Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Warner Home Entertainment– 94 minutes – 1987 – Rated PG – 1080p – 2.40:1 – DTS HD 5.1 Audio

In the mid 80’s Sylvester Stallone was the undisputed king of the box office with his movie characters Rocky and Rambo dominating everything in the map. Trying to break out of that molding, Stallone decided on an odd choice of creating a new underdog character who was not a boxer or a soldier, but instead a guy who is a professional arm wrestler. Yes, that’s correct, I said a professional arm wrestler. Hey, I’m one of the biggest Stallone fans there is, but even Shakespeare could have pulled this one off. Who knows if there are actually fans of this film, but if so Stallone’s arm wrestling drama Over The Top is available on Blu-ray from Warner Home Video, but without a Drago or Clubber Lang, this one is kind of lame.

THE MOVIE

Lincoln Hawk (Sylvester Stallone) is baseball hat wearing trucker who learns that his ex wife Christina (Susan Blakely) is on her deathbed due to illness, and has requested for him to pick up their son Michael (David Mendenhall), who is in military school and bring him to see her. Hawk has had no contact with his son since he was born, and the two have to get to know each other like two strangers. Michael learns that his father is aspiring to be a professional arm wrestler and plans to compete in a championship in Vegas for a huge cash prize so he can start his own business. Father and son have their ups and downs, but they bond via a series of events, and Hawk gets the chance to compete against the top arm wrestler in the sport. Does Hawk win? Well, did Rocky win? Come on.

Apparently, way back in 1987 Stallone was paid a truckload of money to make this film, and the production was cheaper than his salary. His underdog Rocky formula doesn’t work here, because the script seems like it’s slapped together to match the mood of other film of that decade. Directed by Menahem Golan, who was the king of bad 80’s action films distributed by Cannon, Over The Top was obviously made to cash in on Stallone’s popularity. An attempt that came crashing down when the movie failed to satisfy audiences and died a quick death in theaters.

Another issue with the film is that there is nothing cinematic about it, and it looks like a made for TV movie with a big star attached. Stallone is trying his best not to act like Rocky, but The Italian Stallion keeps on poking through. Also, this has to be one of Stallone’s most tame films to date, even Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot offers more action and thrills. Over the Top is a hard one to swallow even for Stallone fans because the premise is very hard to accept. But the one thing that Over The Top has going for it is that when the history books are written and films about the arm wrestling genre are listed, Over the Top will be number one. Actually, it will probably be the only one on the list.

VIDEO

Over the Top comes to Blu-ray in full 1080p with a 2.40:1 aspect ratio, but there really isn’t anything impressive about the transfer. It looks acceptable with bright colors and sharp detail, especially when characters are shown in a close-up. But there are also shots that look too soft, and there are also issues with heavy grain in places. It may be a step up from the standard DVD, but only a small step.

AUDIO

There’s nothing fancy here, offering a Dolby Digital TrueHD 5.1 sound mix that seems to only be used whenever sappy 80’s music is played. Crowd scenes from the arm wrestling events are highlighted, but the dialogue seems somewhat muffled at points. This is just your basic cut and paste audio that only does what its supposed to do without any bells and whistles.

EXTRAS

Nothing at all. No one probably wanted to attach themselves to this mess. All you’ll get is the theatrical trailer. Yawn.

BOTTOM LINE

Over The Top can only be categorized as a guilty pleasure, because even Oscar (another bad Stallone film) is better than this. The Blu-ray has standard picture and sound, and no bonus features at all. Unless you have seen this film before and know exactly what you’re getting into, this one is only a rental.

SCORES: (out of 5):

The Movie: 2.0

Video: 3.0

Sound: 3.0

Extras: 0.5

Bottom Line: 2.0