Bigger Stronger Faster*

May 30, 2008

1h 45m

★ 6.8

Is it still cheating if everyone's doing it?

Overview

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 heroes are on performance enhancing drugs? Director Christopher Bell explores America's win-at-all-cost culture by examining how his two brothers became members of the steroid-subculture in an effort to realize their American dream.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

BSF Film

Bigger Stronger Faster* Trailers

Cast

Self - Host

Chris Bell

Self

Mike Bell

Self

Mark Bell

Self (archive footage)

Joe Biden

Self (archive footage)

Ronald Reagan

Self (archive footage)

Al Gore

Self (archive footage)

Dick Cheney

Self (archive footage)

Laura Bush

Self (archive footage)

George W. Bush

Self (archive footage)

George H. W. Bush

Self (archive footage)

Terry Gene Bollea

Self

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Desperate to become as rich and successful as their idol, a trio of Michael Jackson impersonators hustle their way into Hollywood agencies, are accosted by paparazzi, and cross paths with Grammy-winning musicians as the American dream seems tantalisingly close. But as they perform for dollar bills and sleep in their car, the reality of the ruthless entertainment industry they dream about hits home.

7.2

The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream

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Since World War II North Americans have invested much of their newfound wealth in suburbia. It has promised a sense of space, affordability, family life and upward mobility. As the population of suburban sprawl has exploded in the past 50 years Suburbia, and all it promises, has become the American Dream. But as we enter the 21st century, serious questions are beginning to emerge...

6.1

Anarchism in America

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A colorful and provocative survey of anarchism in America, the film attempts to dispel popular misconceptions and trace the historical development of the movement. The film explores the movement both as a native American philosophy stemming from 19th century American traditions of individualism, and as a foreign ideology brought to America by immigrants. The film features rare archival footage and interviews with significant personalities in anarchist history including Murray Boochkin and Karl Hess, and also live performance footage of the Dead Kennedys.

6.4

The King

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A cultural portrait of the American dream at a critical time in the nation’s history. Set against the 2016 American election, The King takes a musical road trip across the country in Elvis Presley's 1963 Rolls Royce.

0.0

The Caravan

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We accompanied an 8 months pregnant Yuri, who migrates with her partner Mike and her son Santi with one objective, to give birth in USA

8.0

Adonis

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A hard-hitting documentary that tackles head-on a controversial but increasingly alarming subject: young men's obsession with the perfect body, and the use of performance-enhancing drugs to achieve it. Once the preserve of top-level athletes, the use of anabolic steroids has become endemic among teenagers and young men with a passion for bodybuilding. Daring to tackle head-on the taboo of male beauty standards, Adonis offers a field investigation into the heart of this muscle-building machine, questioning the reasons behind and the physical, psychological and social risks of this race to the perfect body. As he stages his own vulnerability, the filmmaker lifts the veil on the scale of the public health crisis that is looming.

6.7

Earth and the American Dream

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A beautiful and disturbing film recounts America’s story from the environment’s point of view. From the arrival of Columbus to the simple wilderness living of the 16th and 17th centuries, through the agrarian lifestyle of the 18th century, the changes from the Industrial Revolution, to the 20th century when most of the planet’s resources have been depleted — this film examines the North American landscape and all the wildlife destruction, deforestation, soil depletion and pollution that have been wrought to make the American Dream come true.

7.3

The Killing of America

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6.2

Ballplayer: Pelotero

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Two top baseball prospects in the Dominican Republic face fierce competition and corruption as they chase their big league dreams.

5.7

Only in Theaters

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4.0

Enhanced

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How far are you willing to go to enhance your body and your life? Testing a diverse cocktail of illegal performance enhancing drugs throughout his life - bodybuilder an entrepreneur Tony Hughes, also known as Dr. Tony Huge, aims to prove that steroids are the next logical step to further human evolution. Chronicling a civil and criminal case against his controversial supplement company Enhanced Athlete, Enhanced is a documentary that explores the immense psychological depths of a man who believes that the government has a conspiracy against him and other like-minded individuals. Individuals who are fighting to prove that steroids are not only healthy, but essential if used correctly, and should be legal in the United States to improve our quality of life.

9.0

My Life in China

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In America, everyone has a family story of immigration. Every family, at some point, has had somebody leave their native country behind to search for a better life. How did they hold onto their identity? How did they adapt to their new life? Every family has a special story. In my case, it's my Chinese-American story. My father would always tell us his story about walking for 7 days and 6 nights, before swimming for 4 hours to Macau to escape communism in 1966. His story would fall on my deaf ears until I returned to China with him.

7.0

Night School

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8.1

Propaganda

Feb 14, 2013

An anti-western propaganda film about the influences of American visual and consumption culture on the rest of the world, as told from a North Korean perspective.

0.0

Con Esperanza

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When Ruben, a young Chicano musician, is caught between his mother’s expectations and his own hopes, he is forced to make a decision that will change his life forever. Based on true events, “Con Esperanza” follows Ruben on his journey of pursuing his dreams, balancing both the traditional and financial expectations of his Mother.

5.1

This Is America Part 2

Sep 5, 1980

The sequel to This is America, aka Jabberwalk. This film goes inside the real America circa 1980 - a world of punks, orgies and worm-eating hicks! Romano Vanderbes back on the film making side and Norman Rose back on narrating duty for the second of the This Is America trilogy. Things kick off slightly louder this time with a performance by The Dictators doing a version of America the Beautiful while the titles role, then right into piece about punk star Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedy's running for mayor of San Francisco. Then back into a more This Is America feeling segment about a crazy fat bloke called Captain Sticky. Among some of the other more interesting segments we get a look at underground vagrants, a piranha attack, martial arts nuns, a family of worm eaters, a drug abusing church and ends with a death row electrocution.

6.2

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4.0

The American Dream: Europeans in the New World

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6.8

Hollywoodism: Jews, Movies and the American Dream

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