The Redeemed and the Dominant: Fittest on Earth (2016) User Reviews

Shallow, more like a movie-length commercial

[stikkanen · 5/10 · 5 February 2018]

Interesting and entertaining, but really shallow with a lot of missed opportunities. Resembles an overlong commercial for the Crossfit games, with absolutely no critique or alternative viewpoints. Just glorification of the stars, the games and Crossfit as a sport.

What could have been added:

• comparison to CrossFit's classic equivalents, like decathlon
• injury rates compared to other sports
• interviews of friends and family of the stars
• the hushed topic of steroids in Crossfit
• the "american dream" promise: "anybody can reach this with hard work", even though it's a real possibility only for a really small amount of people, regardless of discipline or work ethics
• the commercialism and the money machine behind CrossFit Games

Very limited

[atalanta26pt2 · 4/10 · 21 July 2018]

This documentary could have been so much more illuminating and interesting. It just plods along following about 10 athletes during the cross fit games, with each of them spitting out cliche after cliche, nothing remotely insightful. Situating this type of sport in the context of other sports, documenting the athletes lifestyles/injuries/how they support themselves, their training, talking about controversies, talking about its relationship to the military, discussing the business aspect, etcetc. Could have been a much richer profile. Also, the crossfit staff/organizers like Pat Sherwood came across as complete narcissistic, selinflated jerks and were hard to take seriously. .

Not bad if you like individual sport

[thormint · 5/10 · 12 September 2016]

Recap of 2015 CrossFit Games. It is a TV-reality type of movie. Not too much argument. Basically they compete during the whole week in different physical events and they get points depending on the position finished. The winner, obviously, will be the one who gets more points during all the events. The most remarkable part could how all athletes try to overachieve and push themselves in all the contests. Before watching this documentary/movie I recommend to ask yourself if you like this activities based on many different types of outdoor contests. I recommend this documentary/mini-movie to all the gym people who really enjoy working out and competing each other. If not, you won't be missing too much if not watching.