Over the Top (1987)

This movies always been really incredible to me. Reminds me so much of me and my dad. My dad was always the strong guy and as a kid I would arm wrestle him and all of us couldn't move his arm it was so fun and funny. This movie reminds me of all that. The 80s were the best

Wow not sure what I was expecting from a movie centering around arm wresting, but I guess I got it. This gem is from 1987 and about all it has going for it is the B-grade 80's campiness that now make it fun to watch. I mean who doesn't want to cut all the sleeves off your t-shirts, slap on a pair of suspenders, oil up your arms and drive your big rig off into the sunset while listening to Frank Stallone and Kenny Logins on the 8-track and yelling "over the top" at the screen. Awesome stuff.This is one of those so bad its good movies that just gets better with age because it gets cheesier. Its along the lines of Rocky V -which was pretty terrible too- and is more of a father/son drama than the sweaty, sinew straining, pulse pounding action you'd probably expect from a movie about arm wresting.Sylvester Stallone is the awesomely named 'Lincoln Hawk' a truck driver trying to reconcile and gain custody of his estranged son after his ex-wife becomes deathly ill. Grandpa (Robert Loggia), is not having it though and his son is angry and disrespectful which makes for a (not so) fun road trip after Hawk busts him out of military school and takes him out truckin' in an attempt to bond.Ultimately it comes down to Sly oiling up and arm wrestling for the custody of his son at the Las Vegas world arm wrestling championships.This is heavy on the family drama and emotion and dare I say, takes too long to get to the arm wresting part which (come on) is why we're watching this. That part of this film isn't so bad, Sly knows how to do these kinds of action scenes and (I guess) there are some genuine techniques used -It looked good. I'm not embarrassed to admit by the end I was totally invested in him winning the championship and the custom semi-truck so he could start his own trucking company and the more I think about this movie the more I love it. 3/7/16

Over The Top is a sports drama about arm-wrestling that features Sylvester Stallone together with Robert Loggia,Susan Blakely and David Mendenhall.Late Israeli director Menahem Golan directed it.Lincoln Hawk is a truck driver who left his estranged wife and son ten years ago.His ex-wife Christina is very ill and has requested him to visit his son Michael from school so that two of them can form a relationship.Unfortunately,his controlling grandfather Jason Cutler,a wealthy businessman, is hates his him and disapproves of it.In the end,Hawk joins an arm wrestling competition to win in order to earn the respect of his son and try to rebuild his life from the earnings he would receive.Just like many other films that Stallone has starred on,this is another action film that presents him to be the underdog.No doubt that he got used to this after achieving stardom from the boxing classic Rocky.While it offers really nothing new and refreshing as it is a clichéd ridden film,the sport of arm wrestling makes it somehow new and refreshing.The arm wrestling scenes definitely were the best moments of the film that provided the viewers a lot of tension,excitement and entertainment.Probably many arm wrestlers would say,"There must be one film about arm wrestling!!!" and for that reason alone Over The Top delivers.That is why this is definitely the signature film for the sport.

Greetings from Lithuania."Over the Top" (1987) is an enjoyable flick. The story is old as the movies itself, there is absolutely nothing original or particularly interesting, but at the end it works. Yes, there some unbelievable stuff, like kid traveling from his home to Las Vegas at end - come on... But one the other hand, it has Sylvester Stallone in his top form, in 1987 - it's surely the only reason to watch it anyway.Overall, 8/10 - very nice music, composed by maestro Giorgio Moroder, corny but suitable for this material acting (altrough kid was mehh..), very predictable plot, and arms wrestling championship, when everything comes at the end to glory of fingertips literally. Kick back and enjoy.