Man, I love sports movies. The one-on-one battles, the thrill of victory, the dramatic speeches, underdogs, and teams that somehow win the big game against all odds... and Sylvester Stallone has starred in a few of those great sports movies (in fact, you can check out my ranking of all the 'Rocky' movies by clicking here). Unfortunately, 1987's Over The Top is not one of those great sports films.
So, is Stallone an underdog boxer like in the Rocky films? Nope.
How about a football star, a baseball player, or even the coach of a ragtag team of little leaguers? No.
Stallone plays a semi-truck driver named Lincoln Hawk who is on his way to Las Vegas to compete in an arm-wrestling competition, with the hopes of winning the grand prize, $100,000 and a new semi-truck. Along for the ride is Lincoln's son young son Michael, whom he's never gotten to really know since he walked out on his estranged wife Christina when Michael was just baby. But, now Christina is deathly ill and she thinks it's best for father and son to get to know each other while traveling cross-country in Lincoln's truck. Yeah, as you'd expect they don't get along at first but then they start to form a solid bond, and Micheal's grandfather (played by Robert Loggia) hates Lincoln and offers to pay him 5x the contest's grand prize if he'll sign over custody to Micheal and get out of his life forever. Lincoln of course refuses and goes on to win the arm wrestling competition. There aren't any real surprises in this one.
Overall, the movie serves up a good helping cheesy, 80's entertainment but there isn't much else to like about it. Most of the acting is OK at best, it's not particularly well written or directed, and it's got a very dated 80's soundtrack featuring Eddie Money, Kenny Loggins, Asia, and Sammy Hagar. If you're curious as to what a movie about an arm-wrestling trucker is like, or you just really like Sylvester Stallone, then I say 'check it out'. Otherwise, you can probably skip this one.
I give it a 2 out of 5.
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