I hated the 1980s

Rating: 1/10 (22 July 2001)

There were a great number of things to hate about the 1980s, the Reagan administration, Iran/Contra, "We are the World" and movies like this one, one of the projects that helped to kill Sylvester Stallone's career. At the time, Sly was the highest paid actor in Hollywood and he netted twelve million dollars for this film, a sum that raised eyebrows at the time, but is conservative in today's overblown price tags for celebrities. Still it's a shame he got all that money for a film about arm wrestling, yes, arm wrestling! Stallone is an arm wrestling trucker who wants to win the big tournament in order to prove himself to his son. I wonder how long the writers took coming up with this stroke of genius? I'd say less than two minutes. You wonder why in the world Sly wants the kid's love anyway, he's such a pompous, little brat. In other words the typical 1980s movie kid. You pray that Sly will run the snot nosed bratling over with his truck, this sadly doesn't happen. Sure would have made for a more interesting movie though.
Watch for the ridiculous "interview" segments that appear during the final tournament, little slices of life that allow us to see what makes the arm wrestlers tick. You'll get a chuckle out of them. Also look for pro wrestler Terry Funk in a small role as an evil bodyguard. These things might keep you awake.
Over the Top makes one wonder how Stallone ever made a comeback. If he could survive this dreck, then he may just yet come out of his current slump smelling like a rose.