Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
 | Directed by Christopher Bell Starring: Christopher Bell, Mark Bell, Mike Bell, Christian Boeving, Floyd Landis Magnolia Home Entertainment, 2008, DVD Customer Rating: 19 reviews Recommend |
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When you discover that your heroes have all broken the rules, do you follow the rules, or do you follow your heroes? From the producers of Bowling For Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 comes a powerful new documentary that unflinchingly explores steroid use in the biggest, strongest, fastest country in the world: America.
Pop culture junkies tend to think of Hulk Hogan, Sylvester Stallone, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as entertainment figures. In Poughkeepsie, NY, back in the 1980s, filmmaker Christopher Bell and his brothers viewed them as heroes and became bodybuilders. Like the Hulkster, Mike and Mark Bell even turned to professional wrestling. Chris, a former staffer at Venice's famous Gold's Gym, doesn't use anabolic steroids — he did try them once — but his heroes have and his brothers do, leading him to look deeper at this increasingly common practice. While Bell explores the health costs of juicing, he's mostly concerned with the moral consequences involved in the use of performance-enhancing substances. Though he refrains from judgment, he stopped taking steroids because it felt dishonest. Naturally, his burly brothers feel otherwise. Aside from his family, Bell speaks with doctors, lawyers, congressmen, gym rats, and professional athletes, like Olympic sprinters Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis and Tour de France cyclist Floyd Landis. He also includes footage of José Canseco, Barry Bonds, and Mark McGwire testifying during the federal grand jury and congressional hearings on steroid use in the major leagues (prompted by the publication of Canseco's Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big). For the most part, Bell doesn't leave any stone unturned and the personal nature of his entertaining and enlightening inquiry elevates Bigger, Stronger, Faster, i.e. The Side Effects of Being American, above your average exposé. Recommended to athletes, sports fans, health nuts, and of course, pop culture junkies. — Kathleen C. Fennessy
Title: Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
Sales Rank: 3587 in DVD
Actor: Christopher Bell, Mark Bell, Mike Bell, Christian Boeving, Floyd Landis
Director: Christopher Bell
Studio: Magnolia Home Entertainment, 2008-09-30, Theatrical Release: 2008
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen, Acpect Ratio 1.78:1
Languages: English (Original Language)
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region Code: 1
Running Time: 107 minutes
Item Dimensions: 0.15 pounds
Package Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.42 x 0.58 inches, 0.18 pounds
- Little man complex tacken to the extreme with naivitity
- No one other than 12 year old bots are shocked when they find out Arnold Schwarzenegger and Hulk Hogan used anabolic steroids. The documentary is angled from the smallest of three brother who doesn't use steroids and his brothers do. They are also much physically larger than him as well which describes most of the physical… More reviews
- Biceps in Balance!
- Bigger, Stronger, Faster is a well done, honestly written documentary that avoids the usual hyperbole involved in the steroid debate. It's balanced and personal and deals with real lives of people who you know and with whom you work and live. It stays away exclusive focus on steriod usage in the upper eschalon of athletes and bodybuilders. And… More reviews
- Excellent!!!
- Finally the truth about the Ben Johnson' case. The whole world know that the american athletes only compete "in juice". Always there were stories about a tam arriving in a country to a competition and, when knew that they have a dopping test, the whole team returned to america. Also, is was commom, some years ago, that always… More reviews
- Thought provoking documentary that may shatter your preconceptions ..
- "Our heroes have always used steroids ..." Or is that how the song goes???
I expected this to be an anti-steroid film. It was neither that nor a pro-steroid commercial. Instead, it is a thoughtful and thought-provoking documentary of the role of performance enhancers in our society. It seems to imply that steroids are wrapped up in the American culture (though elsewhere the film implies that… More reviews
- Even better than I expected!
- I wanted to see this film ever since it got outstanding reviews during its theatrical run. Unfortunately, that theatrical run did not include my town. However, when I watched the dvd, I found that the reviews did not do this film justice.
Chris Bell's film blows away anything that Michael Moore puts out for the reason… More reviews
