Metacritic reviews

Arnold conquers all comers, your heart, and the world!

Pumping Iron is, of course, a documentary, but Schwarzenegger isn’t merely its subject—he’s its star, and his beaming, witty, charismatic presence in the film is among the most ingratiating performances of the time, one that’s resoundingly predictive of the acting career that he had long aspired to and that he would, of course, soon achieve.

Chronicling the 1975 Mr. Olympia contest, where Schwarzenegger faced off against TV Hulk Lou Ferrigno, this is now more a compelling document of his days before superstardom than it is a real insight into bodybuilding.

A very good film, beautifully shot and edited, intelligently structured and — to risk what will surely seem at first a highly inappropriate term —charming.

Its strongest card is the outrageously charismatic Schwarzenegger, but its view of musclemen and physique contests in general has a charm not unlike Rocky.

It remains notable primarily as a record of pre-Hollywood Arnold Schwarzenegger.

An amusing, buoyant documentary about competitive body building, dominated by the humorous though awesomely proportioned star presence of champion of champions Arnold Schwarzenegger as he trains and disarms the competition prior to defending the title of Mr. Olympia for the fifth time.

The most fascinating aspect of this film is the dedicated training that turns average-built young men (frequently they refer to themselves as weaklings in their early youth) into superbly-created physical edifices.

An interesting, rather slick and excessively long documentary about the small but intensely competitive world of body-building.

Pumping Iron offers a revealing record of his [Schwarzenegger] earliest dalliances in the spotlight.