Excellent but underrated film

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

This is an honest David-and-Goliath story; a documentary / body-building version of Rocky vs Creed. At the center is a pre-fame Arnold Schwarzenegger; cunning, egotistical, charismatic and hilarious. The film manages to admire these men and their insanely unnatural bodies, while knowingly allowing us to bashfully giggle at the scantily clad, oily muscles at every turn. Highly entertaining look at a world we're all aware of but rarely get to actually know.

It's 1975 before bodybuilding competitions in Pretoria, South Africa. Arnold Schwarzenegger is the multiple Mr. Olympia champion and favorite. He's from Austria and embraces the free wheeling American lifestyle. While he works out of Gold's Gym in Venice Beach, another competitor Lou Ferrigno is a rookie from Brooklyn who suffered from hard of hearing. Other bodybuilders are also highlighted in this unique competition.It's a nice insightful doc into a small slice of the world. Of course, everybody watches this for Arnold today. Our view of him is colored by his future. It is fascinating to see him unscripted. He is a competitive magnetic man with an inquisitive mind. His competitive nature is the most compelling part and explains so much about his life. The bodybuilding world is almost secondary looking back at it. It's an interesting slice of the world unknown at the time but today, it's an insight in one of the world's most fascinating personality.

Nicely filmed docudrama about the sport of bodybuilding. Ken Waller, Ed Corny, Mike Katz and Franco Columbu all make appearances, with the latter two having their own brief segments, but the film's main focus is on five-time champion Arnold Schwarzenegger defending his Mr. Olympia title against Lou Ferrigno and Serge Nubret. Partly scripted, with some stories being a bit embellished or possibly completely made up. Completion stalled for a couple of years due to budgetary problems, but Schwarzenegger and other bodybuilders helped raise funds to continue filming. Yes, this is the movie where Arnold compares working out to sex—and it's a humorously ridiculous analogy even in the context of this film.*** (out of four)

Pumping Iron is a great documentary. A rather revealing look at the then smaller world of body-building. Audiences are introduced to the charismatic, brash and overly-confident Arnold Schwarzenegger. Later we see the camaraderie between the muscle men at Arnold's gym in L.A. Thereis a huge contrast between the fun atmosphere of L.A. and the austere and dark gym where Lou Ferrigno trains under the rather obsessive watch of his father, Matty. While Ferrigno is bigger than Arnold, Arnold is considered to have the body with best symmetry and alignment, not to forget those 25 inch biceps. The scenes with Mike Katz, an amateur body-builder and former NY Jets player with an enormous chest are quite memorable and inspiring. Katz talks about the taunting he received as a kid and how this pushed him to train hard to achieve his goals. Try to watch the DVD which includes an update 30 years later. Included among several memorable scenes are: Arnold smoking a joint; Arnold talking about the pump and "coming" feeling; Arnold giving tips on how to pose; after Lou Ferrigno has finished an impressive set of military benches, his father tells that Arnold might be training twice as hard as he is; some body builders who can barely run normally thanks to so much muscle. Great Documnetary, don't miss it.