Taking you back to the late 1980’s and now on Blu-ray is the action film No Holds Barred. The movie stars Hulk Hogan in a campy story about wrestling. The film has been digitally remastered and includes some additional bonus features. If you like the sport of wrestling as the central theme in an action film that has a lot of wacky comedy, then this Blu-ray should give you a ringside view.
The story centers on wrestler Rip “the Ripper” Thomas (Hulk Hogan) whose at the top of his game. He has been winning his championship matches and the network he’s on has risen to top ratings. The new network World TV needs a spark to get their shows watched in the same time slot and owner Brill (Kurt Fuller) holds a meeting with his staff. He’s a very iron fisted manager and with his money he tells his staff he gets anything he wants. He sets up a meeting with Rip at his office introducing his plan to make him a bigger star if he comes over to his network.
Brill offers him a huge amount of money, but Rip wants to be loyal to the network he’s on so he declines. Very upset Brill tells his producers Unger (David Paymer) and Ordway (Charles Levin) to find something that will outshine the WWF. They find their way to the No Count Bar and witness a knock down drag out fight in an octagon ring where anything goes except killing your opponent. When they bring Brill to the bar and he sees a fight, he sets up a new televised show called Battle of the Tough Guys with a $100,000 prize.
The story goes on where in one fight during the Battle of the Tough Guys the powerful Zeus (Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister) nearly destroys every taker. Director Thomas J. Wright turns his movie into a free for all with Hogan and Lister taking most of the action. He knows how to show the nitty-gritty of back room fighting and has his actors and stunt men pulling no punches. While those action scenes are quite good, his ability to provide good meaningful characters from his support cast, including Joan Severance as Rip’s love interest, just never pans out.
There are a couple of bonus features that you may like if you are a fan of wrestling.
BONUS EXTRAS:
- “Summer Slam Match” The recorded match that took place on August 28, 1989 features a tag team match between Zeus & “Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. Hulk Hogan & Brutus Beefcake.
- “No Holds Barred” Match Revisited shows the Tag Team Steel Cage Match that took place on December 27, 1989.
The digital remastering does do a pretty good job of reviving the film from the original print, but still contains grain and distortion due to aging. I do like the quality of the bar room ring fights as those look better with grit and age. The film is presented with full 16×9 Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 that fills the whole screen on HD TVs.
The Sound quality is not so bad and you can hear all of the important dialogue, even the grunts and groans of the fighters in the ring. The HD Dolby Digital works fine and I was even able to pick up sounds from sides and the back of my seating area.
No Holds Barred has been rated PG-13. It contains violence, brutality and mild adult situations so be strongly advised when deciding to allow immature children see the film. In cases like this it is always good to watch the film first.
Specifications and additional film information:
Cast: Hulk Hogan, Joan Severance, Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister, Kurt Fuller and David Paymer
Director: Thomas J. Wright
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action / Adventure, Wrestling, Sports
Running Time: 1 hr 34 min
Video Release Date: April 1, 2014 (Blu-ray)
Original Film Release Date: June 2, 1989
Language: English
Format: Blu-ray
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
Subtitles: Closed Captions
Number of Discs: 1 Disc
Distributed by: RLJ Entertainment
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
