Generation Iron
September. 20,2013 PG-13Generation Iron - examines the professional sport of bodybuilding today and gives the audience front row access to the lives of the top 7 bodybuilders in the sport as they train to compete in the world's most premiere bodybuilding stage - Mr. Olympia.
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Reviews
Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
Undescribable Perfection
I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.
While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
A documentary that follows top bodybuilders as they train to compete in the Mr. Olympia competition. The problem with all of this bodybuilders this days is that they look hideous, they mostly look like Hulk rather than a statue a sculpt in a sense for example look at Arnold's body or Lou Ferrigno's body their both older than all of this guys and they have a better and much more good looking body than them. Michael Jai White (Universal Soldier 2, Spawn) also looks much better than them and believe me it's not a jealous thing or anything it's just the truth these men look like beasts that try way hard to reach the greatness of Arnie's Legacy and they just fail some of them even try acting classes and stuff to become actors as well. Some people might think that Schwarzenegger became an actor cause of his body but he worked very hard to reach that potential and work with directors such as Paul Verhoeven and James Cameron. Phil Heath and Kai Greene also try the whole Arnold v.s Lou thing like in Pumping Iron (1977) but that's the problem stuff looked way better and more realistic back on that golden age and unfortunately you can't have a good bodybuilding champ like in the 70's and the 80's you just can't and unfortunately you might never will again.
First off, I must say that this movie is not very entertaining. I had to watch this movie in three sittings because I could only make it through about 30 minutes without busting out my iPad and surfing the net. It does not capture your attention and bring you on a journey like Pumping Iron did.I lift regularly and get into bodybuilding every few years so I wanted to check this out. The last time I was into it Ronnie Coleman and Jay Cutler were having their rivalry so it was good to see who the current generation of guys are but really that was about all this movie was good for. It wasn't really entertaining. To be honest, it seems like they tried to cover too many guys and there wasn't enough time to really build a story. Obviously the showdown is between Heath and Kai but not much extra time is devoted to it. Maybe if they took a cue from Pumping Iron where 80% of the movie was about Lou vs. Arnold, they could have had something good here as Kai and Heath seem so different. I did really like Kai after seeing this film. The dude looks like a beast but to see him that he eats at home with chopsticks, does performance art on the streets and in the subways and paints really impressed me. He is definitely a renaissance man.I agree with the other reviews here that gripe about the lack of steroid coverage. The movie is not an expose so I get why they didn't say much but when you have Heath claiming that only the bodybuilding community knows how to build muscle while losing fat and the blonde bald guy in Tampa saying the same sort of stuff, it seems the director should have called them out on it.Instead you get a shot of a syringe in a dorm room fridge with Mickey Rourke saying that everyone refused to talk about GH and steroids and then Arnold saying that the reason no one is aesthetic anymore is because there no just using roids like back in the day but a lot of other drugs which allows people to get really oversized and super shredded. Other than that, nothing much else is said.Bottom line: Only watch if you are into bodybuilding. Even then you'll get bored but it is still pretty interesting. 5/10
This was a very interesting documentary, very well put together and you feel you're following these people on their journey to become the next Mr. Olympia. Mickey Rourke as narrator adds a nice touch to it. This is not simply about muscles, it's about what it takes to get to that level and what drives them! It has a nice human element to this which makes you feel for the people you're watching, you see the pain they go through and whilst I'm not an avid supporter of body building you have to give credit for such sheer dedication. It's not a controversial documentary, however nonetheless it kept me entertained and hopefully you'll find it a very pleasant watch too :)
Interesting look into how things have changed in the world of bodybuilding since the cult classic Pumping Iron came out. Overall, the film was well shot and edited with a fairly in-depth look at some Mr. Olympia hopefuls. Overall the movie is more of a commercial for bodybuilding than it is a balanced documentary. However, it was definitely worth watching.The elephant in the room is the fact that genetics, nutrition, and exercise science haven't changed enough over the past 30 years to make these guys look like something out of a comic book. They are taking steroids....lots of them. There is a plethora of medical evidence that steroids cause deleterious effects on the body, which the film acknowledges. One could argue that all professional athletes are using them, but bodybuilding is different. You HAVE to use steroids in order to compete, and there is no real effort to prevent there use. As a physician and a longtime weightlifter it pains me to see so many people pursing this hobby/sport at the expensive of their health. Most of it boils down to money for advertising and supplements. Overall, an entertaining movie, but a painful reminder of what bodybuilding has become.