Review: ‘Bigger Stronger Faster*’

I went into this movie thinking that it would strictly be a documentary..but it was a little more than that. It was a documentary that also tells the story of how Chris Bell and his brothers got into weight lifting, body building, and their battle with steroid use.

The movie opens up with a montage to classic wrestler Hulk Hogan, and clips of movie hero’s Sly Stalone, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Chris Bell goes on to explain why he looked up to these guys so much as a kid, what they represented, and how they influenced him and his brothers. He knew that deep down these guys were amazing without having to use steroids, and that made him want to get into wrestling and body building/power lifting. As a teenager he was one of the strongest guys in the country, and after years of looking up to these guys for everything they had done, they all admitted to using roids. Which essentially crushed the image that he had of his hero’s.

Chris goes on to touch on both sides of the steroids controversy. Essentially, at least in my mind, he expels the darkness of Steroids, and really opened my mind to the whole thing. If you think about it, if most athletes are on some type of HGH, or Steroids..is it really cheating? Why was the steroids issue, a non issue in the 50’s for the Olympic weight lifting teams? Should vitamins also be illegal in sports? What about protein shakes? All of these items do similar things as steroids, but arent viewed as illegal/banned.

The other really great part is the interview with Henry Waxman who couldnt really answer any questions about the steroids issue, but is the guy who has headed up all the meetings about them in sports. He also thinks you only have to be 18 to buy alcohol, coming off like a complete moron!

The only downside of this flick, and there arent many, it got a little slow in the middle/end of the movie and could have been about 15 minutes shorter.

[rating: 4/5]