Rating: 
Summary: The best of the best
Review: This is the one to own. PUMPING IRON tells the story behind the competition. Featuring Lou Ferrigno, Franco Columbo, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as they compete for the Mr. Universe title. This is the model by which all other body building stories are judged.
Rating:
Summary: My introduction to Pumping Iron
Review: I first saw Arnold in a movie called Conan The Barbarian. I was little then, and I only caught glimpses of a few clips. A couple of my dad's friends rented it and watched it in our house. I wasn't impressed much then...until a few years later. My first real exposure to Arnold was with the movie poster of Commando. He looked ruthless and cold and I frankly haven't ever seen that kind of a killer like determined image of anyone before. He looked like nothing could stand in his way once he started moving on. I watched Red Heat first and a few more movies of his and was very impressed with his muscular physique and started bodybuilding on the roof of my dad's house in earnest. Later, one day, I met (now a close friend of mine) Shimul. He was Mr. Bangladesh (in the middleweight division), and he was training for the next contest. I had never seen a bodybuilder in person before and this 180lb and beautifully developed guy was the first amateur bodybuilder I met. He looked awesome to me (I was a 150 lb weakling then). When I told him of Arnold and his movies (I had no idea that Arnold was the best bodybuilder of all time then) he smiled and said, wait till you see the real Arnold in a movie called "Pumping Iron". The next day I borrowed it from him and watched it. When I saw the scene where he does the concentration curls with the dumbbells my eyes almost fell out of my sockets...his arms looked like balloons..like someone blew air into them and they were ready to explode! This guy was larger than life and it was only a video I was looking at. I became hooked to bodybuilding after that, and in my mind I have only one image (that of Arnold) when I aspire to change my own physique. I became a bigger fan after watching this movie because my respect of him as a bodybuilder grew after the initial introduction to the moviestar. I think any bodybuilding fan or Arnold fan should have this movie
in their collection. I recently was able to lay my hands on a Rhino version of the movie (in VHS format) from my university media library, and was able to make a personal copy of the movie. The print is very clear and the version is uncut. The one I watched in Bangladesh (where I lived before) wasn't very clear and complete. But this one is. I think it is sad that the movie has gone out of production as it is a great educational video for any aspiring bodybuilder or person with an intention to build a better physique.
Rating:
Summary: This is a REAL CLASSIC a must have for anyones collection!!
Review: If you do not own your copy of this movie you better find one fast! This Rhino version is the UNCUT version! I have been looking everywhere for it, most of the Blockbusters have discontinued it. The best movie ever created about bodybuilding! Arnold looks AWESOME! He is in great shape, it is such a nice change from the current bodybuilding scene! Find it....... buy it....... and watch it over and over! Only purchase the NTSC version by RHINO, the "imports" are not the same movie and have poor quality. The Rhino versions are VERY RARE!!!! I am still looking for a good quality video, all I find are the "imports", everyone I have talked to will not sell their Rhino copy. If you find one that is in good quality BUY IT! It will only go UP in value!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Greatest movie of all time!!
Review: If you are a fan of bodybuilding this movie is great. It is the best Arnold movie I have ever seen. It not only shows bodybuilding, but it give you and ideal of who Arnold was before he was a movie star.
Rating:
Summary: The Original Arnold Epic
Review: As someone who was actually in the audience at Mountain Park when the sequences featuring Arnold guest-posing there were shot, I suppose I was a bit player in this movie. I was invited by Ed Jubinville, who ran the event, and got the chance to meet Arnold after the show. Yet my fondness for this expansive and revealing look into the intense subculture of bodybuilding is based more on the way it opened up the world of physical fitness and bodybuilding, which up to that point had been the subject of crude jokes and ridicule. This in many ways is a documentary, and photographer and videographer George Butler and author Charles Gaines (who wrote the original best-selling book, "Pumping Iron") took quite a risk in pushing this cultish film into the mainstream. Indeed, it originally played in arthouses and didn't become a hit until later. Yet it provided the spring for success Arnold needed to prove he could both emote and act (not many people understood the film was in fact scripted, such that many of the so-called stories and events were derived from the experiences of others,written into the film to provide a plot that otherwise didn't exist. thus events such as Schwarzenegger's father's death just before the Olympia (never happened that way), or Ken Waller plotting to undo Mike Katz. Likewise, the whole Mike Katz teeshirt routine. Still, at base this remains a fascinating look into the otherwise mysterious world of competitive bodybuilding, although the story described herein depicts a world that no longer exists as it did twenty five years ago. Nowadays bodybuilding is a big-money enterprise, and it has changed in the process of so evolving. People are in it for the money and the fame, and drugs play a much bigger part in the calculation than they did then. In that sense at least, it has lost its innocence. Still, for anyone so inclined, this is a memorable and intriguing story, featuring a numbner of world class strength athletes such as Schwarzenegger, Louis Ferrigno, Franco Columbo, Serge Nubret, and Mike Katz, all then in their prime. This is a terrific movie, and one that I am sure you will enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Smoke A dube with Arnold
Review: This is the best documentary/movie i have ever seeen. you get to learn about the personality and dedication of Arnold. After watching this flick i have a whole new perspective and view of bodybuilding. Great for motivation and a laugh.
Rating: 
Summary: More-or-less, just a bodybuilding documentary.
Review: Yeah, Arnold can lift weights, and he can teach, but this isn't really a MOVIE, with adventure and plot- it's a weightlifting documentary type film, so ARNOLD FANS and Action fans, don't go out and rent this with a bag of popcorn in hand, because you will be turning on C-SPAN 2 before reaching the end of this film. Pumping Iron is good for studying and learning how to work your muscles. It isn't good for a Friday night flick. PUMPING IRON (1979) Rated: PG 3 1/2 stars out of 5.
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Summary: A Slice of History from the Golden Age of Bodybuilding
Review: Pumping Iron essentially follows four bodybuilders, two professional (Arnold Schwarzenegger & Lou Ferigno) and two amatuers (Mike Katz & Ken Waller)as they train and compete for their sport's top prize, Mr. Olympia and Mr. Universe, respectively. The setting is 1975 and the contests take place in Pretoria, South Africa. There are also several vignettes describing the backgrounds of the competitors listed above as well as Franco Columbo. In addition to the background of the main competitors, we get to see a side of them that is unknown to the audience (at that time) - such as Arnold's use of psychology against opponents and his unsatisfied thirst for victory. Visually, the training at Gold's Gym in Venice,CA and the posedown at the contests, are stunning. I would have liked to see more training and contest footage (I'm sure it exists) but perhaps they are saving it for a DVD edition (if it ever gets made). Overall, this is an excellent video tape to own. If you are a bodybuilding fan, this will undoubtedly provide you with motivation and insight. If you are not a fan, this may be what makes you one.
Rating:
Summary: Getting this Video
Review: I know that many people are looking for this video. If Warner Studios receives letters then they may be persuaded to release tis video in limited quantities (it has happedned before with other titles). Write those Emails!!
Rating:
Summary: Documenting Arnold was a star before Arnold was a star
Review: You will never get a better chance to see a movie star in embryonic form than watching 28-year old Austrian body builder Arnold Schwarzenegger in this 1976 documentary about bodybuilding. Arnold is "Pumping Iron" to win his sixth straight Mr. Olympia title and the future Terminator steals the spotlight from his competitors (including Lou Ferrigno in his pre-Incredible Hulk days) with relative ease. Directors George Butler and Robert Fiore capture the world of competitive bodybuilding on film, but it is Arnold who makes it all seem like such a noble effort. With his natural charm and his single-minded determination, it is easy in retrospect to see why he became such a box officer star. This is a man who has always been comfortable with who he is and what he is doing. Even if you find the sight of muscular men covered in oil to be somewhat disquieting (I am pleading guilty here), you will find this look at their world to be both fascinating and insightful.
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