In the 90s there was a wrestling boom. Pro Wrestling was selling out stadiums thanks to the Monday Night Wars. I lived through that one and even was enthralled by it. But as a small kid I remember 80s wrestling with larger than life stars like Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Sargent Slaughter, Iron Sheik, Ric Flair, Sting, Lex Luger and many others.
In 1986 there was a film produced featuring some of the stars of wrestling highlighted by The rowdy one Roddy Piper, The Captain Lou Albano. This film never really got the release I feel it truly deserved.... that is until now! KL Studio Classics is slamming this 80s cult classic on Blu-ray for the first time ever. And I feel like a kid in a candy store.
The film follows talent agent M. Harry Smilac (Dirk Benedict, TV’s The A-Team) who just can't seem to get ahead. That is until after a chance meeting with wrestler 'Quick' Rick Roberts (Roddy Piper). Suddenly he has a brainstorm why not combine wrestling with Rock n' Roll. Thus the Rock n' wrestling connection is born. But not without some riotous trouble along the way.
Body Slam is a product of a different time. Thus is this generation there are certain derogatory names being thrown around that some will find offensive. The in-ring action is amazing. The story is pretty good. It moves along at a very fast pace and before you know it your at the end.
Hal Needham directed a very fun little film! The cast is great! Dirk Benedict is a very strong lead. The supporting cast of Tanya Roberts (TV’s Charlie’s Angels), Barry Gordon (A Thousand Clowns), Charles Nelson Reilly (60s & 70s Match Game), Billy Barty (Foul Play), John Fujioka (American Ninja) and John Astin (TV’s The Addams Family) are just as strong!
Than there is the real stars, the wrestlers. We see Rowdy Roddy Piper, Captain Lou Albano, Sam "Tonga Kidd" Fatu, Afi and Sika the Samoans, The Barbarian, Teijho Khan. Than there is some great cameos by other wrestler including, Ric Flair, Freddie Blassie, Adnan Al-Kaissie, Bruno Sammartino and Alexis Smirnoff.Now the average film or wrestling fan may not know these names but hard core wrestling fans do!
There were some arguments between the producers and director that lead to lawsuits and a delay of this films release. Thus Body Slam sadly never saw a theatrical release. It instead went to a direct-to-video release.
As for this Blu-ray release the film has been transfered in 1080p in 1.85:1 aspect ratio. There is 2 audio tracks to choose from, the TruHD 2.0 audio or TruHD 5.1 audio. I remember vividly watching this film on TV and seeing it here it looks so much better. The colors are eye catching there is no sort of scratches or dirt on this print that I could tell and the audio is clear with no hiss or pops. This is the best I have seen this film.
Now as cool as it is to see Body Slam on Blu-ray Kino Lorber added some nice bonus features to this disc. Take a look at what is included.
* Interview with actor Barry Gordon
(In this 7 minute interview Barry talks about his time on the film and working with the wrestlers and Hal Needham. There is a lot of information in such a short time frame.)
* Trailers:
* Body Slam trailer #1
* Body Slam trailer #2
* Million Dollar Mystery
* Moving Violations
* Take this Job and shove it
Here getting not one but two Body Slam trailers... ultra cool!
As you can probably tell by reading this article, this film brought me back to my childhood. And when a film can do that and bring you so much joy that is priceless. I will be watching this film again and again and again.
If you are a fan of wrestling or 80s movies I highly suggest adding Body Slam to your collection. This KL Studio Classics release is the absolute best way to see it. Head over to Amazon.com and order your copy today.
Out of 4 Film Reels (4 Being the Best) KL Studio Classic's Blu-ray of Body Slam receives...
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2 Comments
The 90s..Those were the time! 😍
ReplyDeleteI agree with you 100%. Miss those days so much.
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