In retrospect, the movie is of special interest because of its presentation of Schwarzenegger during this nascent portion of his career. As a result, the film is in many ways more compelling today than during its initial theatrical run in 1977.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 21, 2024

The stage show is all about oiled hardbodies and sculpted musculature, but the movie is a portrait of competition as war and Schwarzenegger as the warrior supreme...

| Aug 19, 2023

I recommend the film highly if only because it is rare... a chance to see someone who has perfected an art form.

| Sep 22, 2022

Pumping Iron is definitely a movie worth seeing. Adherents to the sport of bodybuilding will get all you want and more. For those of you who are skeptical and uninformed, the film will dispel some notions, reinforce others, but bring you in touch.

| May 20, 2022

Personally, I found it a bit of a bore.

| Oct 23, 2019

Schwarzenegger is irresistible, dominating every scene he appears in and offering the kind of T-Shirt slogan soundbites that continue to make him a favourite source for anyone looking for inspiration.

| May 30, 2018

Schwarzenegger isn't merely its subject-he's its star, and his beaming, witty, charismatic presence in the film is among the most ingratiating performances of the time.

| May 30, 2018

Pumping Iron becomes a fascinating glimpse at the kind of sociopathy required of living gods.

| May 30, 2018

When documentary buffs insist filmic truth is better than fiction, they'll cite this absorbing look at bodybuilding.

| May 30, 2018

In retrospect, it is unsurprising that both of the film's main stars pursued careers in acting, because Pumping Iron is a documentary in only the most liberal sense of the word.

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 30, 2018

Full of much more heart than you might expect.

| May 30, 2018

Pumping Iron is more or less the first proper introduction to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Not the person, though. No, the persona.

| May 30, 2018

[Schwarzenegger] carries that phenomenal physique so nonchalantly that one can't help feeling charmed and reassured.

| Apr 30, 2018

More than a documentary about a bodybuilding competition, Pumping Iron is a chilling glance at the brain of a budding politician. [Full review in Spanish]

| Jan 12, 2018

While the movie serves as an unwitting advertisement for a culture of male self-obsession, narcissism, and physical perfectionism, it also begs comment from some young boy with an Emperor's New Clothes outlook.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 7, 2017

This kind of sweetly numbskull arrogance is cleverly caught by Pumping Iron which depicts Mr Olympia as a beauty, not body, contest.

| Feb 16, 2016

Pumping Iron is as satisfying as having sex with a woman and reaching orgasm, says Arnold Schwarzenegger in this fascinating 1977 documentary.

| Mar 14, 2009

A very good film, beautifully shot and edited, intelligently structured and -- to risk what will surely seem at first a highly inappropriate term -- charming.

| Aug 3, 2008

Arnold's "reality" debut.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 6, 2007

Fascinating stuff when viewed in the context of Arnie's now notorious political career.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 14, 2007