Spiker (1985) User Reviews

A movie that just kind of goes here and there and there is volleyball!

[Aaron1375 · 2/10 · 25 August 2020]

I watched this film in confusion as the film seemed to switch main characters in the middle of the thing, had subplots that kind of disappeared and featured a bizarre defection plot that kind of came out of nowhere. Welcome to Spikers! A volleyball film that at times seems to forget it is about volleyball and instead focuses on defections, salad bars and divorces! It also features a tough coach who horribly asks that players show up on time, don't miss their plans and don't stumble into dinners drunk with two prostitutes...what a hard case!

The story starts with Sonny and Catch making the Olympics! Sonny gets on the coach's bad side right away so you know this film is going to be about the coach whipping him into shape! There is also a guy who is in med school or something and he ditches that to play volleyball! He is also not focused on again until the end when he is cut from the team. Also, Sonny quits too leaving Chase the main guy, but he too wants to quit after helping a woman defect from Poland and there is volleyball, but no Olympic volleyball to be seen.

So the film has no one I really recognize in it and it has a lot of sorry subplots going on as what kind of woman divorces a guy for trying to compete in the Olympics? I mean, I can see the story now on television about how he now lives in a YMCA with his precious coffee pot crying himself to sleepy as one of those specials they have before they broadcast the games. I felt the strange shift from Sonny to Catch being the main character totally threw off the film too and the whole defection thing came out of nowhere and went really nowhere.

So, this is not a very good film or endorsement for volleyball as the writers could not make anything interesting happen other than the volleyball which was not interesting. Also, to have a movie with the focus on a sport and not really have a payoff of said sport is totally insane! It's like making a film about the Super Bowl without actually featuring the big game, but rather the preseason with people getting cut and helping people escape Poland!

Pointless

[scythertitus · 3/10 · 4 May 2021]

Two jobbers go to play volleyball, they sort of face some trials, then it ends. I don't know if that is a spoiler because there is nothing to spoil. There is no real plot.

Also there is nothing to care about, no one is particularly interesting or likeable. The coach sort of has some character, but it's never really explained. Imagine Whiplash but with terrible sound and editing, it just doesn't work.

Overall there is no reason to watch this, it's not even really funny or exploitative. It's just there.

Not the best

[publixhat · 3/10 · 10 May 2023]

Alright so im a little biased because the actress who plays the polish woman, Wanda, is a musician I really like, but besides that the movie is really boring. It's like whoever wrote it just kept introducing characters and settings without actually building any of it. A lot of it just didn't make sense, like the mustache guy just appearing and then trying to get Catch arrested at the airport or something? Also like I just didn't understand the whole airport seen or what was hidden in the ice cream but yeah. Also i agree with the others about how the movie ending before they even went to the Olympics was really annoying.

Who was this made for?

[bensonmum2 · 1/10 · 11 December 2020]

Not that it matters, but here goes - two beach volleyball players are invited to tryouts for the U.S. men's Olympic team. One makes it, one doesn't, and the team qualifies for the Olympics - end of movie.

Spiker is the purest form of garbage (and not the entertaining kind of garbage) from beginning to end that I've seen in a long time. As I've said countless times, I watch and rate movies based on entertainment value. With Spiker, there's not an ounce of entertainment to be had in the entire ridiculously long 104 minute runtime. The endless volleyball practices, the stock volleyball footage, the inane conversations, people eating, and the predictable nature of most everything that happens - 104 minutes of this crap. Who cares?

And what was that whole cloak and dagger bit in the middle of the movie about getting some sort of secret documents out of Poland (I think I have that right)? It leads nowhere and adds nothing other than an extra 10-15 minutes to the 104 minute runtime.

Not that I wanted another minute (have I mentioned the 104 minute runtime), but I couldn't believe Spiker ended just as the team qualified for the Olympics. You'd have thought going for a gold medal would be the big payoff.

I haven't mentioned the acting (bad), the directing (dull), the plot (pointless), or any other technical aspects (horrendous) of Spiker. It's not worth the effort.

In the end, I'm left with a number of questions - Why was this made? Who was this made for? Did anyone involved think they were making a "good" movie? Did anyone expect to make a return on their investment? Why was Michael Parks in this mess of a film?

1/10

UPS AND DOWNS ON AND OFF THE COURT.

[rsoonsa · 5/10 · 26 November 2003]

The extreme difficulty of earning a position as a member of the United States men's national volleyball team is at the core of this production, and in that respect it is quite absorbing, but since it is not a documentary but a feature film, instances of personal crises among team members are dramatized, with less success. The film opens with scenes depicting receival of written invitations to try out for the team by three young men in Southern California, one a medical student, the others denizens of the local (San Diego) volleyball subculture. The med student receives bad news that he is cut from the squad and thereafter emphasis is upon the remaining pair, long-time friends Sonny (Stephen Burns) and Catch (Patrick Houser) and their endeavour to handle the unconventional and rigorous training methods developed by the team's coach, played by Michael Parks. Sonny is a confirmed reveler and this generates trouble with the coach, whereas Catch is more dedicated but is cumbered by a romantic entanglement; still another relationship problem faces the veteran of the team, 33 year old Newt (Christopher Allport) and his discontented wife (Jo McDonnell). This is enough off-court activity to detract attention from the undertaking by the youths to gain acceptance to the organization, but the list grows with another subplot involving an attempt by Catch to smuggle documents into the U.S. for a would-be Polish emigrant. Actual competition footage is included from Europe and Japan, presenting an opportunity to watch the Olympic gold-medal winners, prominent in the cast, in action against top-flight international squads. Here is where genuine excitement rests; however, dramatic conflicts of the characters take up the greatest share of the scenario, while poor writing and indifferent production values lower the film's worth, although Parks creates his role with a fine touch and timing.

Great!

[spikerbuckeye · 10/10 · 20 December 2021]

Ok I watched the RiffTrax version and I'm biased as my kids' and my last name is the same as the name of the movie, but I truly enjoyed it. I don't understand the low overall reviews.