OVER THE TOP (1987)

OVER THE TOP (1987)

Tagline : Driving headlong towards the biggest fight of his life.

(Drama, Sport, Action) [PG] 

He doesn't even belong on my arm wrestling table. That's my area, that's my game, and he's got no s-----n' business there. And all I want to do is hurt him, cripple him, get him off the table. And so he never dares try to compete against me again.

In this one Lincoln Hawk (played by Sylvester Stallone) is a trucker who gets asked to pick up his son and take him on a trip to the hospital where she is staying. Part of that trip involves a few stops and it takes longer than expected. Michael (played by David Mendenhall most famous for being the voice of Daniel Witwicky in a number of TRANSFORMERS animated projects) hasn’t seen his father Lincoln in 10 years so he isn’t exactly down with this whole road trip bonding scenario. During the trip Michael finds out that his father is on his way to the World Arm Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, but friction between Lincoln and Michael’s grandfather, Jason Cutler (played by Robert Loggia) threatens to tear everything apart. Can Lincoln win the tournament and renew his relationship with his son? Of course he can, he’s Sylvester “Freakin” Stallone. 

Some of the highlights of this movie are the iconic soundtrack which features artists like Sammy Hagar and Kenny Loggins. The cool out of control arm wrestlers we meet in the later part of the film. The performance we get out of Sylvester Stallone. In my opinion this is actually one of Stallone’s best efforts acting wise. Finally, I also loved some of the scenery in this movie since a lot of it was filmed in Arizona, which is just an incredibly beautiful state the more north you go. 

Apparently a few people involved in this movie actually hated it or didn’t want to be involved including Stallone. I can’t pinpoint all that went into why this movie flopped at the box office, but I am guessing it didn’t get a ton of studio support. The reason for that is because it was released in February on the day before Valentines. First off, it’s not a love or romance movie, and secondly “February” is where movies go to die. It’s one of the worst times historically to release a movie if you want anyone to see it. 

When I was a kid seeing this, Michael’s character as a military brat type really bugged the crap out of me, but now that I am older and have raised a kid, I have a lot more tolerance for what the character might have been going through. This movie almost always makes me cry. It’s part tale of redemption and part tale of “please don’t break Rocky’s arm”. I can see why some watching this movie in 2020 or later might think that this thing feels a little off kilter. However, to be honest, in the 80’s driving your pick-up through a building and threatening to ruin family members you didn’t like, wasn’t all that far-fetched. 

In spite of some of the hate this damn movie gets, I enjoy watching whenever it comes on or I see that it’s available for streaming. Because I never bought the movie, I can’t give it a 6 out of 7, but it’s a solid 5 out of 7 for me. There weren’t very many elements I could even pick to critique. If you haven’t seen this and you love 80’s nostalgia, give this one a chance. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF CANNON GROUP AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.  

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