Over the Top (1987)

Tale in which a truck driver with a lucrative sideline in arm-wrestling takes his estranged 12-year-old son on the road after the boy's mother falls seriously ill. The trucker is beginning to reach out to the boy as the pair head for Vegas and the arm wrestling world championships, but the lad's wealthy, unfeeling grandfather sends his thugs to put a stop to the bonding and bring the boy back.
Over The Top Movie Poster 1987

Over the Top Quote: “I turn it around, and it’s like a switch that goes on.” – Lincoln Hawk

Leave it to an Aussie living in Canada to commission the most anti-intellectual American truckerfest we’ve ever covered on “Shat The Movies.” Listener Fabian threw in his hard-earned green stamps to request “Over The Top,” Sylvester Stallone’s 1987 attempt to recapture the magic of “Rocky.”

Rotten Tomatoes shat on Stallone’s attempts to make a movie about arm wrestling that reveals a deeper tale of father-son bonding. But we see the beauty in this old rig, as Roger recounts stories of his truck-driving father, Gene drops some military school knowledge, and real-life daddy Big D frets about child safety.

The Shat Crew also discover what ram-raiding is, explore arm wrestling tournament rules, gasp at the gratuitous product placement, and rock out to a killer soundtrack that includes Kenny Loggins, Sammy Hagar, and synth community darling Giorgio Moroder.

Plus, hear Roger Roeper’s theory that grandpa Jason Cutler (Robert Loggia) actually is a drug kingpin. And get Gene Lyons’ review of the questionable fashions on display as he and Roger haul cross-country for love, victory, and a void where their dads used to be.

Plot Summary: “Over the Top” Tale in which a truck driver with a lucrative sideline in arm-wrestling takes his estranged 12-year-old son on the road after the boy’s mother falls seriously ill. The trucker is beginning to reach out to the boy as the pair head for Vegas and the arm wrestling world championships, but the lad’s wealthy, unfeeling grandfather sends his thugs to put a stop to the bonding and bring the boy back.

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