The Armstrong Lie

Review: After watching the Program recently, I thought I should watch the real story about Lance Armstrong, because I couldn't believe that a man could be so vindictive and manipulating to so many people, and now that I've watched this in depth documentary, he was worse than I first expected. The fact that he nearly got away with taking drugs during his 7 championship races, sickens my stomach and I personally think that he should be stripped of all of his personal earnings, which he has made from his deception and bare-faced lies. He ruined so many people's life's, including his fellow racers and he damaged there reputations by claiming that they were lying about his drug taking. Because of the power that he gained during his cycling career, he had the backing of some very important people, who helped him through his successful career but when the truth came out about his filthy habits, he tarnished there reputations and made loads of money after coming clean. His excuses for taking the enhanced performing drugs, were that it was the norm at that time and there wasn't any tests that could track the drugs, and the only reason why he got caught, even though there was loads of investigations, was because he returned to cycling after retiring with his 7 consistent wins. Anyway, I found the documentary very entertaining and well put together by the director and the various interviews with the people who surrounded Lance Armstrong at that time, proved that he really wasn't a nice person. The sad thing is, he actually could have won a few of the championships without the drugs! Enjoyable!

Round-Up: This documentary was directed by Alex Gibney, 62, whose known for his documentaries and his in depth look into debatable matters. He won an Oscar for Taxi To The Dark Side in 2008 and he was nominated for an Oscar in 2006 for Efron: The Smartest Guys In The Room. He's directed documentaries about WikiLeaks, James Brown, musical artist Fela Kuti, Steve Jobs, Frank Sinatra and various political matters. Judging by this film, he's not one to hold back information and he does get down to the nitty gritty when it comes to delicate situations, so I'm looking forward to watching some more of his projects.

Budget: N/A Worldwide Gross: $500,000

I recommend this movie to people who are into their sport/documentaries about Lance Armstrong's rise and fall from grace. 7/10

This documentary in some way attempts to apologize for the sordid life of lies the Lance Armstrong used to ruin a one time popular sport.

There is little detail in this mockumentry that shows the horrible person, megalomaniac, narcissist and criminal that Armstrong was-and still is. Anyone who tries to blame his criminal actions on 'competitiveness' is sorely misinformed.

The only difference between Armstrong and Bernie Madoff is the fact that Bernie took it like a man and put himself in prison for what he did to so many people-who, unfortunately,were just as greedy as he was.

Armstrong compiled a 120 million dollar fortune based on lies to everyone and cheated so many out of greed-and nothing else but pure greed. While this video ends at a point that the real story has just began-I hope that it shows people just what a monster greed really is.

The video at times seems to go out of it's way to portray Armstrong as a patriot, cancer survivor and boy next door type that got 'caught up' in the sport. Nothing is further from the truth. His zest for riches continues, even today, as he is still blaming everyone for his downfall.

As far as presentation the video is quite good and, without a doubt, it is an interesting story of a heathen bent on destroying any one who might revel his lies-all in the name of the mighty dollar.

Threading peoples lives daily, blackmail, corruption and the worst of all what he did to America overall. The flag is stained with his lies forever and how he stays out of prison I will never understand.

An interesting video that I think most can enjoy, if for nothing else, exposing other greedy criminals like Armstrong-whose ego was so inflated-that he considered himself a solitary la cosa nostra.

Today, when so many sports stars are good people, he continues to the blame game.

Again, a fine interesting video.

When everyone cheats, it becomes a different contest. The powerful friends, money (125 million plus), risk and pain tolerance, influential scientists, compelling story, performance enhancing drugs, viciousness, ambition to win at all costs, willingness to bully others, . . . Armstrong has all this and more. The documentary is a powerful and gripping indictment not just of Armstrong and cycling, but of sports and humanity in general. Armstrong's doping is bad, but his abuse of power is worse. The film shows how willing people are to be fooled, or to trample on others. Despite its two-hour length, the film held my interest throughout. There are so many parallels in a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, wherein he writes, "There is something truer and more real, than what we can see with the eyes, and touch with the finger." So too with Armstrong, cycling, sports, and all of us. This brilliant documentary helps bring such truths to the surface.

To judge something in terms of how it's executed is all well and good but in a documentary such as this the message takes precedence. It seeks the truth and all the arguments aren't displayed for that to emerge. If it it simply allowed the viewer to make up his own mind then that would be o.k but the film displays a bias thereby becoming a vehicle and a misleading one at that.

The fact that doping was prevalent in cycling and still plays a large factor is obvious. If Armstrong was racing on a level playing field of dopers then that to me would also have been acceptable. However this was far from the case.

Non of Lance's team mates were caught doping whilst they were in his team. Meanwhile all his major competitors were absent from the start line at various points in time due to suspensions and had some key teammates missing from every tour for the same reason. Throughout all the disruptions, devastation, controversy and even a suicide Armstrong was always there with a full strength squad.

The film touches on the importance of team mates and how on all of his wins Armstrong rode alone for only minutes at a time, but fails to take the next step and look at how the various disqualifications imposed on all other teams (apart from his own during his winning years) affected his competitors. Had the film done this Armstrong would never have agreed to be in it because he's still pushing the lie that he won those seven Tours fair and square once we accept as fact that they were all doping.

The UCI had invested in him and were being invested in by a lot of the same sponsors, they allowed many cyclists to burn whilst protecting this man. The film doesn't touch on those aspects and the film maker remains a fan.

I gave the film five stars because it is well shot and well put together. I am a cycling fan and it's view of the race was a pleasure to watch. There is stock footage obviously but the film does follow Armstrong and films the 2009 race independently. The film gives an insight into what it takes to be a professional rider and rider's relationships with one another and their team officials.

Some of the people interviewed I've never seen interviewed i.e doctor Ferrari, which added another point of interest for me.

The 2009 and other pre-'outed' interviews were interesting, giving an insight into Armstrong's mentality at the time and although there is marked contrast to his post-confessional ones it's by no means a transformation and a true repentance. His approach to people seems outwardly very different now, but his attitude towards his legacy and the morality of his actions remain to all intents and purposes unchanged. The exclusions of Paul Kimmage and Greg Lemond from the documentary also indicate this.

I'd say watch the film but bear the other stuff in mind too.

THE ARMSTRONG LIE is a fascinating documentary. Shot over a period of four years, it purports to investigate the oft-repeated claim that cyclist Lance Armstrong was a cheat, and that every single one of his Tour de France wins were achieved by taking drugs. Alex Gibney's narrative begins as a defense of Armstrong's behavior, but as different elements of the truth emerge, so the filmmaker has to keep readjusting his position. Gibney is obviously a fan of Armstrong (as many people still are), but as the seamy details of what the cyclist did in order to win his races gradually emerge, so the filmmaker gradually understands how wrong-headed he has been give his unquestioning support. Armstrong emerges as a thoroughly unsavory character, pathologically unwilling to acknowledge the truth about himself, and always looking to manipulate the media so that he emerges in a positive light. Even his so-called 'confessional' interview with Oprah looks like a deliberate attempt to rescue his reputation. As the narrative unfolds, so Gibney gradually comes to understand the truth about his subject, and realizes to his cost that much of the film has unwittingly helped to obfuscate that truth, portraying Armstrong instead as a man more sinned against than sinning. It is only right at the end that Gibney admits the truth of Armstrong's motives, and how Armstrong himself has deliberately duped the filmmaker. As a result THE ARMSTRONG LIE is a film that is more about media manipulation than anything else, revealing just how persuasive - and dangerous - a person Armstrong actually is. There's no guarantee that he might not manage to clear his reputation in the future, despite what he has done.