Generation Iron (2013)

A documentary that follows top bodybuilders as they train to compete in the Mr. Olympia competition.

Director:

Vlad Yudin

Writer:

Vlad Yudin

Stars:

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mickey Rourke, Michael Jai White

6 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Arnold Schwarzenegger	...	Himself
Mickey Rourke	...	Narrator (voice)
Michael Jai White	...	Himself
Lou Ferrigno	...	Himself
Kai Greene	...	Himself
Busta Rhymes	...	Himself
Ian Mercer	...	Himself
Valerie McCaffrey	...	Herself
Ronnie Coleman	...	Himself
Phil Heath	...	Himself
Vlad Yudin	...	Himself
Lauren Powers	...	Herself
Jay Cutler	...	Himself
Mike Katz	...	Judge
Dennis Wolf	...	Himself

Storyline

From the producer of the original classic Pumping Iron', comes "Generation Iron" the long awaited true story of dedication, rivalry, victory, defeat, redemption and triumph... The film examines the professional sport of bodybuilding today and gives us access to the lives of current bodybuilding stars Phil Heath, Kai Greene, Branch Warren, Dennis Wolf, Victor Martinez, Hidetada Yamagishi as well as ambitious newcomer Ben Pakulski and European sensation Roelly Winklaar on their journey to be crowned Mr. Olympia.

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Plot Keywords:

mr. olympia | bodybuilding | steroid | voice over narration | cult film | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic material and brief strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 September 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Génération de fer

Filming Locations:

Venice Beach, Venice, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$245,000, 22 September 2013, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$849,521, 13 December 2013

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Vladar Company, American Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The man on the poster for the film is Roelly Winklaar

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Soundtracks

Unattached Human
Written by Chris Coyne, Lenny Price, RJ Lamb, Chris Degrottole, and Ryan Coyne
Performed by Sixth Gate

User Reviews

Decent film but a bit boring at times. This is no Pumping Iron.

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