The Toughest Man in the World (1984)

Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Better Late Then Never

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Being another bargain bin find, my expectations were quite low for The Toughest Man in the World. At the time, Mr. T had just fought Rocky and joined the A-Team, but had yet to tag team with Hulk Hogan. Nonetheless, all the mannerisms we've come to expect from the mohawk-sporting man of muscle are present here.Yes, it is ludicrous. Mr. T shows his innate ability to wreak havoc whenever given the opportunity, and it's brilliant in it's corny hilariousness.Yes, it is preachy. But it's honest about it upfront, and the message is plain yet heartfelt. Just what you'd expect from a made-for-TV movie starring Mr. T, really.If you are looking for something with credible acting or an exciting story, you will do yourself no favors by watching this. But if Mr. T rapping the theme song himself and breaking down a few doors and walls and some unruly customers using nothing but brute force, this is a film that will stay with you and make you giggle whenever you remember another funny scene from this film. And trust me, there are plenty of such scenes.In short: recommended for select audiences. You know who you are.

As a supplier to the production, the UNIVERSAL GYM weight machine, I saw a behind the scenes Mr. T that was nothing like the character.I agree that movie was very inspirational. My gripe is the way Mr. T treated the kids who were hanging around the Chicago Park District building. All they wanted was some recognition a hi-5, a continuous down the line hand slap, maybe just point to them and say HI. There was nothing from him. When moving from the set to his trailer the hood would come up, his head down and moving quickly telling the kids to get out of his way. It was very sad to see the disappointment on their faces. My own five year old son who was with me on the set couldn't get any recognition. If it wasn't for Mr. Dave Cass, the stunt coordinator, none of the kids, some of whom waited in the drizzling rain for a glimpse of the star from "The A Team' wouldn't have anything. I saw him take some press pictures of Mr. T with the auto-signed autograph and pass them out till they were all gone, he talked to those who had questions and generally made them feel appreciated which is what they wanted from their 'hero'.So the movie rates a 7 for what it is, the star rates a 0 from what I witnessed.Dave Boehl

In most of his films and TV shows Mr T-to his credit-has always been a good role model to youngsters. He has mostly played moralistic characters who try to encourage people to develop qualities such as loyalty, friendship, thoughtfulness and humility. The Toughest Man in the World is one of those films.Throughout the movie Mr T as Bruise Brubaker shows a young kid the error of his ways and how to do the right thing. Of course, there's plenty of action throughout. The young kid strays from the path of good on quite a few occasions but Bruise Brubaker never gives up and is always there to pick up the pieces.It's a shame they don't make movies like this any more. This is a movie that conveys a moralistic message but at the same time provides plenty of action and entertainment.Well done Mr. T.

Hokey tv-movie has Mr. T sticking up for some inner-city kids. His name might be "Bruise" but the action is fairly tepid. It's worth seeing just for the rap Monsieur T does over the opening credits. The video was available on Cabin Fever, in case you're trying to locate it.