Icarus (2017)

A Major Disappointment

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Absolutely mind blowing film. A documentary that shatters your sense of reality with nothing but the truth that strikes to the core.

It reminds me a lot of the Snowden incident, however instead of national security, the topic is the Russian state sanctioned doping. It takes place behind the scenes of the Russian scientist that happens to be the mastermind behind it all.The initial purpose of the documentary was to discover how easy it would be to dope yourself and then pass the doping test. For this the documentarian dopes himself with the help of a Russian scientist which over the course of the documentary becomes his close friend. However he is later is discovered and revealed as the mastermind behind the decades long state sanctioned doping programme in Russia. This later culminates in the banning of Russia from participating in the Olympic games. The documentary shows everything from the start to the end, from the inside.

Very funny to see that the negative reviews are written by people with Russian names. They probably can't stand it to be accused of cheating. I'm not a Russian nor an American, I just love sports. I'm 100% positive that American athletes are also big cheaters, like any other nation actually. The proof is that ridiculous decision at the end to finally still let the Russian delegation participate at the Rio Olympics. That's a proof the whole system is just corrupt to the bone. The IOC is just a farce. Politics winning against sportive achievements. The documentary is very well made, with stunning interviews and footage. Once part of the cheating system as one of the main characters in this fraud to whistle blower, Grigory Rodchenkov comes up with proof on how the system is corrupt. It becomes clear that the vast majority uses doping all the time, and that in any sport. It kinda makes you wonder why even bother to watch those sporting events. I stopped watching cyclism a long time ago since it is obvious they all use doping. It's just humanly impossible to do what they do in their sport. But for the government to allow and even sponsor this scam, in this documentary Russia, is just unbelievable. Well unbelievable is a big word, nothing surprises me anymore. Long live the amateur sports. Too bad for the few athletes that refuse to take doping, they will never win anything and that while they are just better than those cheaters, mentally and physically.

I saw this documentary film listed on Netflix, it sounded very interesting, and then came Awards Season, where it did very well, so I was definitely going to watch it. Basically writer and director Bryan Fogel explores illegal doping in the world of sports, the most famous example being cyclist Lance Armstrong, who was stripped of all his Tour de France titles after confessing to Oprah Winfrey of using performance enhancing drugs throughout his career. Fogel explores the option of doping to win an amateur cycling race, with the help of Grigory Rodchenkov, the head of the Russian anti-doping laboratory. Dr. Rodchenkov creates a plan for Fogel to take banned performance-enhancing drugs in a way that will evade detection from drug-testing, during his training, Fogel and he become friends. Then allegations begin to emerge of a state-sponsored Olympic doping program in Russia, Fogel realizes that Rodchenkov is in danger of being "silenced" by the Russian government, he has fly to Los Angeles for his protection. Using Rodchenkov's knowledge of the doping program, they speak to the U.S. Department of Justice, and the New York Times, alleging that Russia has conspired to cheat in the Olympics for decades. This includes the mention of the Russian team's embarrassing performance during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver prompting them to ramp up operations, and the conspiracy that urine samples containing evidence of steroids were switched with clean samples to evade positive detection during the 2014 Winter Olympics. Dr. Rodchenkov provides spreadsheets, discs, e-mails, and more incriminating evidence of Russian involvement, forcing the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Olympic Committee to investigate. Following independent investigations, the claims are confirmed, and Rodchenkov is placed in protective custody, his lawyer Jim Walden describes the doctor having death threats and the suspicious deaths of two of his associates. In the end, the conspiracies and negative press continue to swarm all major sporting events and athletes, the Russian government continue to deny any involvement with the program, the World Cup 2020 will be held in Russia, with the final taking place in Moscow, and Grigory Rodchenkov remains in protective custody. What starts out as a standard experiment of steroid testing to improve performance becomes a fearful situation, the director and his scientist acquaintance become part of a dangerous geopolitical scandal, it is both an interesting and quite scary exposure documentary thriller. It won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, and it was nominated the BAFTA for Best Documentary. Good!