10 Outrageous Films That Must Be Seen To Be Believed
1. Hands Of Steel
Released in the same year as Sylvester Stallone’s Over The Top, Hands Of Steel is another arm wrestling movie, but with a difference. Being a cheap Italian imitation, it helps itself to bits of The Terminator and Mad Max 2 and makes its hero a cyborg fighting to survive in the dystopian future.
You see, the brilliantly named Paco Queruak (Daniel Greene) has been programmed by an evil corporate villain (John Saxon) to terminate an ecologist, but when he fails in his mission he goes to Arizona (wouldn’t you?) and becomes an arm wrestler in a bar. Because he’s “30% percent human, 70% robot, 100% lethal”, Queruak remains undefeated, but it’s not long before his actions alert the bad guys to his whereabouts, leading to a blah chase climax.
Directed by Sergio Martino, who’s better known for his over-stylized giallo thrillers, Hands Of Steel plays it straight from beginning to end no matter how far out the narrative becomes, which of course makes it hilarious. As movies about arm wrestling cyborgs go, this one’s top of the list.