Pumping Iron

I just watched Pumping Iron. I'd never actually seen it the whole way through, just clips here and there.

It's a really cool snapshot in time as it follows the 1975 Mr. Olympia competition. It's a pretty superficial documentary that is more like a band's tour diary than anything else. You don't really get into anyone's psyche. It's just light-hearted banter between various body-builders. You actually don't learn very much at all. So from that perspective it's a failure. But on the flipside...it is entertaining. So you gotta give it that. It'd be worth it for Arnold's "cumming" monologue alone.

Arnold comes across like a bit of an arrogant douche. No surprise there. Ferigno comes across as a simple child.

The best part about it is the motivation factor. You watch it and you want to lift hard. That's all there is to it. It's a 90 minute pep talk. It'll be fresh in my mind when I hit the gym tomorrow.