Arm wrestling? Who cares about arm wrestling?!?

Rating: 3/10 (25 July 2019)

As a fan of insanely grotesque 80s action vehicles starring Sylvester Stallone, I was genuinely astounded upon discovering there still existed a Sly-movie I never heard about! Not that it's a big loss, evidently, since even Stallone himself is somewhat embarrassed whenever "Over the Top" is brought up. With good reason, I'd say, because this is seriously one of the dumbest films ever made. It's dumb because the main theme is the world championship of arm wrestling, but it's even dumber because it literally features all dreadful clichés, irritating 80s pop-songs and sentimentally sickening dialogues you can imagine! Whereas he was blasting away evil villains with heavy artillery in "Rambo III" and "Cobra", Sly Stallone is training his biceps in his mobile gym-truck and desperately trying to reconnect with his estranged 12-year-old son here in "Over the Top". There's never any proper explanation of why Lincoln Hawk abandoned his wife and son ("I had my reasons" is not really an answer), but now that his mother is terminally ill, he randomly goes to pick up Junior at his Military Academy graduation party. The tyrannical grandfather (Robert Loggia) still wants Hawk out of their lives, but the awfully acting boy is slowly developing a love-bond. Aww. Everything builds up towards a biceps-bursting finale in Las Vegas, which is the only somewhat remotely form of action you'll find in this dire effort. If you're in an undemanding or brainless mood, you can perhaps still enjoy all the aspects that are unintentionally hilarious; - like picturing Mr. Rambo as a caring father, the facial expressions of the battling arm wrestlers or the sight of Loggia who doesn't have a clue why he agreed to star.