It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The film, coming out in 1986, was obviously attempting to capitalize on the success of the very first Wrestlemania from the year prior. In fact, it was Cyndi Lauper's boyfriend at the time, Dave Wolff, who engineered the rock n' roll and wrestling connection to help make that event a surprise smash. But for you girls out there who just want to have fun, this is not the movie you have to see. Though it features some of the big names from the era like Rowdy Roddy Piper, Captain Lou Albano and Samoans Afa and Sika, most of the picture is a let down in terms of both story line and mat action. I could understand casting a couple guys as Road Warrior impersonators Axe and Hammer, but they didn't add much to the film's excitement as tag team champs. My biggest kick was catching Bruno Sammartino, Classy Freddie Blassie and Ric Flair attending the matches at ringside. Why they agreed to appear in this though is beyond my ability to comprehend. It was probably the only time in their respective careers they didn't mind taking a quick count.

Although this movie is quite dated (as is evidenced by Dirk Benedicts awesome 80's-style pleated leather pants at the beginning of the film) it is still a good representation of how the old wrestling territories/promoters used to operate before the WWF/NWA/WCW took over and essentially eliminated the need for them.The movie is a nice time capsule if you were into wrestling in that era, and that is all. If you weren't a fan of wrestling, then you will find nothing of this movie that would appeal to you whatsoever (outside of the still smoking hot Tanya Roberts who looks AMAZING in this movie). It is about 1980's wrestling and 1980's wrestling promotion - period.Still, despite the obvious cheesiness that the movie exudes and its ultra-adherence to 1980's fashion/fads, it is still fun for the particular demographic of movie fan that would appreciate it. I remember watching this movie on a rainy, boring Saturday afternoon as a kid on a local independent station back in 1987/1988 and instantly loved the movie. I could only recommend it for the true wrestling fans out there, but not for anyone else.

Body Slam (1987) is a flat out terrible movie. The low budget reeks, the direction is pedestrian (at best) and the writing and acting is lame. But if you're into old school wrestling (circa 1970's through the mid-80') then you'll be more entertained than the average viewer. I have to warn you, this movie stinks on ice. I gave it a two because I felt like being generous. This turkey was "directed" by stunt master Hal Needham. The stars are Roddy Piper, The Tonga Kid and a bunch of scrub wrestlers and c-list actors (Dirk Benedict).The synopsis of this "movie" is about a promoter who wants to combine "hair rock" and wrestling. But their are others that don't want him to succeed. There's more but I don't want to SPOIL it for you. If you can stomach the bad acting and inane storyline, there's a few surprises near the end for die-hard wrestling fans. I wouldn't recommend this to my worse enemy (and I mean it).

Bodyslam was one of the first films I can ever recall as youngster that made love the sport of wrestling. It's a good little comedy about a guy named Smeliack, a down on his luck music manager, he see's an oppurtunity in professional wrestling with Quick Rick Robbins (Roddy Piper) & Tonga Tom (The Tonga Kid). This film really ushered in the era of Rock N Wrestling back in the mid 80's, it was an awesome time to be a wrestling fan and the film couldn't have come out at a better time. Look for special cameos of Ric Flair, Bruno Samartino, and the late Classy Freddy Blassie.