MovieChat Forums > Vision Quest (1985) Discussion > Sorry but I do NOT approve.

Sorry but I do NOT approve.

posted 12 years ago by creatorof2002
4 replies | jump to latest

I just could not support that guy's decision, even after the happy ending victory we do not have a guarantee that he has not done damage to his health by making his weight so low.

Usually in martial arts movies (wrestling is arguably a martial art) the hero is SMALLER than his nemesis (think Rocky 4). In this movie HE was the larger one but STILL the underdog because he damaged his health and had to go through hell to "make weight" yet his smaller opponent did not have to make any adjustments to make weight, what he weighed just happened to be the natural size of his body anyway!!

Well 160 was NOT a realistic weight for Matthew Modine. He was several inches taller than Shute and even if one has a streamlined toned physique of a wrestler all that dense muscle tissue has to weigh something. We need to accept the fact that different people are different sizes, that is WHY we have weight divisions (at least ONE of the reasons). Losing weight to make weight is fine if you are getting rid of fat or excess water retention to get super lean but BLOODY NOSES? IRON DEFICIENCY? I just do not approve. I AGREE with his trainers that he should have just accepted the fact that he was bigger than Shute.

Can you imagine a HEAVYWEIGHT BOXER like MIKE TYSON shedding fifty or so pounds (I do not know exactly where the weight divisions are in boxing, just trying to make a point here) so that he could compete against a middleweight champion. If he did pull it off by some kind of crazy starvation scheme he would almost certainly lose because he would be malnourished and depleted and he would be facing someone who is middleweight simply because that is the size of his body.

He was well intentioned and I DO respect the awesome level of self discipline involved but I am amazed that his trainers would even ALLOW him to do this. Oh you cannot force a person to eat BUT his coach could say something like (you are naturally a 180 pound person, that is the natural weight of your body and you will compete in that division, if you lose more than X number of pounds I will ban you from this wrestling team and you will need to find a new coach)

[–] CCarbone23 11 years ago

Clearly you were never a wrestler...

[–] duckofprey 11 years ago

OP, you obviously have no idea what you are talking about as far as how weight loss and wrestling fit together, especially back when this film was made.

Back when I wrestled (early 70s) I saw guys lose as much as Swain in this film countless times. I myself weighed 194 in football and wrestled at 167 a few matches...and I was 6'2". We had one guy who played football at 138 and wrestled 105.

By the way, Swain went to 168 to wrestle Shute, not 160.

[–] Fluke_Skywalker 11 years ago

You see this is why I played tennis.

I have vivid memories of our wrestlers cutting weight, though. You'd see them at lunch, sipping on water...and I do mean sipping...all bundled up in layers of clothing under a thick track suit. I admire that sort of dedication, but you'd have a tough time convincing me it's healthy.

"What are they saying?"

"Rise."

[–] robocop-37224 8 years ago

And to add SHUTE was 6'1" and Louden was 6'2"..