If one film can be described as launching the legendary acting career of one Hulk Hogan, the 1989 cult classic No Holds Barred is it. With a riveting plot, witty comedy, and breathtaking action scenes, this film will likely go down in the annals as the most daring portrayal of professional wrestling ever seen on the big screen.
Just kidding. This film, like Hogan’s career, is a joke. Released in 1989, at the tail end of “Hulkamania,” (although Hogan is convinced Hulkamania is still alive and well) Hogan portrays a wrestler (there’s a stretch) named “Rip.” An evil television executive on a rival network (Kurt Fuller) who hates Rip, since he wouldn’t “sell out,” decides to make his own wrestling promotion for his network. His champion is a nearly 7-foot monster of a man named Zeus (Tiny Lister). And guess what? Rip and Zeus end up fighting each other. Before that there are tons of wild shenanigans including Rip’s brother getting beat up and put into a wheelchair by Zeus. That motivates the Ripster to take on Zeus. Of course he has to battle him on the rival network selling his soul in the process (nothing new for Hogan).
Hogan’s acting ability, like his wrestling skills, leaves quite a bit to be desired in No Holds Barred. The only positive is that the character Hogan plays is a carbon copy of his “Hulkster” wrestling persona. There are a few scenes that he pulls of that actually require some minimal level of acting skill. For one, it is rather funny to see him in a fancy restaurant insisting on ordering a “hot dog.” On the other hand, it is not funny at all watching him trying to pull off a “make out” scene.
The wrestling scenes in the movie are far from dazzling as well. Hogan shows of his three moves of doom: punch, big boot, and legdrop. Zeus is horrible, and looks like he should have spent more time learning how to wrestle in between steroid cycles.
To keep one’s self entertained while watching, be on the look out for a few cameos. Namely, the current Governor of Minnesota, Jesse “The Body” Ventura who appears as an announcer at the films outset. Former WWF announcer “Mean Gene” Okerland appears in the same capacity in a rare sober moment for him. Also, Vince McMahon himself was the executive producer, although he never appears in the film.
The most notable aspect of this film is that the storylines in the WWF in 1989 were centered around the movie. Hogan and Zeus engaged in a “feud” stemming from the film. Unfortunately, Zeus didn’t have the slightest clue how to wrestle, and he only had a handful of WWF matches during his tenure. However, if one could hunt down a copy of “Summerslam 89” or “Survivor Series 89,” they would see Hogan and Zeus on opposite tag teams, and the two do battle for real (well, sort of).
The scariest thing about No Holds Barred is that it is, in this humble journalist’s opinion, the second best film that Hogan was ever in (Suburban Commando being the best). Overall, it comes in behind Beyond The Mat and Wrestling with Shadows, making it the third best wrestling movie ever made (sorry, Ready To Rumble and Bodyslam). Since the above-mentioned movies are both documentaries, this makes No Hold Barred the best fictional wrestling movie ever, which isn’t saying much.
