Over the Top (1987)

Over the Top (1987)

Taglines: Rocky, Rambo, Cobra and now Hawk, in the biggest fight of his life.

Over the Top movie synopsis. Lincoln Hawk (Sylvester Stallone) is a struggling trucker who arm wrestles on the side to make extra cash while trying to rebuild his life. After the death of his wife, he tries to make amends with his son who he left behind 10 years earlier. Upon their first meeting, his son does not think too highly of him until he enters the World Arm Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas. His hope is to receive the grand prize of $100,000 and an expensive current custom semi-truck and thus start his own trucking company.

Over the Top is a 1987 American sport drama film starring Sylvester Stallone. It was produced and directed by Menahem Golan, and its screenplay was written by Stirling Silliphant and Stallone. The original music score was composed by Giorgio Moroder. The main character, played by Stallone, is a long-haul truck driver who tries to win back his alienated son while becoming a champion arm wrestler.

The military academy scenes, portrayed as being in Colorado, were filmed at Pomona College in Claremont, California in 1986. The Kirkeby mansion at 750 Bel Air Road, Los Angeles (also the home of the Clampett family on the CBS comedy The Beverly Hillbillies) was used to portray the Cutler estate. The film was shot for about 9 weeks from June 9 to August 15, 1986. Sylvester Stallone was reportedly paid $12 million to star in Over the Top. Over the Top was released in 1,758 theaters and opened in 4th place for the weekend, earning $5,149,200 behind Mannequin, Outrageous Fortune and Platoon.

Over the Top (1987)

About the Soundtrack

A soundtrack album was released in 1987 to coincide with the release of the movie. It contains music from Frank Stallone, Kenny Loggins (who performs the film’s central theme, “Meet Me Half Way”), Eddie Money, and Sammy Hagar. John Wetton, lead singer of the rock group Asia, sang “Winner Takes It All” for the movie, but after performing the song, it was felt that his voice wasn’t “mean” enough, so the song was offered to Hagar, whose version, featuring a bass guitar solo from Hagar’s then-bandmate Edward Van Halen, ended up being the one on the soundtrack. Asia is credited for the track “Gypsy Soul”, but Wetton is the only Asia member who actually contributed to the song.

Track Listing

“Winner Takes It All” – Sammy Hagar
“In This Country” – Robin Zander (International versions of the film had Eddie Money singing instead)
“Take It Higher” – Larry Greene
“All I Need Is You” – Big Trouble
“Bad Nite” – Frank Stallone
“Meet Me Half Way” – Kenny Loggins
“Gypsy Soul” – Asia
“The Fight (Instrumental)” – Giorgio Moroder
“Mind Over Matter” – Larry Greene
“I Will Be Strong” – Eddie Money

Over the Top Movie Poster (1987)

Over the Top (1987)

Directed by: Menahem Golan
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Robert Loggia, Susan Blakely, David Mendenhall, Rick Zumwalt, Chris McCarty, Terry Funk, Magic Schwarz, Bruce Way, Jimmy Keegan, Randy Raney
Screenplay by: Stirling Silliphant, Sylvester Stallone
Production Design by: James L. Schoppe
Cinematography by: David Gurfinkel
Film Editing by: James Symons, Don Zimmerman
Costume Design by: Tom Bronson
Set Decoration by: Cloudia Rebar
Art Direction by: William Ladd Skinner
Music by: Giorgio Moroder
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures (US and Canada), The Cannon Group (international)
Release Date: February 13, 1987

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