Bigger

source: Bigger

So glad I caught this film on HBO! I'm no obsessed bodybuilder worrying about insignificant details, but instead I watch a film to be entertained. Call me crazy 🤷‍♂️ It's not a doc, but instead, a really fun and inspirational look at a couple of guys who should be admired. Watch it, you'll have a blast!

I did not do to the fact that the same people that created my favorite sport kept it down and never truly allowed it grow thereby the bodybuilders' lives never really got a fair chance to flourish. I think greed is a bitch and it gets the best of all of us, although I do and I did enjoy the movie, as it was a thoughtful well written piece of work but there is a dark side to the Weiders as most big moguls who can and are savvy at business. There is so much that can be said about this strange cult sport, in fact, even within its sect the fans have a hard time attaching the proper label to our favorite "what bro, bb is not a sport its a beauty pagant" No its not, there are athletes working out all year of course its a sport" So there again, there is so much confusion and with the displaced homoeroticsm and the entire big complex and it goes on and on and on, there was never a chance that this could ever be in the Olympics. But we go on no matter what, we keep being fans, yes it is very very strange, but there have been breakaway moments in which this whatever it is, has really inspired by transcending the petty obvious and transporting us into the ineffable with really aesthetic creative beautiful posing routines, yes there is the heart of this , BB. So yes it told a story, I think it kept it nice, very nice overtly so , perhaps becuase due to the stritures of this medium, but like anything that has been rammned in the closet for too long, if they had even opened up about any of the darkness within the factions of bb, it would have given egress to a massive deluge so , it was, and I think really what we get here is the personality of Joe and Ben, and their intent, a very nice one indeed, but... as all stories go, we must stumble into life and no one is perfect, perhaps they did want at some point to give as much back to their bb's but in the end fell short. It is too bad, but all in all, I think this tale really touched on the human spirit of someone who really loved everything about , whatever the hell this bitch is, BB! We all as fans of it, hope and pray for the best for the all the people and their families involved, a start is all everyone is waiting for...

Huge bb fan and in the industry so I was excited for this movie. Just felt like there was no crescendo. Interesting story however accurate it actually is. Would have been fun to see more of the Arnold/frank/Sergio competition. It was just a blip in the movie. I know it's about Weider but still that time was defined by the Oak.

WOW, I'm too young to know the history of these fitness trailblazers but I really enjoyed the movie and found it highly entertaining. Despite my age, I like learning about where things came from. It was totally worth watching and I highly recommend it!

Don't let the hater reviews dissuade you from seeing this movie. Most of them are body builders. I won't say failed. Maybe never did anything so they are super focused and critical of one of the founders of the genre. You can't deny that Joe Weider paved the way for many a pumped up meat puppet. Arnold included! And I actually had Weider Weights back in the day. Didn't make a difference, but that was my fault.

Now I know about the sport of bodybuilding as I have trained in gyms in and off since the eighties and used to buy the Weider magazines. So I was looking forward to this film to see old time bodybuilders. The film had a few in there but nothing as I thought there would be. So the film itself was good but nothing special, I felt it played it safe, nothing controversial in it. I was waiting for a strong punchline, something that would say it was in the Raging Bull side of movies not Driving Miss Daisy side of films, it sided with the latter. So I enjoyed but left disappointed with it. Overall a good film but nothing special with it.

I enjoyed it a lot. I am not a bodybuilder,I don't use steroids either just a regular guy who works out. Great acting and story. Why was it not in the movie theaters?? This is a gem. This is a very light movie with no steroid topics and other things that IFBB is famous for... regardless, it was great!

When I was a kid growing up and got into weight training, Weider's name was everywhere, and it still is. The film does a good job of painting Weider's formative years, but once it gets into the actual nitty-gritty of showing how the IFBB grew, the inaccuracies grow by leaps and bounds. As an example, the IFBB was founded in 1946, not 1951. Arnold, when he came to the US, barely spoke English, and even then, his accent was incredibly thick. (It still is, but he speaks English far better now). My biggest quibble is with the acting and the script...both aren't great. Julianne Hough is pretty and does okay as Betty Brosmer (Weider), but as for the others...Tyler Hoechlin tries hard, but he fails to get that rather nasal intonation the real Joe Weider had. Kevin Durand is a decent actor, but here, he's just a foamin'-at-the-mouth rabid anti-Semite, and his character shows zero depth. Same for the rest of the cast, although I give Calum von Moger (Arnold S) credit for trying. The inaccuracies--as mentioned before as well as by other commenters--continue with a lot of the movie glossing over the real way Weider and his brother worked. It was a cutthroat business, but the film fails to show how Weider managed to screw over other bodybuilders when it came to contracts and paying residuals for photo shoots. It does nothing to address the problem of steroids or the various legal scandals Weider went through. In short, it's a one-sided, rose-colored love song to the vast and, IMO, very flawed Weider empire.

BIGGER is essentially the video biography of the grandfather of bodybuilding/nutrition, Joe Weider. Perhaps best known for his weights (WEIDER across a set of plates or barbells at your local gym), Joe and his brother Ben arguably brought bodybuilding and the need for balanced nutrition to the forefront of western culture, some 60 years ago. The billion dollar market that exists today, is based on the template that Weider created with his magazines, equipment, pro competitions and the creation of the IFBB. The film portrayal is loyal to his life, vision and clearly conveys the passion Joe obviously felt from a very young age without any outside influence in being drawn to the sport of bodybuilding (before he had it recognized as a sport). To me, the firl was very entertaining beginning to end; some of the acting was a little wooden at times and downright awful at others (Calum Von Moger, looking at you) but it can be forgiven for these moments, since the goal of showing Arnold in his prime at a competition were achieved/believable, which obviously outweighed the requirement to have him be a good actor to boot. With that said, I really hope Calum pursues acting (after some good lessons) because it would be a lot of fun to see him throw people around in roles like Arnie used to do, coupled with memorable one-liners ( "Crush ya' enemies, see dem driven befo' you...") All in all, a great movie which I recommend checking out. Solid 3.5 out of 5 stars.