Winners Take All (1987) User Reviews

two reasons to watch this flick

[zimbo_the_donkey_boy · 5/10 · 10 July 2010]

Debi Richter does her usual excellent work exploring the repression of women in today's society, as her character tries to find her true place in the world, no matter where the journey takes her (and us)--especially considering what little screen time she was given. But twenty minutes of Debi equals forty minutes of a lesser actress, if you know what I mean. If only she'd won that Oscar. The envy of the Hollywood in-crowd is pathetic. There are only three times that I rose and saluted today: when my dad raised the flag this morning, when mom fried both hamburgers AND brats for lunch, and when Deborah Richter first came on-screen in Winners Take All. She is what America is all about!

Debi earns a full ten stars for her totally insightful & engaging performance but I've got to admit that the rest of the flick was fairly mediocre (which explains my five-star rating). "Don't be to judge mental" indeed. Was that Charles Haid in one of the stadium crowd scenes?

Don't be to judge mental

[darcy25 · 7/10 · 19 March 2006]

I saw this movie when it first came in the 80's and for probably a no available budget film I think they made a decent movie, It took me years to actually find a copy of it at a video store to rent and I finally found a used one to purchase. The movie is basically about motocross (DIRTBIKES) racing which is a really hard thing to put on film it is something you do have to actually do and not watch, A young

rider who has been riding all his life finally gets a chance to make it at the pro level, the top pro rider he will be racing, was a friend he grew up with and now is on a team that will do anything to keep winning, even take out old friends. I guess for people today movies are about the bigger explosions and high prices actors. You wont get that in this movie.hope fully you get to see this movie if you can find it, even though if you love all types of moves it would be fun tying to find it.

Motocross 101

[bcp-3 · 7/10 · 10 November 2006]

This is just over an hour and a half of non-stop laughs for anyone who actually rides motocross or is into it. I'm pretty sure they weren't intending to make a comedy when this movie was originally written. They were trying to make a cool motocross movie, yet 20 years later it has become a solid comedy for any MX fan. The only time the riding is done well is when they're using actual race footage from the original 80's pro races. The rest of the riding scenes, the acting, the plot, not to mention the cheesy 80's clothing, MX gear, haircuts, language, etc.. are just plain comical. My 15 year old daughter and I (we both ride) laughed hysterically through the entire movie. Her mother and 12 year old sister (they don't ride) spent the entire time wondering why they were wasting their time on such a dumb movie and trying to figure out what we found so damned amusing. The reason I gave this movie a 7 is because it was highly entertaining in a way it was never meant to be. If I didn't ride MX it would rate about a 2. If you ride, you must see this movie, if not, you just won't understand...

Pretty entertaining action and quite watchable...

[howardjford · 3 August 2001]

I saw this film on video when it first came out and ended up watching it several times. I've been tring to get hold of a copy ever since to no avail. It's basically a motocross drama and centers around a team of riders trying to perfect their off-road skills to win a particular event. Interestingly enough it's a female rider teaching the guys which at the time seemed like a nice touch.

It's a litttle predictable in parts but there are some nicely shot motocross action and stunts. It actually got me into motocross at the time and I'm still doing it now.

Rated a 10 for one of the most sickening movies ever made

[tvmoviewatcher · 1/10 · 6 February 2005]

This is definitely the stupidest, corn-ball movie I have ever seen! What a waste of time, film and money. If I was one of the so-called "actors" that appeared in this pathetic movie, I would be ashamed to show my face anywhere on the planet! This horrible, down-right sickening movie, "Winners Take All" would definitely rate a solid 10 on the scale of the worst movies ever produced in the history of film. Don't expect to know what the point of this movie is, because there is none. Do expect yourself to absolutely feel as though you're about to vomit as you watch these fools go through their lines. I'm not a person that likes to go around and ridicule, or talk trash about anyone. In addition, I also realize that this review sounds pretty awful to say about any movie or actor. On the other hand, do you know how some movies just make you "feel" good after watching them? Well, this movie will make you feel all creepy and jittery inside as you watch. That is to say, if you don't turn it off first as I should have done.

We all lose this race. Very mediocre film

[LennyReviewz · 4/10 · 14 February 2023]

The only winners here are the stunt drivers. Everyone else, including us (the movie watchers) are all losers.

It was Meh.

Definitely an 80s movie, has all your typical traits as well. This isn't a very good 80s movie though.

The film wasn't even really about the character Billy Robinson, it was more about his friend.

The story is real simple, we have two friends at odds because one of them stole his groupie girlfriend and the other friend tries to pay him back by beating him at a big motocross race. Insert your occasional obstacle, insert your potential love interest, bunch of motocross action, and end movie. This film felt like it was shot on an extremely anemic budget. Felt so cheap for some reason. It never dragged and moves along nicely, so that's a positive.

This film is all about the motocross scenes. The stunt drivers were really good and it was cool to watch.

This is the type of film you watch when you're sick at home, you're up early and need to kill some time.

It's watchable, just not very good. That being said, I would recommend watching it, but just for the stunts.

This gets a LennyReviewz Score: 4/10.

winners take all

[t-c-cycle · 9/10 · 28 October 2008]

In 1998 and 1999 I earned a national number for 125 motocross and super cross. I still ride now but winners take all takes me back to the very beginning of my motocross journey. It was the first racing movie I ever saw, and as a ten year old kid it was the greatest movie in the world. I would beg my mom every week to go back to the video store and rent the movie again. Finally she got sick of renting it and bought me a copy. As a 30+ rider now I see a lot of corny things in the movie but It is not to bad compared to the junk we have today like super cross the movie and motocross ed etc... So for 1987 it was ahead of its time especially since motorcycle racing was nowhere near as popular and mainstream as it is today. I always wondered what kind of bikes were under those funky team hurricane plastics and if any of the bikes survived in anyones collection or if all that stuff was just scrapped after the movie was made.

A film that will always be a part of my life.

[heavy_drummer · 9/10 · 2 June 2006]

I first saw Winners Take All when I was young... going back to the old Beta VHS tapes (yes, that long). Not only was I blown away by the extreme motocross racing, I was also blown away by just how far two friends will go just to prove who is still better and if the best can finally be defeated. Although this film is very underrated and very difficult to find, to me, it was and still is worthwhile watching. If you can find it, please do not throw it away, it's definitely a keeper. I give this film a nine out of ten because of the extreme motocross, two friends proving themselves, and bitter rivalry within a small, corrupt team.

Humdrum race movie

[Wizard-8 · 18 August 2013]

MGM has been sitting on a number of movies that have been screaming for a DVD release, so I am confused why they would pass on those movies and choose this obscurity for a DVD release. Maybe there is a bigger audience for motocross racing than I thought. But since I am not a fan of this sport, you can probably guess what my feelings are about this movie. In fairness, the movie is fairly slickly made, with decent production values including good photography and some breathtaking shots of motorcycles zipping around and flying in the air. However, the story sinks the movie. Despite the movie running over 100 minutes, it is clear that the movie originally ran longer but was cut down in the editing room, with some plot points being vague and/or cut short. But even if the movie ran at its first cut length, we'd still have a story that is painfully predictable and with stock characters. In the end, I think the only people the movie would appeal to would be those really into the sport of motocross racing, though even they will probably find the movie extremely familiar for the most part.

Best 80's motocross movie

[pasledhed · 8/10 · 2 September 2018]

This movie was a great childhood memory. Being 12 years old and just getting my first dirt bike, thought it was the best movie ever in the late 80's. They were good times. Being a low budget 80's movie, I think they did an excellent job.

GREAT HIDDEN 80s GEM!!!

[roweshowsports · 10/10 · 27 December 2022]

I personally loved this movie. I was born in the 80s and pride myself on my knowledge of 80s movies and how great that era of fashion, music, movies, etc. Wise. But I had never heard of this movie until recently, and I decided to give it a watch, and I'm glad I did. In the 80s and 90s we had some really good "extreme sports" movies, ride, Thrashin, BMX, bandits, days of thunder, airborne, brink, and winners take all. To me, this movie is up near the top behind, possibly only Days of Thunder. This is your typical 80s, romcom. It's got all the makings of plots and movies you have already seen, so it can be a little bit predictable but it's classic 80s and it's me 80s movies have a charm that no other era of movies has had. I like the characters, I like the script, it's just a really fun movie, easy to watch, easy to sort of figure out and navigate yeah very simple and fun. Do yourself a favor if you love 80s movies and watch winners takeoff. I think it's a real hidden 80s gym but not a lot of people talk about or know about .