Body Slam

I have seen a majority of Roddy Piper's films and this one I saw long before cable brought tbs and nwa wrestling into my home. I only knew who he was because I had read about him in the wrestling magazines I bought as a kid. Wrestling is like a circus without the animals (at least the real kind lol). I thought the movie was well done for being a low budget film. I was entertained but I have been a Wrestling fan since the days of Bruno Sammartino. I enjoyed the nostalgia of the old school wrestlers and though I am not much of a Dirk Bennedict fan I do remember him from the A Team. The plot made sense and I felt though it was predictable it was still interesting enough to set through more than once. Roddy Piper plays a much more subdued version of his true ring persona and considering he has been wrestling since he was 15 I think he took the bumps well and delivered for his fans. If you hate this film remember a lot of folks grew up watching the pretend sport instead of the drawn out, treat it like a TV show wrestling we see on TV presently. I liked this film much better than the Verne Gagne movie The Wrestler, but it isn't in the same league as the Mickey Rourke film of present day. It examines the wrestlers going after the title much like All The Marbles and leaves you cheering and jeering through out the film.

This is how a wrestling comedy should be. Body Slam was great and I am surprised that more fans didn't like it.

Firstly, whether you enjoy a wrestling comedy depends entirely on whether you like wrestling. If you don't then films like this may not be good for you.

This film doesn't take itself seriously and it features some top wrestling stars of the time such as Lou Albano and Roddy Piper. They are joined by Dirk Benedict who is quite good when it comes to playing comedy.

This film has everything for a wrestling fan-laughs and plenty of action in the ring.

This is not the greatest film ever mind you, but for what it was I found it a funny film with a lot of interesting elements. Dirk Benedict is the star of this one as a guy who is trying to establish something he calls rock and wrestling which of course combines wrestling and a rock band. Dirk plays a bit of an agent and he is trying to not only to promote a band, but also looking out for two wrestling stars. They run afoul though of another promoter and that is what leads to the clashes in this one. Though in the end you know the film is heading to a great big showdown between Dirk's team and Captain Lou's team. The humor is good though as there is a really nice scene at a country place and the final showdown is funny for the fact the one announcer really annoys Billy Barty's character. I sort of liked wrestling when I saw this and will always prefer the old stuff to today's mainly because now it just seems so wrong watching guys in tights and oiled with big muscles grinding each other, in fact it seems really gay. Back then it was a bit too, but at least they did not quite look as oiled. This one though has some laughs and is a nice time capsule type movie.

Maybe it was the lack of sleep, or the fact that I was in a really great mood, but there was something about Body Slam that made me laugh almost non-stop. Of course, to say I laughed at any of the deliberate jokes in the film, would be a complete lie. I would not pretend that readers of this are complete idiots and such a farce would be believable to any of them. Whomever wrote this film is in dire need of some intelligence. But that utter lack of brains, that total undeniable inability to comprehend anything filled with wit or satire, made for one of the most laughable films I have ever witnessed in my life. I have gone on to be one of Dirk Benedict's biggest fans. He was perfect for this role. Anyone who thinks someone else should have played Harry is a complete fool, because only Mr. Benedict could get down the necessary nuances to be so implausibly stupid that we, as viewers, wonder if we're not becoming stupider as we watch the film.

Although this movie is quite dated (as is evidenced by Dirk Benedicts awesome 80's-style pleated leather pants at the beginning of the film) it is still a good representation of how the old wrestling territories/promoters used to operate before the WWF/NWA/WCW took over and essentially eliminated the need for them.

The movie is a nice time capsule if you were into wrestling in that era, and that is all. If you weren't a fan of wrestling, then you will find nothing of this movie that would appeal to you whatsoever (outside of the still smoking hot Tanya Roberts who looks AMAZING in this movie). It is about 1980's wrestling and 1980's wrestling promotion - period.

Still, despite the obvious cheesiness that the movie exudes and its ultra-adherence to 1980's fashion/fads, it is still fun for the particular demographic of movie fan that would appreciate it. I remember watching this movie on a rainy, boring Saturday afternoon as a kid on a local independent station back in 1987/1988 and instantly loved the movie. I could only recommend it for the true wrestling fans out there, but not for anyone else.