Over the Top - Le bras de fer

Are you kidding me? Sylvester Stallone in an arm-wrestling movie? Does it get any better than that? If your balls have not turned into steel after seeing this movie, you're either a woman or... that is the only explanation. Acting? Plot? Cinematography? Who cares? Enjoy 90 minutes of pure testosterone and corniness. "Over the top" is without a doubt the most fitting movie title ever. If you enjoy either movies from the 80s, anything that's over the top or just Sylvester Stallone's weird acting and awkward yet somehow touching speeches, than you're gonna have a great time watching this movie. However, if you're not a fan of said things, than you should probably stay away from this masterpiece.

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.

This film is all about the thrill of seeing Stallone reveal his more 'sensitive' side. Not to mention the great scenes where he works out the rippling biceps of his 'wrestling arm' using an ingenious hand-weight pulley system in the cab of his truck. Sure it's cheesy, but this film does what any good 80s movie should. The part where he turns his cap backwards before a wrestling match is a highlight, symbolising some kind of metamorphosis from sensitive dad to macho man. What a great flick!

Over the Top is pure Sylvester Stallone: the blue collar man with the heart of gold fighting his way through a world that dismisses him as a loser but he wins at the end with the help of someone who really understands and loves him. Same as the Rocky series, same as the Rambo series.

But I can't help it, I really like Sly. He certainly is no Shakespeare actor but there is that deep honesty he represents in all his flicks and it works. When he first walks into that military school building to fetch his son after cleaning his truck and trying to make himself look his "Sunday best" - I can't help it: it is just great.

Yes it is strange to see a well educated kid (by a military school) being transformed into a "regular guy" by his own father. But in this film that is only a metaphor. The real meaning is: it's the heart that counts, not the social position. Now that's a message which can't be dismissed as junk that easily.

I love the portraits and short interviews of the arm wrestling contestants. Brilliant.

Probably the best scene is when the (always wonderful) Robert Loggia finally accepts the fact that his grandson loves his dad. The "villain" hasn't been beaten. No even better: he has been convinced and transformed.

Over the Top works on two levels: as popcorn entertainment: "Blue collar hero beats the odds" and as good old fashioned, almost Frank Capra- like cinema: "good will always win in the end".

Bottom line: as with many a Sly flick (any film Sylvester Stallone agrees to participate in or where he actually did the writing, directing etc.)we have to work our way through a popcorn flick to find a deeper meaning. And I say it is there in Over the Top hitting it dead center.

So I'm a Sylvester Stallone fan. Now call me names, I can take it.

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.