Reviews

This is a good fun, adventure movie made at the height of Sylvester Stallone's critical popularity he was awarded for Rocky (1976). Working hard as Paradise Alley's Writer, Director and Star, Sly does amazingly well, and his script and energetic direction are both full of color and finesse. Sly gets the best out of his main co-stars, Armande Assante and Lee Canalito, who along with Sly make up the underdog Carboni brothers. As Cosmo, Sly is a fun loving, wisecracking, con-man, who, unlike Rocky, is an unlikeable and unredeeming character. Somehow though, perhaps its with the shadow of Rocky over him, Stallone turns Cosmo into a likeable character, the heart and soul of the picture and gets you rooting for him and his brothers. Armand Assante as Lenny Carboni, is the movies most interesting character, he turns virtually over night from a good natured itallian catholic boy, into a tough, street wise Wrestling promoter, because he gives into the world he was born into. Lee Canalito gives a slightly amaturish performance as Victor, not surprising as he wasn't an actor prior to this film. However, with Canalito's physical appearance, and syrupy voice you never once doubt the inner animal waiting to escape the child, and Canalito, as Kid Salami is every bit as good as Sly as Rocky, in the wrestling scenes here. It is also nice to see Stallone regulars Frank McRae, as fallen Wrestling legend Big Glory in a heart breaking scene with Stallone's Cosmo, and Rocky's Mr Gazzo, Joe Spinelli turns up almost unrecognisably, as a garrish, wrestling ring master. It is not hard however to see why this film failed. At times it doesn't know what sort of movie it wants to be. Should it go for the laughs or the sentimentality? Is Stallone's character the hero or is it Assante's? Stallone turns out an efficient movie, his first time as director, but it really needed someone like John G Avildsen, no stranger to sports movies with Rocky, and Rocky V (1990) A Power of One (1989), not to mention The Karate Kid series, to just smooth out those rough edges. Also the 1940's New York setting is kind of surplus, Rocky was set in the present (for the time), and you feel that this movie could have been all the better for being modern. It is also kind of strange to see a bare chested hero in the ring at the movies climax other than Stallone, and again, had Cosmo been given a redemption of sorts, the film would have had more of that feel good factor so common with Sly's movies. However, Paradise Alley is a well made, acted and enjoyable romp. With fantastically coreographed Wrestling scenes, good characters and a nice breezy pace, and an emotion and adrenaline charged Bill Conti music score to die for. Oh, and that is Sylvester Stallone singing the movies theme song "Too close to Paradise" a good tune sung well by Sly, but you judge for yourself.

8/10

Nice is the word. Over the Top is a good example of Sylvester Stallone stepping away from the trappings of Rocky Balboa and John Rambo, and trying to create a movie the whole family can enjoy. Sure, the whole family may have enjoyed the Rocky movies but the violence of those films at best is toned down to mute here. Unlike the Rocky series with Boxing, Over The Top doesn't square its attention solely on this movies sport, Arm wrestling. So, there is plenty of room for deep rooted character developement. Unfortunately, Over The Top doesn't present us with this, and what we have is a Cannon Pictures knock off version of The Champ (1979), with Stallone and Sterling Silliphant's screenplay spreading on the sentimentality very thickly. We are presented with a screenplay remeniscent of the sentimental moments from the bulk of Slys career. And for the majority of the time it works remarkably well. Sly proves that he can act, making Lincoln Hawk (a typically mach named Stallone character), a likeable, funny and sincere character, so that you dont for one minute doubt the values of Hawk and the good man he is. The hard work Stallone puts into Hawk is completely obliterated by a terrible cliched performance by David Mendenhall as Hawks long lost son Mike. A typical spoilt bratt, you wish Sly would beat the life out of Mendenhall ala Rocky VS Drago in the closing moments of Rocky IV, at one or two times during the movie. Mendenhall has NO redeaming features and compliments the movie zero. It would have perhaps been better had someone like Sean Astin or Macauly Culkin played the part of Hawk's son. The sentimentality comes in the form of Susan Blakely as Hawk's estranged and dying wife, and this once again is a burden to the movie, because the scenes, handled with too much syrup by director Menahem Golan go too far over the top (no pun) to try and reach your tear ducts. Despite this everything pays off. The Arm wrestling scenes are handled efficiently by Golan, and come close to the heart pumping heroics of the Rocky movies, and Georgio Moroders 80's Rock score is as good (and dated) as anything Vince Di Cola and Survivor did for Messers Balboa and Drago. And i would defy even the most ardent of cynics not to root for Hawk in the movies macho encrusted arm wrestling finale. An efficient fammily/adventure movie, that is good to pass the time with, but for sheer class, watch the Rocky movies.

6/10

With two Rambo movies, First Blood (1982) and Rambo : First Blood part II (1985) under his commando belt, Sylvester Stallone had confidently confirmed himself as the Box Office king of the Action Thriller genre. With all the gingoism and American flag waving that went with the comic strip adventures of the worlds favourite fictional viet nam vet, Stallone steps up a gear into Cobra (1986), one of the tightest, exciting, well written and under-rated action movies of the past few decades. Stallone takes British crime novelette Running Duck (US - Fair Game} from celebrated writer Paula Gossling and gives it the full Rambo gloss treatment. Gone from the novel is the alcoholic schizoid lead character and in his place is Marion Cobretti, the typical, four square Stallone character, and the story is all the better for this. Stallone' screenplay is pretty simple, and so is the under lying message that evil is a force that must be met on its own terms. So what we have is a violent actioneer chock full of punch ups, car chases and shooting. Sadly, the script isn't developed enough, and the Rocky elemnts so typical of Stallone's movies at this point, IE, the underdog hero who everyone is against, is used to the maxim here. Unlike the Rocky movies, the glare of humour isn't up to scratch, and so a great many of the lead characters are unlikeable. So what? Wasn't this the case with thrillers such as Seven or Resovoir Dogs? However, Rambo Director George Pan Cosmatos gives a fresh coat of paint to this particular movie, adding stylish touches of film noir to the action genre in a way that precceeds Face/Off (1997) and a whole host of successors. Bridgette Nielsen is the movies real surprise, giving a likeable and sincere performance as Helgar, under the watchful eye of her then Husband. What is really surprising is that Cosmatos manages to succesfully blend into the action genre touches of classic and contemporary horror movies such as Friday the Thirteenth and John Carpenters Halloween with the chilling depiction of the Night Slashers. The movie also contains some of the most exhilerating action and chase sequences, particularly in the movies climax, where Cobra lets rip unto the Night Slashers men. This is an under-rated gem, a very efficient Stallone/George Pan Cosmatos vehicle, and very possibly the best ever Menahem Golan, Yoram Globus/Cannon Film Group picture ever produced. .......................................................................

8/10