Over the Top
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For articles with similar titles, see Over the top (disambiguation).
| Over the Top | |
|---|---|
 Over the Top |
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| Directed by | Menahem Golan |
| Produced by | Menahem Golan Yoram Globus |
| Written by | Gary Conway & David Engelbach (story) Stirling Silliphant & Sylvester Stallone (screenplay) |
| Starring | Sylvester Stallone Robert Loggia Susan Blakely Rick Zumwalt David Mendenhall |
| Music by | Giorgio Moroder |
| Cinematography | David Gurfinkel |
| Editing by | James R. Symons Don Zimmerman |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | February 12, 1987 |
| Running time | 93 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2,500,000 (est.) |
| IMDb profile | |
Over the Top is a 1987 dramatic/action film (commonly referred to as "dramaction") starring Sylvester Stallone, produced and directed by Menahem Golan. The screenplay is written by Stirling Silliphant and Sylvester Stallone. The original music score is composed by Giorgio Moroder. The film's tagline is Lincoln Hawk will fight for his son the only way he knows how.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
Lincoln Hawk is a struggling trucker who arm wrestles on the side to make extra cash, and tries to rebuild his life. Hawk's wife Christina is very ill at the beginning of the film, and asks that Hawk pick their son Michael up from military school so that he may get to know his son since they have been apart since Hawk left them ten years earlier. His father-in-law Jason Cutler is enraged since he feels his daughter was deserted by Hawk and thus has no right to be in his grandson's life. Over the course of a cross country trip, Mike learns to trust his father until finding out that his mother dies while they are on the road. Feeling he would have been there if not for Hawk, he leaves for his grandfather's estate. The film continues with Mike realizing the truth about his father, and Lincoln competing in the world arm wrestling competition, held at the Las Vegas Hilton.
Although Over the Top was considered a box-office flop, it is one of the most well known movies Stallone has appeared in. In addition, it has also developed a minor cult following.
[edit] Themes
Important themes throughout the film include ...
Pride - Lincoln's truck is very worn down, yet he cleans it anyway. He even details the wheels.
Ingeniuty - Within 18 hours of meeting his son for the first time in 10 years, Lincoln has a sunrise work-out session with him, which involves improvised exercises using the truck's bumper bar.
Efficiency - Lincoln rigs up a weights system in the cab of his truck so he can train for arm wrestling whilst driving.
Morals - Lincoln teaches his son important life-lessons such as, "Losing doesn't matter if you lose like a winner".
Destiny - The movie builds to the climactic scene where Lincoln must win an arm-wrestling contest in Vegas in order to get his son and his life back. First prize is $100,000 and an stylish truck worth $250,000 and decked out in hawk motifs.
Cinematography - The movie incorporates experimental cinema techniques such as when the competitors in the arm-wrestling contest speak direct-to-camera about their hopes and fears for the contest, which usually amounts to bragging about how they'll win.
[edit] Technical Goofs
- Continuity: "Hawk" becomes "Hawks" in the middle of the movie, and returns to "Hawk" again for the arm-wrestling climax.
- Revealing mistakes: When Mike takes the white pick-up and stops at the stop sign his window is rolled down and when he takes off, his window is rolled up.
[edit] Trivia
- The arm wrestling champ at the time, Cleve Dean, was supposed to be Hawk's final opponent in the movie, but it was changed at the last minute to "Bull" Hurley as the producers thought it would be too unrealistic if Hawk beat Dean.
- John Wetton, lead singer of the rock group Asia, sang "Winner Takes It All" for the movie, but after performing the song, it was felt that his voice wasn't "mean" enough, so the song was offered to Sammy Hagar, whose version ended up being the one on the soundtrack.
- The military academy scenes were filmed at Pomona College in Claremont, CA, during the early summer of 1986.
[edit] Toy Line
A toy line was released in 1986 by LewCo, based on the film. The line contained figures that you could use to stage your own arm wrestling matches, thanks to a knob on the back. The line was a blend of film characters and real arm-wrestlers, and were endorsed by the International Arm Wrestling Council. The figures are as follows:
- Lincoln Hawk (movie character)
- John "Golden Boy" Brezenk (actual arm wrestler)
- Johnny "Ice Man" Walker (actual arm wrestler)
- John Grizzly (movie character)
- Cleve "Armbender" Dean (actual arm wrestler)
- Bob "Bull" Hurley (movie character)
There was also a scaled-down table for the figures to wrestle on, as well as a life-size one for kids to wrestle with. In addition, there was a workout set with a set of small weights with a cord with arm and wrist bands and a 20-inch tall version of the Lincoln Hawk figure.
[edit] References in Popular Culture
- On an episode of Cheap Seats where Randy and Jason Sklar covered arm wrestling, at the start of the segment, they reach over the sides of the couch and grab baseball caps, put them on, and turn them around, ala Hawk just before a match in the film.
- An episode of The Simpsons called Simpsons Bible Stories features "Winner Takes It All," a song used in the film, in a training sequence where Bart, as King David, trains for a rematch with Goliath (Nelson). In another nod, at one point in the montage, he's seen arm wrestling one of his sheep.
[edit] Soundtrack
A soundtrack album was released in 1987 to coincide with the release of the movie. It contains music from Frank Stallone, Kenny Loggins (who performs the film's central theme, "Meet Me Half Way"), Eddie Money, and Sammy Hagar.
- Track Listing
- Winner Takes It All - Sammy Hagar
- In This Country - Robin Zander
- Take It Higher - Larry Greene
- All I Need Is You - Big Trouble
- Bad Nite - Frank Stallone
- Meet Me Half Way - Kenny Loggins
- Gypsy Soul - Asia
- The Fight [Instrumental] - Giorgio Moroder
- Mind Over Matter - Larry Greene
- I Will Be Strong - Eddie Money
| Cast | |
| Actor/Actress | Role |
| Sylvester Stallone | Lincoln Hawk(s) |
| Robert Loggia | Jason Cutler |
| Susan Blakely | Christina Cutler-Hawk(s) |
| Rick Zumwalt | Bob "Bull" Hurley |
| David Mendenhall | Michael Cutler/Michael Hawk(s) |
| Chris McCarty | Tim Salanger |
| Terry Funk | Ruker |
| Bruce Way | John Grizzly |
| Jimmy Keegan | Richie |
| Greg 'Magic' Scwartz | Smasher |
| Allan Graf | Collins |
| John Braden | Col. Davis |
| Randy Raney | Mad Dog Madison |
| Paolo Casella | Carl Adams |
| Jack Wright | Big Bill Larson |
| Sam Scarber | Harry Bosco |
| Michael Fox | Jim Olson |
