OVER THE TOP
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| Rated PG-13
| | Copyright 1987 Cannon Group
| | Reviewed by Circus Circus
on 8 November 2009
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- Lincoln Hawk - Sly Stallone! A trucker trying to forget his troubles, who happens to arm wrestle on the side. He's trying to get to know his estranged son on a road trip to Vegas.
- Jason Cutler - Robert Loggia! He's Hawk's wife's father and thinks Lincoln is a loser. He wants to continue to raise his grandson as his own.
- Michael Cutler - Played by David Mendenhall (who won the Razzie for "worst supporting actor"), is a snooty military brat reluctant to accept his father.
- Christina Cutler-Hawk - Susan Blakely, Hawks estranged wife, who is dying of some unknown illness. It's serious whatever it is though, as she's dying! Desperately wants her son and husband to bond.
- Bull - Rick Zumwalt. Arm wrestler and the reigning champ for five years running, thinks Hawk is a chicken.
- Beefy guys - Lots of sweaty men that scream a lot (mostly fellow arm wrestlers). One of which is Terry Funk, who gets shoved through a French window by Hawk.
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"Over The Top" is a strange film. First off, I have no idea what genre this film falls into. I mean, sure it's a sort of family/action drama (trust me, it's very dramatic), but I believe it's the only arm-wrestling movie I have ever come across. So does that classify it as a "sports" film? And if so, I would really be stretching that term. Secondly, it's a very strange star vehicle for Sly Stallone, coming in off the back of successful Rocky and Rambo outings, to a plot where...well, there's not much plot. Plus it carries the tagline "Some fight for money. Some fight for glory. He's fighting for his son's love." How wussy does that sound?
Basically, Lincoln Hawk (Stallone) is trucker making deliveries and arm wrestling for extra cash on the side. His estranged wife is dying, and knowing that she does not have long, she asks Hawk to pick up their son from the military academy and get to know him on the way to see her. Hawk's son Michael (David Mendenhall), is at first unwilling to accept his father after he walked out on him and his mother, but warms soon after some traffic dodging, arm wrestling, and endless truck driving. My first gripe with this film (and this is hard, as I adore any 80s movie), is that Michael is so damn irritating. His character is such a stuck up egomaniac, that I was hoping Hawk would abandon him all over again by throwing him out onto the hot tarmac!
Anyway, Michael and Hawk bond. Much to the chagrin of Michael's cranky grandfather, Jason Cutler (Robert Loggia), who doesn't want him having anything to do with his biological father. Jason sends some goons after them to recover the boy. At one point Hawk rams his truck into grumpy gramps' mansion to see Michael, and gets busted in the process. It is probably the most exciting and action packed moment of the entire film. In order to stay out of trouble, Hawk has to agree to leave the state and not see Michael. He does so, heading to Vegas to compete in the arm wrestling championships. Michael, missing his estranged father after just one day, escapes and heads to Vegas too, but with gramps and goons not too far behind. Then comes some of the most ludicrous sequences of images I have ever had to behold: large, sweaty men constantly thrust into frame screaming and flexing their muscles in extremely tight shirts. Oh, the screaming! I can still hear it all now. I thought the Ultimate Warrior was going to run in at any moment for a cheap cameo, with his veins bursting all over the camera.
In the end, Hawk beats the champ, Bull, in slow motion, whilst covered in buckets of sweat to the typical soft rock anthem. He wins a new truck, wins his son back for good, and they head off into the end credits happily ever after. I would admit that some scenes are quite heart-warming in this, that is, if it weren't for the vast amount of cheese that has been grilled on top of this movie. It isn't pretty, but can be enjoyable if you aren't expecting anything requiring brains, or if you really, really like arm wrestling. |
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| Things I Learned From This Movie: | |
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- Arm wrestling is a very popular "sport."
- You can make up for 10 years of child neglect in 1 day.
- If you do weights with just one arm, both your arms will appear the same size.
- Eating cigarettes and drinking motor oil will enhance your performance.
- You can win any arm wrestling bout as long as you "feel strong."
- Twelve-year-old boys can learn to a drive trucking rig in under 5 minutes.
- Twelve-year-old year old boys can also drive a car instantly and know the way to Las Vegas.
- Arm wrestling can solve all our problems, whether it be a family feud or financial.
- Sylvester Stallone's shoulders are shaped like pillows.
- Robert Loggia is nobody's father.
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- 1 min - What the hell is he smiling at?
- 9 mins - He's not even watching the road!
- 10 mins - Please, someone run that kid over!
- 14 mins - I've never seen blue putty on a bar before…
- 30 mins - Gambling with minors? Dear me, Sylvester...
- 35 mins - RANDOM ACT OF VIOLENCE AGAINST A PARKED CAR!
- 44 mins - RANDOM ACT OF VIOLENCE AGAINST A MANSION!
- 53 mins - Don't see many twelve-year-old old boys with handbags...
- 57 mins - These people are mentally ill.
- 59 mins - RANDOM ACT OF VIOLENCE AGAINST A MAN'S CHEEKS!
- 69 mins - RANDOM ACT OF VIOLENCE AGAINST FRENCH WINDOWS!
- 81 mins - No, these people are just constipated...
- 85 mins - Credits.
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| | Audio clips in wav format | SOUNDS | Starving actors speak out | |
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| File | Dialog |  | overtop1.wav
| Michael: "Sir, my grandfather has instructed me to go home with noone but besides himself or my mother."
Academy CO: "You mother has legal custody over you, Cutler - not your grandfather, and it is her request that your father bring you home."
| | overtop2.wav
| Bull: "Right now: double or nothing. Whaddaya you say?"
Hawk: "Let's just wait for Vegas."
Bull: "Come on, let's do it now. I feel like kicking some a**."
Hawk: "Let's wait 'til Vegas, OK?"
Bull: "You ain't got a prayer in Vegas."
Hawk: "We'll see."
Bull: "Too bad your old man's yellow, kid. I'll see you in Vegas."
| | overtop3.wav
| Michael: "Grandfather always said you were a loser. Now you're trying to make me one, and I hate you for it!"
Hawk: "Mike, I don't care what your grandfather thinks about me, OK? All I care about is you. Now, you lost back there because you beat yourself. You let yourself get beat. I know you can do it."
| | overtop4.wav
| Mr. Cutler: "You think you can come in here, destroy my home, and take Michael with you? Michael Cutler is my boy! You deserted him years ago, and that's a fact you can't change no matter what you do! DAMN YOU!"
| | Theme Song | Listen to a clip from the soundtrack. | |
| | Click for a larger image | IMAGES | Scenes from the movie | |
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| | Watch a scene | VIDEO | MPEG video files | |
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 | overtop1.mpg
- 4.9m
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| Professional arm wrasslin': the sport of heroes.
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| | Leave a comment | EXTRAS | Buy the movie | |
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Re: Over the Top
This is certianly an odd film. I'm guessing that this is the only arm wrestling movie around. Twelve-year-old boys can learn to a drive trucking rig in under 5 minutes. Really? Man, I should have tried doing that when I was that age. |
Re: Over the Top
Reply #2. Posted on November 08, 2009, 11:50:54 PM by JPickettIII
I remember watching this movie and thinking that Sly should only have one huge arm.  This is because of the way he had his work out machine set up. I liked this movie, it was cool. I remember the one guy drinking Penzoil or Quakerstate. WOWOWOWOW. Worth a watch on a wintry afternoon. Later, |
| Re: Over the Top
Reply #3. Posted on November 09, 2009, 10:17:32 AM by King Kool
Anyone else remember that skit on SNL when Sly hosted and Norm MacDonald was in car wreck and Sly came to his aid? All Norm did was rip on his movies..."What were you thinking when you made Over The Top? You had to arm wrestle a guy for custody of your son for Christ's sake! When you script were you really running around going I got a winner here?!"
Hilarious.
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Re: Over the Top
Reply #4. Posted on November 09, 2009, 11:32:22 AM by DavidFullam
I really wish that Sly had tossed that brat kid under the wheels of the truck!
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| Re: Over the Top
Reply #5. Posted on November 09, 2009, 12:51:02 PM by justin
Well, at least I can say this is the best arm-wrestling movie ever made!  Its a good old slice cheese that I still enjoy watching although I am glad that kid who played Sly's son won the razzie cause he really got on my nerves.   I'm not afriad to admit that I actually have the soundtrack for this movie as well. |
Re: Over the Top
Reply #6. Posted on November 09, 2009, 12:57:15 PM by Circus Circus
Cheers Andrew!  |
Re: Over the Top
Reply #7. Posted on November 09, 2009, 01:25:53 PM by SkullBat308
 Great review Circus!  Though I cannot get the video to work. 
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| Re: Over the Top
Reply #8. Posted on November 09, 2009, 09:47:58 PM by yannick35
How could this movie not be gold, at that time everything stallone did was Gold for sure, he was so popular.
He could have done a movie about bullriding and it would have made millions.
If it would have been made in the mid 90 where Stallone had some huge issues getting back into the box office then that might have been a flop.
The movie is very good if you can turn your brain off and enjoy it for what it is, plain entertainement.
they never tested the competitors in arm wrestling they where all on steroids LOL
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