Icare

I almost never write reviews for anything, but after seeing this movie and seeing a completely spiteful, misinformed review from another poster I feel obliged to post. This is an incredibly powerful documentary that had me at the edge of my seat for nearly the entire two hours. Honestly have no idea what movie the other poster was watching or if they're simply bitter or don't enjoy the documentary format, but I highly recommend this to anyone in an interest in sport, current world politics (US/Russia), or conspiracy. Both the director Bryan and protagonist Grigory are engaging and entertaining, and the movie will seriously leave you feeling like you just got a backstage pass to a very recent global conspiracy between Russia and the world.

I wanted to write this review because I don't understand how anyone can claim that this is for a fact propaganda, without providing any proof. Those reviewers say the movie is propaganda because the filmmakers have no proof, yet I would say the movie provided more than they did for their claims.

Anyone can scream propaganda - but I would like to know why. This movie started years ago when Brian didn't even have a clear idea on what his documentary will be about exactly (nor am I sure he was even trying to make a full documentary). It was born out of personal reasons but he came across something he couldn't have imagined. So, he ended up with an incredibly shocking documentary which took years to be made.

Those who say it's propaganda just because it involves the Russians; I couldn't care less if it were Russians, English or Brazilian. What shocked me was the incredible amount of evidence and detail this RUSSIAN man gave to the public about an incredibly elaborate state-wide conspiracy (and he wasn't the only one, nor was he the one who started this whole thing). It is actually quite incredible how they pulled it off.

So, I am more inclined to believe this person who devoted years of his life to expose what was going on and what he himself was also a part of than government officials who say "No, it is not true". If you remember, Lance himself said many times in the beginning that he has never taken drugs. Then, he admitted.

The same thing happens here; someone accuses you of a monstrosity like this one, you are very well going to deny it.

To those whose argument is "well, it's not like the US or China don't have the same doping programme" I say: where is their Grigory? That's the difference.

To me, it is incredible how a nation could have gotten away with this. Well, not really - Putin can get away with anything. Just like the US.

This documentary shows in a fascinating yet disturbing way the lengths to which Russian officials, and subjectively, the lengths of how everyone in sports takes winning over ethical and moral values. The truly intricate system in which Russia doped their athletes and evaded/cheated the doping tests is incredible, and even more baffling is how deep within Russian society and high level government officials the doping scandal gets. A truly fascinating watch, very well made, keeps you interested throughout its long run-time.

One of the best, if not the best, documentaries that I have ever watched. It is an amazing story about a man who set out to prove one thing and ends up in the middle of one of the most dramatic moments in sports history, complete with shady characters, political giants, and assassinations. This documentary put the documentor in the right place at the right time. Wow, an eleven on a scale of one to ten!

I saw this at Sundance 2017, and it blew me away like no other film I saw there. The filmmakers started out on an interesting enough story in worldwide sports, but then uncovered a massive conspiracy beyond their imagining. Very exciting. Highly recommended to anyone who can see this.