Purely Joyful Movie!

Absolutely amazing

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Hey! You wanna meet the "million-dollar" athletes who cheat (with steroids)?.Yes. Even if you're not an avid body-builder, I certainly think that this documentary "Bigger, Stronger, Faster*" is well-worth a view.This 2008 documentary really does open the viewer's eyes to how wide-spread the use of steroids (not only amongst athletes) actually is in the USA (and, of course, the rest of the world, as well).I definitely give director/co-writer, Chris Bell, a big hand of applause for the very professional attitude and well-informed nature of this 100-minute documentary.Bell certainly did a commendable job of covering all of the ground and getting as many relevant opinions (for his documentary) when it came to the pros and cons of regular steroid use (and, in some cases, the inevitable disastrous effects of this drug's prolonged use, too).

Like many men his age, growing up Chris Bell idolized the muscle stars of the 80s like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Hulk Hogan. He dreamed of becoming a professional bodybuilder and working out at Gold's Gym with his heroes. He was devastated, therefore, when he realized these men were juiced up and that their message was fraudulent. Chris reluctantly accepted that to truly compete in the sport he loved he would have to turn to steroids and ultimately rejected the drugs. His brothers, Mike and Mark, couldn't make the same choice. "Bigger, Stronger, Faster" explores the controversy that is the steroid industry and the American obsession with being just what the film's title describes."BSF" is what you would call a balanced documentary, or to purists, a "true" documentary. Chris explores both sides of the argument over steroids and does his best to leave the final decision of whether or not steroids have been overly vilified up to the audience. There is a certain amount of reluctance to the narrative that Chris provides and you can sense the conflict within himself as he takes us through this journey. On the one hand, he believes the drugs to be morally wrong. On the other, he knows he can't compete without them and proponents of steroids (featured prominently throughout "BSF") make a compelling case for their usage. Chris is a human face for the battle against steroids, a sympathetic figure who really sums up the issues that so many athletes face these days.Unlike some of the reviews I've read, "BSF" is NOT a pro-steroid documentary. Those who would push for the legalization of the juice are given an opportunity to express their beliefs and discuss the scientific tests that would support their assertions. But I found this to be more in the interest of the aforementioned balance rather than portions of a propaganda piece for 'roids. The classic side effects of steroids (acne, uncontrollable anger, loss of fertility, etc.) are not only discussed but clearly displayed by the drug's defenders even as they argue against these afflictions. When Chris quietly challenges some of the assertions of anti-steroid campaigners, notably Congressman Henry Waxman, it is done with respect and genuine interest in the factual basis for some of the widely-held beliefs about steroids. Through these questions, Chris shows that the issue of just how destructive these drugs are is not as clear-cut as we tend to think. Whether right or wrong, you can find studies that will support your claims either way.Chris brings the point home, however, when he turns the camera on his own family as he peers into the lives of his brothers, both of who use steroids regularly and both of whom have been negatively impacted by their habits. It is a truly compelling moment when Chris' dad tells him point-blank that he expects Mike to turn up dead sooner rather than later. It's even more hard-hitting when you know that just a few months after the filming of "Bigger, Stronger, Faster", Mike did die at the age of 37. A longtime steroid user who would have done anything to break into the world of big time wrestling, Mike's early demise serves as this documentary's lasting impact and perhaps the final point to swing the balance of the film's debate.Check out my site: www.thesoapboxoffice.blogspot.com

I am a basketball player of athletic built (work outs in the gym for 2 years now) and I personally am against the use of performance enhancing drugs or anabolic steroids (in sports).I was pretty mixed up after finishing this movie because I was never really sure if it was deliberate to weaken both the shown pro and anti steroid arguments, or if the movie simply sucks. Third possibility, the director and writers give an insight of how weird the mind processing of a (ex-)steroid user is.The reason why I ask myself this is because never ever a clear position on steroids in sports or in general seems to be taken and every time we have a point we are quickly served a counter argument.So now what? Let everybody do what he thinks is right? Can we blame America's competitive society for the popularity of steroids among gym rats? Seriously? On the pro-steroid side, we are presented with a lot of (mislead but also some successful) steroid takers who all seem like they don't get their mindset right, but on the anti-steroid side we have a politician heavily involved in the fight of steroids who has no clue what he's talking about.Does this mean that both sides are lead by unknowing amateurs that APPEAR to be great (bulky on one side, politician on the other) but that in REALITY they both pretty much lost track of who they are and what they initially wanted to achieve? Maybe so, that's at least what I thought, which would make the director great.Why else would he let steroid users say that since everybody takes 'em, they want to they 'em too, to stay competitive. Are we to choose a position on that? Is the movie provoking us to decide first for ourselves whether the use of steroids is bad and then for others? After all, many points in the movie go that direction to let everybody decide for himself what he thinks about steroids.For instance, we have the director explain to us that steroids are banned, illegal, ill received but that everybody condemning it did either take them (Governor Schwarzenegger) or support their use (in Sports, like ex-President G.W. Bush).To prove a point, he creates his own supplement, deliberately showing off that most of the stuff must be total sh**. Same thing with the photo-shopping of ads.The main supporters are supposed to be the fans that love and want more performance from their favorite athletes. So some are accused to play blind and others want it to be in order to ignore that, while we officially don't like cheating in sports, we, secretly, want it.Is the use of steroids then simply the result of what happens if your inner dirt bag takes over? Then that is does not pay off, because 99.99% of the steroid addicted gym rats achieve NOTHING in life but side effects? Talking about side effects, Mikes wife claims to not witness any on her husband, but she could by lying.Just as Barry Bonds says "You all lied". We all somewhere did. Maybe we should clean our closets first but truth be told, the no closet will ever get cleaned, they will all get dirtier.So here we are: steroids are bad, they are cheats, but then again they do not replace talent, there are other more dangerous drugs, then some side effects are reversible, some are not (those remain of course unmentioned in this movie) etc. etc, We could go on with that mindset and go nowhere, but I dare to find one point in this whole movie: Everybody has dirt on his hands but prefers to wash someone else's first while hiding theirs behind their back.There is also a letdown in this movie. That there IS a way to look like your role model or to at least feel to have achieved something great like your sports role model: work hard and earn it with honest effort. Unlike Johnson's stripped gold medal, that hard earned silver medal makes you an honest smiler.And happy with no negative side effects.

This is an honest, entertaining, and informative documentary. The man who is making this documentary about steroid use isn't someone just talking about it. You can tell he is emotionally involved in this. This is due to both his brothers taking steroids. That is a big part of the documentary. He isn't a guy interviewing someone he doesn't even know. He is talking to his brothers, and that makes this documentary much more than a documentary. It is also very entertaining. Documentaries are not made to be entertaining. They are made to be informative, but this documentary manages to keep you entertained as well as informed. That leads us to the information. They give solid facts in this movie. This does really show how publicity for steroids as gone overboard. People all the time say that steroids kill thousands of people, but this shows a solid number of 3 people confirmed dead from steroids a year. This really is one of the best documentaries I've ever watched. It is very underrated.4 stars out of 4