Body Slam (1986)

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

Awesome Movie

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

This is not the greatest film ever mind you, but for what it was I found it a funny film with a lot of interesting elements. Dirk Benedict is the star of this one as a guy who is trying to establish something he calls rock and wrestling which of course combines wrestling and a rock band. Dirk plays a bit of an agent and he is trying to not only to promote a band, but also looking out for two wrestling stars. They run afoul though of another promoter and that is what leads to the clashes in this one. Though in the end you know the film is heading to a great big showdown between Dirk's team and Captain Lou's team. The humor is good though as there is a really nice scene at a country place and the final showdown is funny for the fact the one announcer really annoys Billy Barty's character. I sort of liked wrestling when I saw this and will always prefer the old stuff to today's mainly because now it just seems so wrong watching guys in tights and oiled with big muscles grinding each other, in fact it seems really gay. Back then it was a bit too, but at least they did not quite look as oiled. This one though has some laughs and is a nice time capsule type movie.

This movie is very funny. It has a great cast of famous Wrestlers from the 70s and 80s. Bruno Samartino, Rick Flair, Freddie Blassie, The Sheik, Capt. Lou Ablano, The Samonans, The Towers Of Pain, Roddy Pipper, and a few more. Overall the plot isn't that interesting, and some parts are kind of dumb, but it is all worth it for the ending. At the end the legendary Chick Hern gets to announce tag team championship title match. Chick did an amazing job announcing that wrestling match. That just proves how Chick Hern is the best announcer of all time. No other sports announcer can call a professional wrestling match that good. I would even watch snails race if Chick Hern was the announcer. Plus also the famous baseball announcer Harry Carry was in it too. This movie is a must see for all fans of 80s Wrestling or for fans of the Lakers.

Maybe it was the lack of sleep, or the fact that I was in a really great mood, but there was something about Body Slam that made me laugh almost non-stop. Of course, to say I laughed at any of the deliberate jokes in the film, would be a complete lie. I would not pretend that readers of this are complete idiots and such a farce would be believable to any of them. Whomever wrote this film is in dire need of some intelligence. But that utter lack of brains, that total undeniable inability to comprehend anything filled with wit or satire, made for one of the most laughable films I have ever witnessed in my life. I have gone on to be one of Dirk Benedict's biggest fans. He was perfect for this role. Anyone who thinks someone else should have played Harry is a complete fool, because only Mr. Benedict could get down the necessary nuances to be so implausibly stupid that we, as viewers, wonder if we're not becoming stupider as we watch the film.

This movie was funny but some parts were cheesy. This movie also got me to get to know the old wrestlers a little bit more. The only reason why I don't reconmend this movie for kids is because this was movie was made when the old wrestlers were in WWF and kids may not know who they are. But overall I give it an 8/10