No Holds Barred (1989)

Rip is the World Wrestling Federation champion who is faithful to his fans and the network he wrestles for. Brell, the new head of the World Television Network, wants Rip to wrestle for his... See full summary »

Director:

Thomas J. Wright

Writer:

Dennis Hackin

Stars:

Hulk Hogan, Joan Severance, Kurt Fuller

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hulk Hogan	...	Rip
Joan Severance	...	Samantha Moore
Kurt Fuller	...	Brell
Tommy 'Tiny' Lister	...	Zeus
Mark Pellegrino	...	Randy
Bill Henderson	...	Charlie
Charles Levin	...	Ordway
David Paymer	...	Unger
Patrick O'Bryan	...	Craig (as Pat O'Bryan)
Jesse Ventura	...	Himself - Commentator #1
Gene Okerlund	...	Commentator #2
Howard Finkel	...	Ring Announcer
Bill Eadie	...	Jake Bullet
Rebecca Wackler	...	Ms. Tidings
Bruce Taylor	...	Mr. Johnson

Storyline

Rip is the World Wrestling Federation champion who is faithful to his fans and the network he wrestles for. Brell, the new head of the World Television Network, wants Rip to wrestle for his network. Rip refuses and goes back to his normal life. Still looking for a way to raise ratings, Brell initiates a show called "The Battle of the Tough Guys", a violent brawling competition. A mysterious man, Zeus, wins the competition. This gets Brell to use him as an angle to get at Rip.

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Plot Keywords:

world wrestling federation | rating | champion | wrestling | wrestling ring | 

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Taglines:

The battle of the super tough guys.

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Genres:

Action

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 June 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cadence de combat

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Gross:

$16,093,651 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Shane Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rip wore blue and white wrestling gear in the movie. Hulk Hogan was known for his standard color scheme as red and yellow, but he did wear blue and white during some matches in the mid-1980s. Instead of "Rip 'Em", the tank tops usually said "American Made".

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Goofs

The credits are said to be listed "in order of appearance" when they are actually listed in order of importance.

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Quotes

Announcer: Get ready the battle that no ropes can hold.

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Connections

Referenced in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: Episode #8.161 (2010)

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Soundtracks

"No Holds Barred"
Written by Jim Johnston
Performed by John Joyce

User Reviews

Unintentionally amusing

Hulk Hogan must have gotten other movie offers from other studios - so upon seeing his choice for his first starring role, you have to wonder why on earth he picked this one! Could the other offers been even worse than this? Seeing that the "trivia" section for this movie states that he found the original draft unsatisfying and rewrote it without credit, you also have to wonder how it was originally.

Whatever the case, the end results are really bad... but so bad that they are often hilarious to watch. Now, the movie was done somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but the acting is so over the top... the plot is so simple-minded and unbelievable... that you can't accept the majority of the hilarity as intentional.

If you can stop laughing long enough to study the movie, you'll see just how badly made it is. The editing is terrible - it's obvious a good number of scenes (containing a good amount of explanation) are missing, and other scenes are clearly chopped down to a fraction of their original length. This may explain why there's barely a feeling Hogan is the star of the movie - there are long stretches when he's nowhere in sight, and he actually doesn't get to do as much as you might think. (It doesn't help that in some long shots, he appears to be replaced by a double.) And while Hogan seems to have aimed the movie towards his youthful fans, the violence level (including attempted rape, savage beatings, and death) makes the movie a questionable choice for this age group.