RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Visit Official Site External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Bigger, Stronger, Faster* (2008)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
100 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:19

Fresh:19

Rotten:0

Average Rating:7.7/10

Consensus: Bigger, Stronger, Faster* is a fascinating, informative, entertaining and especially introspective account of the American 'enhancement' culture.

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins

Genre: Sports/Recreation

Theatrical Release:May 30, 2008 Limited

Box Office: $216,748

Synopsis: In America, we define ourselves in the superlative: we are the biggest, strongest, fastest country in the world. Is it any wonder that so many of our athletes take performance-enhancing drugs?... In America, we define ourselves in the superlative: we are the biggest, strongest, fastest country in the world. Is it any wonder that so many of our athletes take performance-enhancing drugs? Director Christopher Bell explores America’s win-at-all-cost philosophy by examining the way his two brothers became members of the steroid subculture in an effort to realize their American dream. Ingeniously beginning the film by harkening back to the mentality of the 1980s, where the heroes were Rambo, Conan, and Hulk Hogan, Bell recounts how these role models led him and his brothers into powerlifting and dreams of becoming all-star wrestlers. Those dreams were soon shattered by the realization that success in those fields required the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Bell uses his personal story as an entree into analyzing the bigger issues that surround these drugs: ethics in sports; the health ramifications, both physical and psychological; as well as the mentality that fuels it all. Bigger, Stronger, Faster* combines crisp editing of hilarious archival footage with priceless family revelations, as well as interviews with congressmen, professional athletes, medical experts, and everyday gym rats. The power of the film is the way Bell stays away from preconceptions and stereotypes and digs deeper to find the truth and concoct a fascinating, humorous, and poignant profile of one of the side effects of being American. --© Sundance Film Festival [More]

Starring: Christopher Bell, Carl Lewis, Barry Bonds

Starring: Christopher Bell, Carl Lewis, Barry Bonds

Director: Christopher Bell

Director: Christopher Bell
Screenwriter: Christopher Bell, Alexander Buono, Tamsin Rawady
Producer: Alexander Buono, Tamsin Rawady, Jim Czarnecki
Composer: Dave Porter
Studio: Magnolia Pictures

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
  • Trailer
    >
    Floyd Landis
    >
1 - 2 of 2

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

Sep 30, 2008

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Bigger, Stronger, Faster*

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 19 (sorted by date)
Text View
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

A thoughtful, informative and thoroughly entertaining examination of the role of performance-enhancing drugs in modern life.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
07/24/08
Kerry Lengel
Kerry Lengel
Arizona Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A lively and incisive look into the nation's growing preoccupation with pumped-up superlatives.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
06/23/08
Michael Rechtshaffen
Michael Rechtshaffen
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Smart, touching and enlightening, a combination that makes Bigger, Stronger, Faster the best documentary of the year so far.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
06/13/08
Tom Long
Tom Long
Detroit News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

By making this journey personal, a powerful vulnerability permeates the film.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
06/13/08
Lisa Kennedy
Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It'll shake up your beliefs not just about steroids but about competition, hypocrisy, body obsession and American notions of masculinity.

Full Review Source: Newsweek | comment Comment
06/09/08
David Ansen
David Ansen
Newsweek
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Bell posits that their disillusionment is a side effect of being American and he may well be right.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
06/06/08
Reyhan Harmanci
Reyhan Harmanci
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Bigger, Stronger, Faster* is that rare film that truly challenges its audience.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
06/06/08
Peter Schilling
Peter Schilling
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A hugely entertaining personal documentary about what steroids mean to American pop culture.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
06/06/08
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This movie is remarkable in that it seems to be interested only in facts.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
06/06/08
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The film isn't quite a memoir; it's also a platform to branch off into other areas, briskly and informatively and with a good deal of clearheadedness.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
06/05/08
Stephen Hunter
Stephen Hunter
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There's been a glut of pointless first- person documentaries lately, but newcomer Christopher Bell has a legitimate personal take in his film about Americans who use anabolic steroids.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
05/30/08
Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Powerful stuff.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
05/30/08
Joe Neumaier
Joe Neumaier
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's a fascinating and unexpectedly profound and melancholy meditation on what we have become as a country and on the misguided obsessions that made us this way.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
05/30/08
Carina Chocano
Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Bigger, Stronger, Faster* left me convinced that the steroid scandals will abate as the drugs are reluctantly accepted as inevitable products of a continuing revolution in biotechnology.

comment Comment
05/30/08
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The performance-enhancing quality behind this muscular movie is director Chris Bell's willingness to go far beyond the call of duty.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
05/29/08
John Anderson
John Anderson
Newsday
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Bell finds the epitome of that tragedy in his own family and, in his first film, digs unflinchingly at its roots.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
05/27/08
Michelle Orange
Michelle Orange
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

...manages to be two films at once: One is an informative portrait of a power-hungry society; the other is an intensely gripping narrative of personal growth.

Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
05/27/08
Sara Cardace
Sara Cardace
New York Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A good documentary will take you places you didn't plan to go, but I didn't really expect that from Bigger, Stronger, Faster, an incisive and compulsively watchable look at America's love affair with steroids.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
05/23/08
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

More scrupulously reported than your average Michael Moore film but every bit as entertaining.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
01/22/08
Peter Debruge
Peter Debruge
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 19 (sorted by date)
Text View
all

Latest News for Bigger, Stronger, Faster*

June 19, 2008: Moviegoers Tuning Out Documentaries in '08 Opens in new window
The high-profile successes of films like An Inconvenient Truth and March of the Penguins notwithstanding, documentaries have been playing to increasingly empty theaters recently... More...

May 29, 2008: Critical Consensus: Sex and the City Will Please Fans
This week at the movies, we've got love and commerce (Sex and the City: The Movie, starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall) and romantic getaways gone wrong (The... More...

May 11, 2008: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
More...

See All

More DVDs

Close
Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
15% 15% The Ugly Truth
98% 98% Up
36% 36% G.I. Joe: The Rise of …
52% 52% The Taking of Pelham 1…
45% 45% Ice Age: Dawn of the D…

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
36% 36% Angels & Demons
68% 68% Funny People
25% 25% Four Christmases
45% 45% Shorts

More New Releases…

See All

RT On Current TV

The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV

DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...

Learn how you can be part of the show

More...

What’s Hot On RT

Avatar

Avatar

Watch an exclusive behind-the-scenes video!

Box Office

Box Office

New Moon #1, breaks TDK records

RT's Gift Guide

RT's Gift Guide

Give the best movies, gear, and more!

Ninja Assassin

Ninja Assassin

Learn to train like a ninja in this clip!

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Disney Restructuring Has Broad Implications Source: Los Angeles Times
9
  • Joel Silver Talks Ninja Assassin, Sgt. Rock, Lobo, and More Source: Collider.com
1
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
106
  • Idris Elba Joins Thor Source: Hollywood Reporter
112
  • Jackass 3D Coming in 2010? Source: Collider.com
32
  • 6 Reasons 'Twilight' Is Doomed Source: The Wrap
64
  • Forbes Names Hollywood's Most Overpaid Actors Source: Forbes
20
  • Chris Weitz Says He's (Almost) Done with Directing Source: Film School Rejects
26
  • Spider-Man 4 Casting Rumors Multiply Like Rabbits Source: Deadline Hollywood Daily
51
  • McTeigue Says Superman Is "In a Weird Place" Source: MTV
204
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: New Moon Shatters Records
162
  • Critics Consensus: New Moon Wanes
129
  • Tomatometer Watch: Will Twilight's New Moon Dazzle?
97
  • Total Recall: Star-Crossed Lovers
75
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
53
  • Five Favorite Films with Werner Herzog
50
  • Total Recall: John Travolta's Best Movies
38
  • Friday Harvest: New Moon, Avatar, and more!
32
  • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: Angels & Demons, Funny People, and Superman
13
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
3
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
3
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
8
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
19
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
6
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
17
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
8
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
28
  • Duncan Jones talks Moon, Sam Rockwell, and Mute
14
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Bigger, Stronger, Faster* at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Bigger, Stronger, Faster* at IGN

Fresh Links

Featured
Star Trek DVD Exclusive
Star Trek DVD Exclusive External Link

TECHLAND gives us a first look at the extras, including Leonard Nimoy's last day on set!

The New Cult Canon
The New Cult Canon External Link

AV Club looks at a beloved cult classic, Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness.

New Moon Portraits
New Moon Portraits External Link

TIME offers us a closer look at the characters from the latest Twilight film.

Unsexiest Men Alive
Unsexiest Men Alive External Link

Moviefone lists their choices for the least attractive men in Hollywood.

Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Follow RT on Twitter External Link

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.