Category: Over the Top

SZ Exclusive: “Over the Top” Candids

Craig / / 2014, Over the Top


Rob Hoskins checked in with these cool candids of Sly from Over the Top.  Here’s what he had to say…

Hey Craig,
   Just wanted to send you this completely 1 of a kind pic taken in 1986 when Sly was working on Over The Top. My Aunt got close enough to take this shot and described Sly as “loving the crowd” and making the filming really fun for those lucky enough to be there in Vegas. She said he signed several items and took photos with lots of fans that day. An underrated movie from an awesome time in Sly’s career.
Peace,
Rob Hoskins

Thanks Rob!  If you’d like to see a bigger version of the last four pics, click here.

Crowining Mr. Sports Movies

Craig / / 2014, Death Race 2000, Driven, Grudge Match, Over the Top, Paradise Alley, Rocky, Rocky Balboa, Rocky II, Rocky III, Rocky IV, Rocky V, Rocky VI, Victory

On April 9, 2014, Yahoo! Movies took a look at which actor had played the most sports roles in their piece Crowining Mr. Sports Movies by Brian Enk.

Had they counted each Rocky movie individually (as I think they should have) then Sly would have easily come in first.  At any rate, here’s what the said about him…

—Sylvester Stallone: If we were to tally sports movies as a whole, including sequels, the Italian Stallion would be our champ, with six entries as boxer Rocky Balboa in the “Rocky” movies. Sly’s other sports movie credits include “Death Race 2000” (1975), in which he played deadly cross country racer Machine Gun Joe Viterbo; “Paradise Alley” (1978), in which he played Cosmo Corboni, one of three brothers trying to play the wrestling game in 1940s NYC; “Victory” (1981), in which he played a soccer goalie for the Allied forces as they face off against a German team at a WWII prison camp; “Over the Top” (1986), the greatest arm-wrestling movie ever made; “Driven” (2001), in which he plays former CART champion and car racing mentor Joe Tanto; and “Grudge Match” (2013), in which he plays former boxing champ Henry “Razor” Sharp.

5 Other Stallone Characters That Need a TV Show

Craig / / 2013, Burn Hollywood Burn, Over the Top, Rhinestone, The Zookeeper, TV, Victory
On August 22, 2013, Television Without Pity posted 5 Other Sylvester Stallone Characters That Need a TV Show.
When I clicked over to the article I thought I’d see Cobra, Demolition Man, and other of Sly’s action characters.  Boy, was I wrong.  Ethan Alter instead went with…
  1. Robert Hatch from Victory
  2. Nick Martinelli from Rhinestone
  3. Lincoln Hawk from Over the Top
  4. Sylvester Stallone from Burn, Hollywood, Burn
  5. Joe the Lion from Zookeeper
Props to Alter for thinking out of the box.

6 Stallone Movies Crack Top 100

Craig / / 2010, Honors, Over the Top, Rocky, Rocky II, Rocky III, Rocky IV, Victory

On October 13, 2010, Matt King, a senior analyst at BleacherReport.com posted his choices for the 100 Greatest Sports Movies of All Time.  Not surprisingly, Sly had six movies that made the grade.  Here are Matt King’s choices and commentary.

#79   Over the Top

You can thank Sly Stallone for knowing why you turn your hat around when you arm wrestle somebody. That’s valuable information there.

Seriously, though—it’s a movie about arm wrestling. How awesome is that? It’s Stallone right around the time he discovered steroids, facing off against some guy with more neck rolls than a pug. As a man, you just have to love this. It’s man law.

#62 Victory

What’s this? It’s a sports movie and we’re playing the Germans during WWII? Yes, please.

You could make a water polo movie where a team faces off against the Germans during WWII and I would be all in. It’s too easy. The villain is built in. You don’t need to build them up or give them any depth. It’s cool. We hate them. Let’s move along.

I also have a soft spot for sports movies ending a ridiculous note. Sly Stallone catching a penalty kick pretty much fits that bill.

#46 Rocky IV

It’s hard to rank the Rocky movies. Usually when a sports movie comes out with a sequel, it sucks. But Rocky managed to make not one, but three sequels that are extremely watchable.

Somebody has to bring up the rear and, while I do have a special place in my heart for Ivan Drago and Rocky IV, it can’t compete with the others.

It does however give us some amazing lines (I must break you) and a training montage that set the gold standard for cheesy goodness. I’ll always be thankful to Rocky and the fourth installment for singlehandedly winning the Cold War.

#32 Rocky II [and if you take a look at their original post, notice where they got the Rocky II photo]

At the end of Rocky, Apollo tells him that there won’t be a rematch and Rocky says that he doesn’t want one.

Good ending, but that’s hard for us sports fans to accept. We need some kind of resolution.

It’s the same reason most Americans hate soccer for three out of every four years: we hate ties.

Thankfully, Rocky II gave us that rematch and managed to do so without seeming like a horrible cash grab and was a really solid movie.

#24 Rocky III

Rocky III is probably the most entertaining Rocky movie. It’s got over-the-top characters like Hulk Hogan and Clubber Lang, Mickey dying, and a great final fight.

Mr. T really did kick ass as Clubber. With the first two Rockys, you always liked Apollo at least a little bit. He was mouthy, but it came with charm. Clubber Lang was just big, scary, and mean.

#6 Rocky [and don’t ask me why the photo for Rocky is from Rocky Balboa]

The ultimate underdog story.

The first Rocky was the ultimate everyman. He’s just an unassuming, humble guy from Philly who ends up getting a shot at the champ through a series of events and making the most of it.

Eventually, Rocky turns into this super fighter in later movies, but in this one he’s just your average guy with a bigger than average heart. Nothing special.

Stallone will never be considered a great actor, but he’s terrific in the movie. He nails the “aw shucks” attitude.

And who could forget Mickey. That gruff voiced little troll is one of my favorite sports movie characters of all time.

*****

I was happy to see that Over the Top easily made the top 100.  I was surprised that Rocky Balboa didn’t appear on the list.  What’s up with that?  It should have been right there along side Rocky.

If you’d like to see Matt King’s entire list of 100 Greatest Sports Movies of All Time, you know what to do.