Retro Spins: Over The Top

I've seen bits and pieces of Over The Top, but it wasn't something that really interested me. Yet another opportunity for Sylvester Stallone to flex his muscles, while also throwing a bone to his brother for a track on the soundtrack - A common occurrence over his career in both aspects.

His four Rocky sagas had all America applauding ringside. Now Sylvester Stallone gives us another reason to stand up and cheer, starring as down-on-his-luck big-rig trucker Lincoln Hawk and taking us under the glaring Vegas lights for all the boisterous action of the World Armwrestling Championships in Over the Top.

Like Stallone's "Italian Stallion" in 1976's Academy Award-winning Best Picture Rocky, Lincoln Hawk is an amiable underdog, he struggles to rebuild his life, going against the odds as he goes after the World Armwrestling Championship's first-place prize money...and the love of the son David Mendenhall) he abandoned years earlier.

Get ready for excitement as Stallone lands another knockout action-film punch. And get ready for goot times as you meet a colorful, iron-armed gallery of armwrestling giants like Rick Zumwalt, the real-life Califrnia champion who squares off with Stallone in a to-the-limit finale. Zumwalt explains his facination with the tension-packed sport this way: "I can shake a guy's hand and then try to rip his arm off. After the match is over we can laugh about it."

"You've got guys from M.I.T. and guys who can't spell M.I.T.," says Stallone about armwrestling's broad appeal. That appeal - and more - is vividly captured here. After Over the Top is over, don't be surpirsed if you want to watch it again! - Back of the original VHS

So let me first take a step back and address that VHS cover. Kind of worries me that it talks more about Rocky and what the actor's thoughts on wrestling are than the actual movie itself. It's as if at the point the VHS was released, everyone involved already knew it was a bomb of a film. Rather than focus on the actual movie, they asked, "What can we put on this box that might sucker someone into buying it?"

Okay, back to the actual soundtrack.

I'm not a fan of Sammy Hagar, but I have to admit the opening track, Winner Takes It All wasn't bad. It hooked me, and set a tone for the rest of the album...Which didn't deliver.

Kenny Loggins always delivers when it comes to one off songs for soundtracks, and that's no exception here. His track, Meet Me Halfway, is an awesome contribution. Established arstists Asia, and Eddie Money also contribute to the album, and while their songs aren't terrible, they're definitely not their best work.

The remaining songs on the soundtrack range between just okay and bland, but all of these remain forgettable. I did end up adding Big Trouble's All I Need Is You and Frank Stallone's Bad Nite to my 80's shuffles in iTunes. However, I don't know how long they'll stay in that mix.

Overall, while there are "A" listers in the world of rock to be found here, the soundtrack is packed with subpar songs from bands / singers who, for the most part, couldn't establish themselves in the 80's due to their minimal talent. This shows big time on the album, and leaves it rather disappointing in the long run.

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