Written by / 12/22/2015 / No comments / , , , , , ,

SYLVESTER STALLONE GOES CANNON FILMS IN 'OVER THE TOP'

year: 1987 cast: Sylvester Stallone, David Mendenhall
For a campy road movie, showing lovely desert/mountain locations throughout America where OVER THE TOP spends much of its time, in transit, Sylvester Stallone's trucker, Lincoln Hawk, is allowed access to his spoiled son, given holiday leave from a Military Academy.

Despite being protected by nefarious father-in-law Robert Loggia, Stallone's early-career LORDS OF FLATBUSH co-star Susan Blakely as ex-wife/mom, who spends her scenes dying in a hospital with sporadic phone calls, overrides Loggia's possibly mob-backed power. And be careful what you ask for: Hawk goes from cold to cool to luke-warm to warm & fuzzy with son Michael, played by child actor David Mendenhall, who Hawk wants to initially throw out of his truck, and you will too... But with all the flaws, the picture's banal escapism is pretty darn entertaining. While Sly's acting was superb in ROCKY and FIRST BLOOD (using a genuine speech impediment as part of his character's punchy brain, and throwing an incredible tantrum in the latter), he loosens up after an arm wrestling match at a diner, which provides our first glimpse into what TOP is about, and what Hawk's really good at. Thus the title fits Sly's new sweaty subject, not his performance.

Great Poster Art
The highway journey leads to an anticipated arm-wrestling championship in a big Las Vegas arena that dwindles down from a handful of brawny brutes to only two rivals, wherein giant bald-headed Rick Zumwalt's Bull makes for a terrific b-movie foe, providing Stallone the kind of Mr. T (or perhaps Hulk Hogan) "odds are extremely against the underdog" challenge that has a shocking amount of suspense despite the "sport" being pretty limited... making up for prior scenes consisting of Hawk and son slowly (and at the same time, much too quick and unrealistically) bonding in the claustrophobic truck/cab setting that, despite man's man Stallone being a genuinely straitlaced and honorable dude, borders on creepy, somehow.

Yet the soundtrack, while incredibly 80's-dated... backing up a chase scene; son literally handed a chance to prove his own strength against a mullet-haired bully; and downtime between dialogue... gloriously embodies the muscular matter-over-mind era that Stallone personified. Too bad the "King of the Sequels" couldn't have taken us OVER THE TOP AGAIN. Who knows, perhaps Bull had an estranged, bastard son who needs a trainer...

NORMAL RATING: ***
CAMP VALUE: ***1/2
Share This Post :
Tags : , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

All Time Popular

Featured Post

DEFENDING THE BREEZY SEQUEL 'BREAKIN 2': ELECTRIC BOOGALOO'

Title: BREAKIN' 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO Year: 1984 Rating: *** Cannon Films' BREAKIN' 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO  was rushed out the same...

WWW.CULTFILMFREAKS.COM

WWW.CULTFILMFREAKS.COM
Movie Reviews, Interviews, Articles and Pop Culture from White Heat to Blue City

RIP ACTOR KEN HUTCHISON

TOTAL HITS

Popular Trending

FOUNDED BY JAMES M. TATE

FOUNDED BY JAMES M. TATE
RANDOM QUOTE: "Yeah, and the devil serves lemonade, right?" David Proval, Kojak

FILM NOIR & NEO NOIR CRIME

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)OTLEY 2)HELL IS A CITY 3)ROBBERY 4)THE FEARMAKERS 5)CANYON PASSAGE 6)VIOLENT SATURDAY 7)HOT CARS 8)THE BREAK 9)THE CROWDED SKY 10)THE ROARING TWENTIES 11) ANATOMY OF A MURDER 12)CALCULATED RISK 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 15)HARDCORE 16)JUNGLE STREET 17)WHITE HEAT 18)AL CAPONE 19)MODEL SHOP 20)FALLEN ANGEL 21)SHARKS' TREASURE 22)THE ASPHALT JUNGLE 23)ASH WEDNESDAY 24)THE SYSTEM 25)AIR PATROL 26)THE STONE KILLER 27)SANDS OF THE KALAHARI 28)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 29)RIOT 30)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE FAVORITE ACTORS 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)STANLEY BAKER 4)MARLON BRANDO 5)JACK NICHOLSON 6)CHARLES BRONSON 7)BURT REYNOLDS 8)WILLIAM LUCAS 9)TOM COURTENAY 10)GENE HACKMAN DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)VAL GUEST 4)STANLEY KUBRICK 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)ORSON WELLES 7)JOHN GUILLERMAN 8)JOHN LANDIS 9)SAM PECKINPAH 10)MICHAEL WINNER

BRITISH NEW WAVE CINEMA

RARITIES AND EXPLOITATION

HAMMER HORROR & THRILLER

Popular This Month

CHARLES BRONSON CINEMA

CINEMA OF DANA ANDREWS

WESTERN GENRE REVIEWS

PEAKING INTO THE SIXTIES

KICKING IN THE EIGHTIES

TALES AND REFLECTIONS

REVVING THE SEVENTIES

Most Popular Last Year