Generation Iron

A look into the lives of 8 bodybuilders who are competing for Mr. Olympia, the top bodybuilding contest in the world. With a running time of about 1 hour 46 minutes — less when you take into account the opening and ending credits — there's not much time to really get into lives of the aforementioned 8; but this documentary wisely focuses on the top two contenders for the title: Kai Greene and Phil Heath (reigning Mr. Olympia at the time this movie was being shot).

Heath seems to have it all: a big house in a nice neighborhood, nice cars, a beautiful wife, the favorite of the crowd, good looks, and a seemingly endless supply of confidence. Virtually the opposite is true for Kai Greene: he lives in Brooklyn, NY (in what seems to be the projects), takes the bus and train to get to where he wants to go, lives alone, and has a quiet confidence that is surprising for a man his size. Both men will endure countless hours of pain in the gym and make many more sacrifices to win the highly coveted title of Mr. Olympia.

"Generation Iron" is a great companion piece to "Pumping Iron," giving people a glimpse into the lives of top bodybuilders 40 years after "Pumping Iron." We see the same sacrifices, grueling workouts, strict diets, rivalry, bravado, doubts, the single goal of being the biggest and the best…only the prizes and the competitors are much, much bigger.

My most memorable, movie moment of "Generation Iron" is the scene when bodybuilder Branch Warren was on a horse and was asked if he was worried about being injured in the gym. After replying that all his major injuries have been outside of the gym, Warren takes off on his horse; and soon after his horse bucks him off and he falls hard on the ground, giving him an injury that could threaten his attempt at the Mr. Olympia title.

An honorable mention goes to the very end of the movie, when ex-bodybuilder and "Pumping Iron" alumni Mike Katz jokes about still looking for his shirt that Arnold Schwarzenegger supposedly stole in "Pumping Iron."

Obviously, "Generation Iron" will be mostly enjoyed by bodybuilders and anyone who has ever lifted weights or pushed their bodies to their limits. But I believe this documentary can be enjoyed by all, as the theme of this movie is the extremes that people will go through to get what they want, to be the best in their field; and that is something that we all can relate to.

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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 :)

I have never owned dumbbells, I haven't done a push up in years, and going to the gym for more than two days in a row has always seemed impossible to me. Still, I have always found really fascinating the fact that some men are willing to go through all sorts of sacrifices and physical tortures just for the sake of getting bigger.

The movie takes us on a journey alongside several bodybuilders who are training to participate and become the next Mr Olympia, which is the maximum price in the sport. For a person who knew absolutely nothing about the guys portrayed in the documentary, I was actually surprised to see some of them doing so well and driving Bentleys and Mercedes cars. I guess that the sport and the interest of sponsors has evolved a lot since the eighties when my cousin had bodybuilding magazines with Lee Haney on the cover or the times when the great Arnold was given a 1000 dollars check in prize money. What hasn't changed is the determination to be bigger, leaner, and more muscular than any other man on the planet. They had ridiculous looking bodies then, it's even worse now.

The one thing that this documentary fails to answer is why they do all this in the first place? Are they the most egotistical and vain people on earth? Are they trying to prove something, to escape something, or are they just another genre of athletes who happen to like bodybuilding like I could like table tennis, or karate? I still haven't got a clue…

In any case, I sort of enjoyed it even though I could not care less about the subject. So whether or not you have an interest in this sport or way of life, it should make for a good enough watch.

It is almost laughable as the "doctors" are questioning "how can these athletes defy science and gain muscle and remain low fat?" But they never discuss all the steroids being used by everybody. I understand I am watching a bodybuilding documentary but it would be more credible if they didn't avoid the blatant use of steroids and then go on to contribute the success purely to work ethic and weight lifting. It is obvious to anyone who has ever been to "tested show" vs. "non-tested" show that the human physique can only become so large without the use of steroids.

In short if your going to make a documentary don't deny the viewers of the pertinent facts. It takes away from the credibility of the director, and the film itself.