Pumping Iron (1977)
Cinegate/Almi Cinema 5
Oh Lordy! It’s easy to see why Arnold “The Governator” Schwarzenegger tried his darndest to get this documentary banned before he began his Californian election campaign.
Pumping Iron is a hilarious yet disturbing look into the bizarre realm of professional bodybuilding.
Documenting the 1975 Mr. Olympia Bodybuilding Competition, the film gives an in-depth view of what it takes to become the ultimate meathead. Displaying obsessive eating habits and punishing workout schedules, these insecure muscle-freaks make most anorexic catwalk models seem like they aren’t trying hard enough.
Arnie is the arrogant womanising protagonist of the film, who sees himself as a master of reverse psychology, wielding his warped intellect like a talisman of stupidity. No one is safe from the Terminator's prima donna wrath, not even a guy who has a severe hearing impairment.
At one point, Arnie compares the "high" he gets from lifting weights to that of having an orgasm, “I get the same feeling, so I am cumming day and night. It's terrific, right? So I am in heaven.”
Pumping Iron shows what happens to high school dweebs who wanted to reverse the years of torment by becoming 50 times bigger than the 14-year-old bullies that had once taunted them. Utter genius.
- Review by Jordan Bloomer.
Clip from Pumping Iron: