There was Rocky. There was Rambo. And in 1987, there was Lincoln Hawk, another of Sylvester Stallone's strong but silent, down on his luck, action-drama protagonists.
Over the Top, like many of the great action films of the decade, the film was driven in no small part by its soundtrack, with the most notable contribution coming from future Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar.
Sylvester Stallone himself participates in the video, which is thematically centred around the storyline of the film. Over the Top was Rocky-like in many respects, featuring a hard-working underdog taking a one-in-a-million run at the armwrestling championship. The video also features Over the Top villain and real-life armwrestling legend Rick Zumwalt.
And yet again from the files of songs that had an integral role in making a successful movie what it was, we have Far From Over, ostensibly the theme song from the 1983 film Staying Alive. The song's contribution to the film earned it a Golden Globe nomination.
Staying Alive was the sequel to the 1979 hit Saturday Night Fever, with Travolta reprising his role as the egotistical Tony Manero. This time, Tony has graduated from the discos and is trying to break into Broadway. The film was written and directed by Sylvester Stallone (with a two-second cameo appearance). The result was an intense rags-to-riches fusion of broadway dancing and pursuit of the American Dream. Oddly enough, it worked.
The Stallone connection explains the appearance of Frank Stallone, both in a supporting role in the film, as well as featured prominently on the soundtrack. Frank appeared in small roles or on the soundtracks of many of Sylvester's films in the 1980s, including Rocky III, Over the Top, and Rambo: First Blood Part II.
Here is the original recording of the song with clips from the film.
And here is a very strong 2008 live performance of the song, 25 years later, by the Frank Stallone Band. As you can hear, Frank still has the chops.
This article wouldn't be complete without the cheeseball theatrical trailer for the film.
And last but not least, the longevity and disco-dream-iconic nature of the song is attested to by its inclusion in the trailer for the Saturday Night Live spinoff film Superstar.
