THE REWATCHABLES · September 24, 2024
A 1987 action / sports movie directed by Menahem Golan—and decision no. 25 in the Hanks–Cruise tape.
ON THIS EPISODE
FROM THE CONVERSATION
WHY IT WORKS
WHAT DID NOT WORK
SCENES THEY KEPT COMING BACK TO
Hawk enters the diner, turns his hat, and introduces the movie's core arm-wrestling persona.
About 32 minThe kid surprisingly beats the young arm wrestler after Hawk's motivational speech, which the hosts find absurd but fun.
About 40 minHawk drives through the gate and storms the mansion to reclaim his son, which they liken to an 80s action beat.
About 48 minThe documentary-style contestant interviews and hype montage are praised as a great pre-final stretch.
About 32 minThe final match, including the strap, nose blood, and Hawk's over-the-top move, is treated as the movie's payoff.
About 40 minWHERE THEY DISAGREED
Bill SimmonsIt seems mechanically strange and they both don't understand how the finger sacrifice works.
Kyle BrandtHe treats it as a signature movie move that somehow always works in the film.
Kyle BrandtNo, he needed a bigger evil backstory and more defining acts.
Bill SimmonsHe likes Bull enough as-is and points out his limited but effective presence.
Bill SimmonsNo, the movie basically dodges the key backstory question.
Kyle BrandtHe notes Hawk says he made a mistake, but does not defend the storytelling.
Bill SimmonsYes, the rules were repeatedly stated as double elimination, so Bull should still have been alive.
Kyle BrandtHe agrees the movie over-explains the rule but still questions the bracket logic.
He sees it as a rough first-hour, great-last-30-minutes movie and argues that the payoff makes it rewatchable.
About 8 minHe loves the movie's absurdity and believes the final tournament stretch is undeniably amazing.
About 8 minHe argues Stallone was the most exciting star in Hollywood during this period.
About 8 minHe thinks Bull Hurley is one of the movie's best elements and should have been given more villainy and screen time.
About 48 minHe treats the tournament montage as one of the best sports-movie sequences ever.
About 32 minHe strongly recommends the Cannon Films documentary and enjoys the studio's lawless, sleazy 80s business model.
About 16 minHe uses their criticism to reinforce how widely mocked the movie was, while still enjoying it himself.
About 24 min · medium confidenceHe enjoys Hawk as a big, absurd action hero and thinks the character's sayings and hat flip are iconic.
About 8 minThe movie frames its emotional engine as Lincoln Hawk trying to reconnect with his son, though the hosts think the writing fails to pay that off convincingly.
About 1:04The hosts celebrate the movie as peak Cannon-era overproduction: loud music, big stars, absurd plotting, and cheap-yet-grand spectacle.
About 16 minWhat begins as a truck/divorce drama becomes an almost perfect tournament movie once the arm-wrestling bracket starts.
About 32 minThe film's philosophy is presented as hard-edged self-reliance: win, prepare, take what you want, and never meet life halfway.
About 8 minThe movie reportedly lost money and was Stallone's first loss since Victory.
About 8 min · medium confidenceGolan and Globus were tied to 31 movies in 1987.
About 16 minA real arm-wrestling tournament was staged to coincide with the film.
About 1:12The actual winner of the trucker's class received a Volvo White truck and trailer.
About 1:12David Mendenhall won two Razzie awards for the movie.
About 1:12The song 'Winner Takes It All' was originally recorded by John Wetton before Sammy Hagar replaced the vocal.
About 1:04The rich grandfather's mansion is identified as 750 Bel Air Road, also used for The Beverly Hillbillies.
About 1:04The film was released the same weekend as Mannequin, which beat it at the box office.
About 24 minUsed as a comic comparison for a version of the movie's divorce/arm-wrestling setup.
Opening minutesReferenced as another parent-child melodrama building block for the plot.
Opening minutesUsed as a comparison for Stallone's established screen persona and sports-movie structure.
Opening minutesThe truck smashing through the gate at the mansion is compared to Schwarzenegger's 'I'll be back' scene.
About 48 minUsed to explain the movie's structure of long setup followed by a huge payoff.
About 8 minReferenced as part of Stallone's mid-80s run and as another movie with a memorable training montage.
About 8 minDiscussed as the closest Stallone cousin to this movie in tone and era.
Opening minutesA documentary the hosts recommend to explain Cannon Films and Golan-Globus.
About 16 minCited as another Cannon-era tournament movie and arm-wrestling-adjacent comparison.
About 32 minReferenced as another beloved sports-movie montage example.
About 32 minReferenced in the sports-montage discussion and as a classic tournament payoff film.
About 32 minUsed when discussing Kenny Loggins songs and sports-movie music associations.
About 32 minUsed as a comparison point for which scenes they'd never skip.
About 40 minMentioned because a later arm-wrestling arm-rip scene appears there.
About 1:12Used in a casting-what-if joke and as a reference to Wil Wheaton's role.
About 56 min · medium confidenceKyle repeatedly treats flipping the hat around as Lincoln Hawk's on-switch for fighting and focus.
About 8 minThe movie's tournament philosophy becomes a repeated shorthand for ruthless competitiveness.
About 32 minThe hosts repeatedly joke about the son's name sounding like a crude pun.
About 56 minThey keep joking about the tournament rules being stated over and over again.
About 40 minThe Cannon documentary discussion becomes a running joke about how much nudity and chaos those productions had.
About 16 min“the world meets nobody halfway”About 8 min
“second sucks”About 32 min
“I own you”About 40 min
“Get in here”About 40 min
“I wish somebody would tell Nick Sirianni”About 8 min
MAKE IT A MOVIE NIGHT
WHAT TO WATCH NEXT
Three movies to watch before Over The Top, and three to watch next.
ON THE MIC
Bill Simmons125 tracked appearances · 56 H / 64 C / 5 ties
Kyle Brandt20 tracked appearances · 7 H / 13 CCATEGORY CONTEXT
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