The master of the flashy, trashy action picture - Britain's very own Tony Scott - sought to recapture the glories of Top Gun in this reunion with Tom Cruise, which resulted in Cruise's marital union with co-star Nicole Kidman. Motor sport movies have a lousy track record at the box office and this cliché-ridden stock-car variation was a costly flop. Reworking many of the themes in Howard Hawks's The Crowd Roars, Robert Towne's script must have looked a sure-fire winner, and there's little wrong with Scott's zippy race sequences or Robert Duvall's performance as Cruise's manager. Worse films than this have been smashes, so give it a spin.

Talented but unproven stock car driver Cole Trickle gets a break and with the guidance of veteran Harry Hogge turns heads on the track. The young hotshot develops a rivalry with a fellow racer that threatens his career when the two smash their cars. But with the help of his doctor, Cole just might overcome his injuries-- and his fear.