Directed by: Vlad Yudin
Narrated by: Mickey Rourke
Starring: Phil Heath, Kai Greene, Branch Warren, Dennis Wolf, Victor Martinez, Ben Pakulski, Hidetada Yamagishi, and Roelly Winklaar
You hear the sounds of metal clanging, sweat dripping, and grunting; then you see it. It’s tall and bulging, immediately your struck with intimidation and fear. What stands before you is a body builder and your initial thought is “wow they are huge!” Then you think wow that is gross, or yeah they are dumb? Bodybuilding is a interesting and under appreciated sport. Those involved with this society are often misunderstood, until you watch Generation Iron.
THE MOVIE
Generation Iron, is a documentary film following seven professional bodybuilders chasing the title of Mr. Olympia. Narrated by Mickey Rourke, we are pulled into the lives of men on their journey toward a prestigious bobby building title. It follows their individual reasons why they got into bodybuilding and their personal reflections on why they compete In bodybuilding. They all are chasing physical perfection, and as an audience we get to see the mental and physical disciplines that go along with participating in this sport, as well as explore the topics of public perception and steroids. Two of these individuals, Phil Heath and Kai Greene are the focal characters showcased. and they are the ones I really got invested emotionally in. A very fascinating and eye opening movie, Generation Iron is profound and motivating.
8/10
THE VIDEO
The video was shot in an anamorphic wide screen presentation 1.78:1. Every scene was very well presented and really set up a story arch. We got to meet each character individually and slowly it combined the dynamics of the men together in an amazing climatic Mr. Olympia. I specifically loved the camera angels, when it came to all the emotionally intense parts. For instance when a bodybuilder would not place as well in a competition. The imagery really helped me to understand and feel for multiple individuals.
9/10
THE AUDIO
Dolby digital 5.1, the audio in this film was fantastic. Ok so the dialogue was clear… Great! What made this movie so amazing was the use of music between scenes and under interviews and narration. It is pretty cool to have a score or sound make you understand a message better. To make you kind of tear up when you are seeing a conflict or a failure and have the music reiterate that emotion, is breathtaking. One of the best musically produced documentaries I have ever seen.
9/10
SPECIAL FEATURES
This film has some extras like video commentary from the director and body builder Phil Heath, there is also deleted scenes, and an extended interview with Lou Ferrgino. To be honest none of it was entertaining for me. The film was really really good ,but the extras were nothing to rave about.
5/10
OVERALL
I can honestly say, I use to be one of those people that would judge people off how they looked. In my mind I would look at a body builder and naturally make an assumption that they are dumb, or think they must be on steroids. They talk about this in the documentary. This film will change your perception on this society, who participate in an extremely intense sport that takes a lot of discipline. More discipline then most of us have. The video and audio made this a very powerful documentary and I would highly suggest this film to everyone. There were so many different personalities in this that there is no doubt of finding someone to relate too. So pump your brain with Generation Iron.
9/10 overall(not an average)
The Review