Icarus

The interesting subject matter doesn't make up for the lackluster presentation.

What starts as a "Super-Size Me: Steroids edition" turns into real world headline making scandal. A must watch for those not entirely aware of why Russia was not allowed to compete under their flag at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Pretty ballsy stuff - can't believe how much they managed to capture on film. Very engaging, if a little long and conceited here and there.

At first, I was surprised that the guy named "Dick Pound" was not the focus of the documentary, but then Rodchenko is introduced. With such a wildly entertaining character, it is no wonder that the film pivots to follow his journey. The bulk of the story focuses on paranoia, but I haven't decided that portraying Rodchenko as a type of hero is quite right. Still, a very entertaining story.

Fogel got extremely lucky here, but does it matter? A great, well built documentary.

It is wild that a film that starts off with the premise "I am going to take steroids for a year" becomes "I have discovered a possibly state-run doping scandal that has been happening for decades".

This is an extremly entertaining documentary that has a scope and sense of real danger bigger than most I've seen. The film pivots from one plot to another and both the A and B side are super ambitious. The Russians cheating in such bold ways without hesitation is true madness and it is a great example of hiding in plain sight right under the nose of an ill-prepared and antiquaited drug-testing system. I found it in need of a real trim especially around Fogel, but nevertheless fascinating.

Fogel pretty much just stumbles into this incredibly intriguing world and makes the most of it. Pretty riveting, which I would not have expected going in.

A very well told, sad and disgraceful story.. Makes you feel weird about its main character.. Sad that nothing came out of it, and politics won in the end..

ICARUS tells a story that starts as a stroke of luck and transitions into a twist of fate, before ending as a tragic warning. An amateur cyclist's plan to document what happens to an athlete on a serious PED regimen is mere prelude to the bizarre life and times of a Russian sport scientist who is equal parts bogeyman, accomplice, and whistleblower in the shadowy world of blood doping. A fascinating look beyond the moral panic of PEDs to the individual lives affected by the issue.

Wow. If this would have been a fictional movie everyone would shrug about the plot. This is just incredible and exactly what I'm looking for in a documentary. Must watch.

It's amazing how, 45 minutes in, this documentary totally turns on its head, and becomes about something else entirely. Kudos to Fogel, who clearly had a different story in mind, for pivoting so perfectly, and allowing the real story to come to the forefront after chancing upon this scoop. Riveting.

What a poorly told story.

It fascinating to no end. The film is long but the evolution from a simple experiment to a pretty massive scandal is almost as good as any narrative you could imagine. The footage and detail in here are quite insane and it is completely understandable that this helped to bring down the whole Russian doping issue. It's not all smooth sailing but it is a great watch, whether you are a sports fan or not.

An engaging and well-made documentary that completely turns on its head halfway through and becomes a brand new film.

Pretty crazy business.

"This defector, whose name I don't even remember" lmao Putin you're as insecure as Trump

I'm glad my mind works completely differently from those who thought this was boring. It starts off as an interesting documentary that then, by pure chance, transforms into something far, far greater. Rodchenkov is a character and a half, and the Metal Gear Solidesque connecting of the dots and jump cuts to more exposition is super riveting.

Crazy how Fogel just happened to find an international conspiracy. That alone makes it worth watching. However, the documentary itself can be heavy handed at times (particularly the passages from 1984 read aloud)

You know how everyone on TV acts so emotionally and they could die by their mother's grave that they're telling the truth? Have you seen the minister, the sportsmen/women, Putin? Caught red handed and still having such authority. Russian, American, European, Chinese... all the same, all corrupted by power and money. This documentary is an superb whistleblowing stuff and should be broadcasted before every La Tour. Let's not fool ourselves.

Pretty dope documentary (har!). It works on so many levels, politically, socially, personally, it's solid work.

Wow Bryan Fogel sure hit a home run with that Russian doper doc.

I think while the subject is certainly interesting and disgraceful, the documentary itself is not compelling. There are moments of real intrigue here, and I thought for the first little bit this would be great. But then it loses its momentum, drowning its subject matter in tedium, unnecessary explanations and conversations being thrown into the mix. Then it gets back on track a little. Rodchenkov is also a fascinating man. It's a good doc that borders on great occasionally.

Bryan Fogel is good at cycling, not so good at editing a gripping documentary. We get 30 interesting minutes about him trying to dope himself to prove that the tests can be cheated by anyone. Then 90 increasingly dull minutes of political back-and-forth about a Russian scientist. Don't get me wrong, Rodchenkov is hugely "docugenic" and deserves screen time, but why not have him just explain the doping scandal, and not hours of lawyers tables, fearmongering, and discussing hypothetical outcomes.

Amazing story

I can talk hours about this one. The imitated innocence of Bryan Fogel in the beginning is super laughable, he is just an executor of carefully planned political attack. Rodchenkov is just the russian equivalent of Snowden. The film is truthful, but also deeply manipulative. They even claimed multiple times without any evidence that Putin was going to kill Rodchenkov and have already killed two other russian sports officials. This is far worse propaganda than the one created by russian trolls.

Started as okay, and then it twisted.

This documentary is quite unbelievable, Bryan Fogel stumbled into an international conspiracy and it makes for compelling viewing. However you do get the feeling this documentary is good despite the film making rather than because of it. The last 3rd (or maybe even half) feel like a well presented News segment but it's the most interesting news segment you'll ever watch.

An insane look into the Russian doping scandal and the whistleblower behind it.

I knew little about this before viewing and was surprised at the turn of events that occurs. I was actually quite intrigued by the starting premise and as a result I was a little disappointed that it never really was followed through although it was perfectly understandable why. It's quite amazing that such an important piece of sporting history was recorded on the inside as it unfolded, however this is a fairly one sided view of things and I wondered does it tell the full story?

Feels like the movie could have made its point much more quickly.

Weird. The narrative isn't very clear (probably intentionally), but very interesting and somewhat scary subject.

To date, one of the most shocking documentaries I've ever seen.

Was a 1-hour documentary that didn't need a subplot, made into a 2-hour documentary that was far too long.

It's not really a documentary because the story unravels in different ways because of what is happening to the characters, which is very entertaining to watch because you don't know where it is going because not even the director knows where is going

Very interesting subject matter, although it could have more briefly told how the filmmaker stumbled into the story.

The director's journey is the focus of this documentary. Personally I would prefer to have seen a continuation of the original subject with a more critical view of the world-wide doping issue mentioned early on. What interests me about this point in relation to the Russian doping scandal is that the Russian state can be held to account whereas in countries such as the US, the private sector is blamed for widespread doping even if it's supported by the state.

So hard to digest.

I had a hard time believing this story when it first came out, but here we get interviews with the lab director and a lot of supporting evidence of a mind-blowing conspiracy

A not-so-happy accident.

A crazy look into the efforts put into getting past the anti-doping agencies. Starts off as a not so engaging look into how effective doping can be for Bryan Fogel personally, but then takes a turn and gets deep into the heart of the issue, cheating in an international scale.

A thrilling documentary that explores the farce of institutional oversight of athletics and the political value of sport, essentially exploring its vulnerabilities to massive corruption. It also questions the social purpose of the Olympics and other global sporting events if they just become illigitmate, complex opportunities for political public relations. Important.

From a normal guy experimenting with steroids to a jaw-dropping national conspiracy to hide a long standing state-sponsored doping program, Icarus evolves brilliantly and shockingly fast, changing everything you thought you know about high performance athletes.

I really enjoyed how the movie has the ability to understand and to go with what just fell into their laps. And at some point, it doesn't really matter how good or bad this documentary is as a documentary. It exists, it is organized, it helps. That's all that matters at some point. And when the film crew shares all their material with the WADA people... is pure cinema.

Icarus is a fascinating, engaging look into Russian doping that exceeds the expectations it sets in the opening half hour

All the best sports documentaries involve Russia. This one is no exception. Fascinating story, very well documented.

The contents are amazing - this is a must watch. Sadly, the documentary itself has pacing issues and not enough focus.