scenes, most notably the mountains of footage reportedly sifted through with The Last Boy Scout) was incredible.
And it’s all that, combined with his eye for visually interesting shots, that come together to make Days of Thunder great.
Even just the opening credits, where we just see various shots of the lead-up to the green flag on race day, are saturated with color.
Hell, even static, less dynamic shots of Duvall eating ice cream in the pits or walking around the half-built car in the garage — with moonlight streaming through the windows — look better than a lot of movies released within the last 10 years.
Days of Thunder isn’t Tony Scott’s best film, nor is it a perfect film, but it’s a damn fun time. And if it’s a good-looking fun time, that gets a “hell yeah” from me. Don’t be surprised if I suddenly decide to go as Scott himself for Halloween.
RIP, Tony. You would’ve been proud of Top Gun: Maverick … and, whenever Days of Thunder gets its legacyquel, I know he’ll be proud of that finished product too. #TonyScott4Lyfe.
About the author
Adam Cheek joined Frontstretch as a contributing writer in January 2019. A 2020 graduate of VCU, he covered sports there and later spent a year and a half as a sports host on 910 the Fan in Richmond, VA. He's freelanced for Richmond Magazine and the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and also hosts the "Adam Cheek's Sports Week" podcast. Adam has followed racing since the age of three, inheriting the passion from his grandfather, who raced in amateur events up and down the East Coast in the 1950s.
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Another Reel Racing blockbuster, Adam, thanks! Agreed, Tony Scott’s eye for color, like a saturated ’70s Polaroid, is stellar!