Over the Top

Rating: 3/10 (21 May 2006)

After waiting with much fanfare for the movie to hit cable this last evening (I refused to participate in the theatrical/DVD receipts), watching the movie and now having for the first time scanned a couple of dozen reviews on this site...I am in disbelief.
The sheer volume of reviewers giving it as low or lower marks as myself truly tells the story. Yet so many give it carte blanche, hands-down 'success' that the end result is skewed. How can this be? I have spoken to NO ONE that thinks this movie deserves ANY of the credit suggested by those giving it over 7. Either there are far more stupid people out there (as suggested by the movie), or there are elements manipulating the results. I seriously believe the latter is more true than the prior. So, reader beware!! For those wishing a true review, absolutely ANY of the low-mark reviews will do, with a spattering of a couple of 'raving' reviews for the minor highlights of the film which still do not save it from disaster. I do not suggest my review is anything other than an additional POV to those that I've read already.
For an in-your-face plot spoiler (but few details), here is my summary: An under-educated, gear-head, failure of a husband and father (read 'middle-aged adolescent') witnesses the awakening of long-buried (??) alien machines populated by mysterious 'bolts from above'. In addition to all the other technical inconsistencies of the film, 'dad' jumps into the only working vehicle for miles and manages to escape town without the riotous mob later encountered as his son drove and 'dad' slept. From there, the family moves from one crisis to another, somehow surviving front-line in what was loosely portrayed as the 'mother of all battles'. After the ridiculous 'letting his son go to die to retrieve his daughter' scene, the aliens have, for whatever reason, switched from 'killing everything' to 'harvesting' people. They then 'take' the daughter and 'dad' finally grows a pair and gets 'taken' too. However, in addition to the other far too numerous character and script flaws (I will not discuss the pathetic scene in the basement between Cruise and Robbins), the story takes a HUGE leap to the unbelievable with the 'dad vs. the machine' scene. It only gets worse, culminating with a 'picture-perfect' ending to what should genuinely have been a scifi thriller/horror/tragedy.
I do not recommend this film for absolutely any reason other than special effects. Unless, of course, it is 'bad movie' night. The only reason I don't give it a 2 are the handful of decently-acted, dramatic scenes that make the second-party special-effects a tolerable wait. However, I must admit that this movie has become a bit of a curiosity and I find my self watching it more than several times trying to understand how Spielberg went so wrong. Spielberg has so obviously passed his prime. This is a directorial disaster...a production based on a seriously flawed story, salvaged only by excellent special effects given second-party to fairly decent character acting. If this was to be a 'fantasy', it should have been based on Mars, not Earth.
Take this movie with a grain of salt.