The hammer
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The hammer |
| Original title | No holds barred |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1989 |
| length | 88 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Thomas J. Wright |
| script | Dennis Hackin |
| production | Michael Rachmil Vince McMahon Hulk Hogan |
| music | Jim Johnston |
| camera | Frank Beascoechea |
| cut | Tom Pryor |
| occupation | |
| |
Der Hammer (in Austria: Hulk Hogan - Der Hammer ) is an American action film directed by Thomas J. Wright . The film was funded by the World Wrestling Federation and is the first leading role of wrestling star Hulk Hogan .
action
Rip is a very popular wrestler who tops all ratings. Brell, a choleric and greedy CEO of the rival broadcaster World Television Network (WTN), is a thorn in the side of the personable wrestler. He tries to buy him out with a blank check , but Rip is too honest and principled and stuffs the check into his mouth. Rip is ambushed on the way home in a limousine, but can easily take down Brell's men.
Brell now has a new strategy: In a seedy hangout for rockers he lets the spectacle The battle of tough guys ( Battle of the Tough Guys ) send and shows brutal combat. The winner can look forward to $ 100,000. A huge, cross- eyed black man finally sacks the money. Rips trainer, who sees the fight with his protégé, recognizes in him a former student who cannot be controlled. Zeus was expelled from wrestling and had spent years in prison for killing a man in the ring after a fight. Brell's strategy is working: WTN has very good audience ratings. The businessman is not interested in the fact that some viewers complain about the brutality. The second battle of the tough guys takes place in a steel mill.
Brell infiltrates the promoter Samantha Moore as a spy in Rip's team. On a promo tour, Rip prevents a robbery, and even when the two have to spend the night in a hotel room, Rip behaves in an exemplary manner. Samantha gets out of Brell's team and is beaten up by her client for it. She eventually joins Rip's team.
Zeus suddenly appears at a children's sports festival and openly challenges Rip, who refuses, however, out of concern for the well-being of the children. Brell tries to provoke him further: One of his henchmen tries to rape Samantha, which, however, can be prevented by Rip at the last second. After another fight by Zeus, Rip's brother Randy falls into his hands. Zeus beats him to hospital and Rip accepts the challenge.
On the day of the fight, Brell has Samantha kidnapped in the elevator and holds her hostage to make sure Rip loses after ten minutes. His plan actually seems to work: Zeus gets the upper hand and hits Rip hard. Samantha can break free, however. When Rip sees her, he finally strikes back and defeats Zeus. Brell, who has meanwhile destroyed the entire recording room in a fit of anger, backs away from Rip and receives a fatal electric shock.
background
After brief appearances in Rocky 3 - The Tiger's Eye and various television series, The Hammer is Hulk Hogan's actual debut as a leading actor. The film, which was funded by him and WWF boss Vince McMahon, should pave the way for Hogan's later acting career. Many colleagues and friends of Hogan can be seen in the film: Gene Okerlund and Jesse Ventura can be seen as wrestling commentators, Howard Finkel has a guest role as ring announcer and Carl Weathers is in the audience at the finale . Hogan's opponent in the film's early wrestling match, Jake Bullet, was portrayed by William Eadie, best known at WWE as Ax , part of the two-time WWE World Tag Team Champions Demolition . Stan Hansen , who enjoys legendary status especially in Japan , played Neanderthal, the giant in the bar. Jeep Swenson played Lugwrench Perkins, Zeus' opponent in the steel mill. He is best known from his time as The Ultimate Solution (as partner of Tiny Lister Jr.) in World Championship Wrestling and in his film role as Bane in the 1997 Joel Schumacher film Batman & Robin .
The film was approved for ages 18+ until October 2013, but was then downgraded to 16+ after a re-examination.
Hulk Hogan injured his hand in the scene where he smashed a mirror with his bare fist.
success
In the US, Der Hammer was right behind Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade at number 2 on the box-office charts in the opening week . Still, the film grossed just $ 16,093,651 and is considered a failure.
Zeus appeared several times as a wrestler to promote the film, including at the Survivor Series 1989 and the Summer Slam 1989. On December 27, 1989, the event No Holds Barred: The Match / The Movie was broadcast as pay-per-view . After the film, a steel cage match between Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake on one side and Randy Savage and Zeus on the other was shown, which was recorded on December 12, 1989 in Nashville . Thomas Lister junior , who played Zeus, was not a wrestler and so many wrestling fans found the fights to be unreasonable. The Pay-Per-View also had significantly lower ratings than the other major WWF events and also marked the temporary end of "Zeus'" wrestling career. Tiny Lister Jr. then only appeared twice as a wrestler, against Abdullah the Butcher in the WCW-PPV Uncensored 1996 as a member of the Dungeon of Doom .
Reviews
The film has a strong trash character that failed the critics. In particular, the acting performances were rated very negatively.
“After the intrigue of a cunning TV maker, a blond muscleman has to compete in the catcher ring against a vicious animal thug. Mindless and wild non-stop brawling with swipes at commercial television, dilettante inflated to the length of a feature film. "
On June 19, 2015, the film was shown in the Tele-5 series The Worst Films of All Time .
Web links
- The hammer in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Box Office Charts from June 2 to 4, 1989. Box Office Mojo, accessed December 29, 2009 .
- ↑ No Holds Barred in the Box Office Charts. Box Office Mojo, accessed December 29, 2009 .
- ↑ The History of the WWE Title. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 14, 2007 ; Retrieved December 29, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ NEWS: FOURTEEN WEEKS IN 1990: PART ONE. (No longer available online.) Pro Wrestling Chronicle magazine official blog, archived from the original on July 22, 2011 ; Retrieved December 29, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ WWF Pay-Per-View Buy rates. Retrieved December 29, 2009 .
- ^ The hammer in the Lexicon of International Films , accessed on April 15, 2012
