In the history of sports movies, there are characters that will stand the test of time: Rocky Balboa, Apollo Creed, Rudy Ruettiger, Daniel LaRusso, and Randy "The Ram" Robinson. All of these pale in comparison to the most well-rounded, charismatic, and fascinating character, Rip Thomas, in Thomas J. Wright's gritty masterpiece, 1989's "No Holds Barred".This film is a stunning portrayal of a scenario that's all too real in our society: a struggling television network looks to turn their fortunes around by seeking to hire the world's greatest athlete, professional wrestler Rip Thomas, portrayed by classically trained actor Terry "Hulk Hogan" Bollea. Although I'm sure it was a close call for the voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, this is a performance that should have easily won an Oscar for one of our most treasured artists.Not to be outdone, is Tommy "Tiny" Lister, as one of the most quotable characters of the '80s, Zeus, a man struggling with brain damage who's determined to achieve what many believe to be impossible by beating Rip, the Establishment's "Great White Hope".This movie will leave you wondering which of these heroes you want to cheer for, as we, the audience, have a chance to see all facets of their characters' backgrounds and motivations. You'll find yourself applauding one minute and holding your breath in anticipation the next, as Rip and Zeus battle to reach their ultimate goal of proving why America is the greatest country known to both man and alien lifeforms.

No matter how low your expectations are going into this absurd late 80s Hulk Hogan vehicle, it's quite likely to limbo right under them.Hogan is the "star", but he actually gets very little screen time, disappearing for large chunks of the film while the focus is on the villain of the piece played with a "Hey, it's a paycheck" glee by Kurt Fuller. When he is on screen, Hogan struggles playing a character that is more or less the same one he'd played for nearly a decade in the WWF.None of this would've mattered much had the film at least given us some entertaining wrestling moments and perhaps a few good montages set to cheesy rock music, but it can't even seem to do that right.'No Holds Barred' is awful even by the standards of low budget late-80s wrestling movies, of which it may be the only one.

One of the all-time great howlers. This was made back in the days when Vince McMahon and pretty much everybody else in wrestling tried their best to keep the "secret" from being revealed. That secret being, of course, that pro wrestling is staged and choreographed. So you had movies like this and a few others from the time that treated it as though it was real. The plot to this is pretty stupid. Hulk Hogan plays a version of himself named Rip, who is the WWF Champion. Kurt Fuller runs a TV network that loses to wrestling in the ratings due to Rip's popularity. So Fuller tries to come up with his own pro wrestling alternative called Battle of the Tough Guys. Seriously. Through a series of ridiculous events that involve a lot of big men grunting and fake-hitting each other, Fuller discovers his own champion: Zeus, a hybrid of Mr. T and Frankenstein's monster. Zeus is played by Tommy "Tiny" Lister, who went on to a long career in everything from A-list theatrical releases to garbage that shows on the SyFy channel at 2am. The rest of the movie is a long wait until the inevitable showdown between Rip and Zeus.Hogan and Lister are both so awful you can't help but enjoy them. They snarl and growl and carry on like animals marking their territory every time they're face to face. The real star of the movie, though, is Kurt Fuller with one of the most over-the-top performances you'll ever see. He's got more ham in him than Porky Pig. Objectively, it's a terribly-made movie. Its only redeeming quality is that it has some merit as an unintentional comedy. For current fans of professional wrestling, it will all seem pretty dull. The wrestling matches mostly consist of guys clubbing each other with their forearms and posing a lot. For people who grew up with the Hulkster and the old school WWF like me, there's a lot of nostalgic appeal here. Fans of "so bad they're good" movies may also find something to like about this turkey. Many memorably bad scenes and corny lines. One of my favorites is when Hulk starts throwing food at two thugs trying to rob the diner he's eating at while the Hank Williams, Jr. song "All My Rowdy Friends" plays in the background. Movie gold.

Good movie for ONLY long time/die hard wrestling fans. Anyone else will highly not enjoy it. Its got some good lines here and there, and some may recognize some old wrestling faces (Stan Hansen for one). But this movies has some major red flags and bad ideas. Hogan's "kid brother" is hard to look at and really doesn't need to be in the movie, along with a few too many Hogan ass shots, and a attempted rape scene that turns instantly into a comedic chase scene, and lastly the final fight taking place in a 6- sided wrestling ring (which due to this bust of a movie may explain why Hogan dislikes 6-sided rings). All in all a stong stomach and a strong passion for wrestling is needed when watching this. At least its out on DVD now.