5.4 | / 10 |
Users | 3.6 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.6 |
Rip is a grappling star who is approached by Brell, the new head of the World Television Network. Brell wants Rip to wrestle on his network, but Rip insists on honoring his commitment to another outlet. Brell responds by launching a show called "Battle of the Tough Guys," in which the beefy regulars of a particularly rough drinking establishment fight each other on camera. Zeus soon emerges as the bad guy champion on this new show, and Brell uses Rip's friendship with his assistant Samantha to arrange a bout between Zeus and Rip. Rip is not at all interested until Zeus injures his brother and makes the fight a matter of personal pride.
Starring: Hulk Hogan, Joan Severance, Kurt Fuller, Tommy 'Tiny' Lister, Mark PellegrinoSport | 100% |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 2.5 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
No Holds Barred, the WWE (then WWF) production starring icon Hulk Hogan, was released in 1989 and preceded the advent of the UFC by a good four years. Oddly, the film shares more in common with the UFC than it does the world of professional wrestling, the former a true octagonal arena for no-rules (well, relatively few rules) combat and the latter a soap opera for guys in which athletes -- who also happen to be actors -- pull punches and kicks and employ a measure of safety when they climb into the square ring to establish drama through manufactured combat. No Holds Barred effectively takes the wrestler out of the ring and into the de facto UFC octagon for a fight to the finish against a brute enemy and a brutal battle of wits against a sneaky, snaky network suit. It's classic 80s cheese with precious little in the way of redeeming value. All that's missing is Eye of the Tiger blaring through all of the grunts and testosterone that attempt to mask the lack of a redeemable core story and the glaring absence of dramatic value.
You stare at me, I'll stare at you. All dramatic-like.
No Holds Barred features a serviceable, but ultimately somewhat troubled, high definition presentation. Image Entertainment's Blu-ray never quite finds firm footing as it presents a disappointingly flat and disjointed visual experience. The opening title sequence doesn't inspire much confidence considering the rather pasty, dull, and soft appearance. Though things improve from there forward, they improve only marginally. Detail is revealing but not filmic and polished. The transfer proves capable of showcasing intimate facial textures but never does find that natural cinema-like façade. In fact, the image often fluctuates between messily grainy and noisy and hopelessly pasty. The image looks quite flat and smoothed over, particularly in its brightest sequences. Oddly, those bright sequences represent the best color presentations. Lively shades of rather loud blues and reds prove fairly rich, if still not a touch subdued and smooth. Colors frequently look a bit pale and weary, matching black levels that occasionally look washed out and devoid of texture. The image suffers from a fairly light but consistent sprinkling of wear and debris. This is a watchable presentation, but certainly not up to snuff with the best 80s-era catalogue releases.
No Holds Barred arrives on Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Much like the accompanying video presentation, Image Entertainment's soundtrack is just OK, not great. Things start well enough with decently spaced and energized music, playing with a strong supportive low end and alongside some fair crowd ambience. From there out, however, the track reveals its limitations. Punches and crashes in the ring never quite find a truly authentic flavor, coming across as crunchy and sloppy. A rowdy bar fight sequence and a buzzing helicopter represent some of the more aggressive moments in the film. Neither enjoys much more than cursory aggression, clarity and stage presence. Minor ambience, such as that heard in the background during a restaurant sequence in chapter three, never strives to accomplish more than push the most basic supportive elements into the stage. Dialogue is generally even and accurate, through sometimes scratchy and accompanied by the occasional underlying hiss. It's no great shakes, but this track does just enough to support the film's basic needs, nothing more and nothing less.
No Holds Barred contains two wrestling matches and a photo gallery.
Where similar films like The Karate Kid succeed, No Holds Barred fails. Though many of the core themes are classic 80s -- the goodhearted hero pushed too far against the bad guys who can't see anything past the hate that defines their lives -- No Holds Barred feels like an emotionless knockoff, a movie that means well at its core but that can't execute to save its life. Serious themes are countered by a cartoonish façade and hopelessly one-dimensional characters. It's a perfect example of the 80s movie done rather poorly, its only redeeming value its star power and, now some quarter-century later, nostalgia. Image Entertainment's Blu-ray release of No Holds Barred features mediocre video and audio. A few bonuses are included. Hardcore fans will probably be waiting a long time for another release, so despite its flaws, this is the best the film is likely to look and sound for quite a while. On the other hand, curious general audiences are encouraged to rent or wait to buy on the cheap.
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