Halcón

I grew up on this movie. This is the first movie I ever recall watching. My grandpa has his own Tractor-Trailer and I always went with him on road trips, so I instantly fell in love with this movie when I saw the truck. Even though it's an old, beaten up, disgusting truck, I would have to say it looks pretty sweet. Lincoln Hawk, played by Sylvester Stallone, is a independent trucker just trying to put his life back together. He realized he made mistakes, and tries to reconcile with his son that he abandoned years earlier. When the boy's grandfather offers Hawk the offer of a life time, and Hawk refuses....it's very clear to him, that he has no other choice but to win, and the determination really shows. Sly acts a bit uninterested in this movie...you can see it in his eyes. Every now and then you can catch his wandering off and not paying attention. If you watch closely, some of the extras often keep there eyes on the camera, and Sly will look at them. Pretty good movie, could have been better, but it's a for sure movie to watch.

Some LOVE this movie. I do. I LOVE the soundtrack. You'll see a million posts from "critics" on here who will look down their nose at this flick. Do you like a movie? WATCH IT! Forget what these morons say about bad cinematography, etc. Movie-makers create films for one reason -- viewers' pleasure (which brings money). Great 80's movie. Period.

Good choice of work for Sly - a trucker. Something 'masculine', on the move. He wrangles with his father-in-law for custody of his son, who thought his dad (Sly) disowned him. To the contrary, grandfather didn't want the boy associating with Sly because he was'nt 'of money' like grandfather was. When Sly's former wife dies of cancer, (Susan Blakely again), Sly sees it as a 'sign' to take his responsibility seriously & raise his son the only way he knows how - take him on the road with him, teach him not to be a spoiled brat all his life, live a little! At first, his son rejects him totally. But later on when he finds out the truth about his dad, he decides he WANTS to be with him.

Yes, the veritable 'macho-sport of arm-wrestling' is thrown in as a way to win big money quick & show-off Sly's ever-bulging muscles. But hey! What's a Sly-film without muscles?? See this one for family entertainment. Sly might be a bit 'wooden' with some of his lines, but the action scenes are typically Sly!

I recently remembered seeing this film when I was much younger and liking it. When I checked it out on IMDb, I was quite disturbed. Why in the world would I like this weird, arm wrestling movie with Sylvester Stallone? So I rented it again to see why I had liked it as a kid or to see if I had been delirious when I first saw it. The strange thing is, even though it is not at all my type of movie, I still really enjoyed it. I've heard that the kid is a bad actor and all, but I really don't think he is. Maybe I'm still delirious, but I thought the movie was pretty darn heart warming.

It's hard to dislike Over The Top. Sure, it can get corny, old-fashioned, far-fetched (the gate-crashing scene, fun and unbelievable.) The movie sorta plays like a cross between Highway to Heaven and THe A-Team. But somehow, you find yourself watching despite whatever 'good judgment' you think you might have regarding the cinema. You get swept up in the film's good vibes. You care about what happens to Hawke and his son. Most of the credit for this has to go to Sylvester Stallone. He plays the part of a truck driver coping with the new experience of getting to know his twelve-year-old son for the first time quite well. You care because you sense how much HE cares. it is conveyed by a sure delivery from Stallone. His character never seems too slight or well, too Over the top. There is a bond that slowly forms between him and his son. And the movie has a great "training" montage complete with great song that will remind you of what was so good about the Rocky films. David Mendenhall agreeably plays the part of Mike with the combination of distrust, arrogance and vulnerability you would expect from someone his age who went thru what he did.. No, he's not Haley Joel Osmont. We won't leave the movie shaking our heads at his incredible,precocious talent. That doesn't mean he didn't acquit himself nicely in the film. Robert Loggia's role could have been fleshed out a little more. He seems to much like a comic-strip villain. The film could have delved more into his reasons for hating Hawke. that part could have been beefed up a bit.

I enjoyed the Arm-wrestling backdrop. It was a refreshing change for movies of that era that boasted big stars like Stallone. Usually, movies that were sport-specific other than the trad football, baseball, or boxing stories tended to use people who were less known (Gotcha, Gleaning the Cube)

A good film. warm, funny, exciting. The better face of the Eighties cinema.