By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Vlad Yudin
Country: united_states
Year: 2013
Running time: 106
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2205904/combined
Thom says: “This Chlotrudis offering far out-met my expectations which is always a thrill for this inveterate viewer. Of course I’d seen PUMPING IRON (1977) back in the day, & was surprised probably as anyone at the continued career & personal moves young Schwarzenegger was to make, but I’ve never found body-building to be much of a rewarding topic so I’ve only seen a sparse number of documentaries related to the subject. So while I not unexpectedly was not drawn towards the mystique of the
Mr. Olympia competition, through the expertise of the filmmakers I more saw the drive and attitude shown by these modern day ‘Olympians’ as an approach to any hard fought wanting to win. Much of the competitiveness shown can apply to any walk of life. Yes there was the irrevocable fact that to achieve such size one had to take steroids so in some ways it was hard to get past that ostensibly these men were all freaks. It became even more apparent when we saw the earlier films of California’s ex-Governor when he won the Mr. Olympia contest and these new men are twice the size. So the direct contrast of these new contestants’ commitment to the circus show result is bizarre, almost fascinating. Very objective reporting. 4 cats”