The Armstrong Lie Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Armstrong Lie Blu-ray Movie Review

The truth hurts.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 8, 2014

The bigger you are, the better target you make.

Lance Armstrong's decline represents one of the great plummets in sporting history, one of the hardest falls from grace, one of the most damaging declines to a sport and a nation that has ever been. From nobody to world-renowned athlete, from cancer survivor to national hero, from alleged doper to admitted cheater, Armstrong's life and career have been defined by wild swings of fortune and misfortune, of precision discipline and mental lapses that propelled him to the top and dropped him to the bottom. He made cycling -- and the Tour de France in particular -- one of the most popular sports around the globe and earned millions of dollars and millions more fans. Yet a life of bad choices ultimately came back to haunt him, to dismiss all of his successes, to render for naught his incredible talent on the bike and praiseworthy perseverance in recovery from life-threatening cancer. His is one of the most fascinating lives of the 20th century, a true role model for the benefits of hard work and making the most of natural gifts but also an example of the unfortunate transition from hero to villain at the speed of a bicycle's RPM's and a syringe's plunger.

A confession to make.

In his years as a world-renowned cyclist -- from his first Tour de France victory in 1999 to his seventh consecutive in 2005 -- Lance Armstrong ascended to the heights of sports stardom and dominance that few had ever reached, compared favorably to the all-time great athletes, a man with an unstoppable force of will, muscle and heart that made him a hero to millions in his home nation and around the globe. His winning battle with cancer was even more impressive. The Tour de France was renamed the "Tour de Lance" in popular lexicon, and it was only a question of margin of victory for the perennial champion. And then the bottom fell out. The rumored allegations that dogged him his entire career began to grow legs, legs which slowly became more powerful than Armstrong's own. Whispers about performance enhancing drugs became shouts of "doping!" Denials became admissions. Armstrong appeared on Oprah Winfrey's television program and came clean about his dirty history of illegal drugs. His titles were stripped, his image shattered, his honor fallen by the wayside. A man was ruined, a sport was upended, and a world was shaken. The Armstrong Lie is the story of that upheaval and its history, from Lance's rise to stardom to his fall from grace.

For weeks, maybe even months, one could not tune into ESPN, listen to a national talk show, or click on an Internet sports page without the words "Lance" and "doping" dominating the talk. Certainly Lance wasn't the first, and won't be the last, to have his image tarnished by performance enhancing drug abuse. Major League Baseball's image, which was still recovering after the 1994 strike on the back of Cal Ripken, Jr.'s incredible games played streak and Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa's home runs barrages, was again broken when some of the biggest stars -- the aforementioned McGwire and Sosa and other players like Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte -- were identified as steroid abusers. But Lance, Lance was different. McGwire and Sosa were also national heroes, but they were not Lance. Lance's story went well beyond sporting success; he inspired millions to fight, to live better, to push for their dreams. The yellow "Livestrong" bracelet had become a symbol of perseverance and support. Armstrong was, for all intents and purposes, the quintessential American hero, demonstrating a drive to win and a resolve to defeat one of the world's most feared diseases. He was more than a bicyclist: he was an icon. He transcended his sport perhaps more than any athlete ever has before, and as they say, the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

It's that lofty pedestal on which Armstrong so long sat and fell so quickly from that is perhaps The Armstrong Lie's biggest hurdle that it cannot overcome. Lance's story is so well known -- even to non-sports people who caught up on it with Oprah -- that there's not much for the film to do but recap his career's highs and lows. Certainly, it recaps those very well. It's a meticulously detailed examination of Armstrong's life, successes on the bike, doping, and dishonor. It analyzes in some scientific detail Armstrong's physical abilities, how the drugs worked and interacted with his body, and the benefits they provided. It delves deeply into the man, too, including the public face of denial, the public face of admission, and the person behind the yellow jersey, the hows and the whys of his successes in the sport and failures at honesty and clean racing. In essence, the film fleshes out details rather than exposing them. That's not necessarily a fault -- particularly considering how thorough a portrait The Armstrong Lie paints -- yet there's not a lot here that will leave those who have heard it all before feeling they've spent their time learning something new about one of America's most fascinating sports figures.

The Armstrong Lie Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Armstrong Lie's 1080p transfer presents a fine basic HD image. Sony's Blu-ray presentation handles the newest HD material very well, revealing nearly faultless coloring and detail in mostly static interview clips that show natural facial, clothing, and background textures as well as lively, robust colors. Darker interview snippets show a fair bit of noise. Various video clips and photos from the Tour de France show the bright yellow jersey and other multicolored cyclist wear with a high degree of accuracy. Older SD material clearly lacks the polish of the newer footage, but it's presented as well as can be expected for aging highlights. This is, then, a very simple transfer with little to show beyond simple imagery. It looks fine in all areas of concern, lacks excess banding, and provides a clean, accurate framing for the film.

The Armstrong Lie Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Armstrong Lie pedals onto Blu-ray with a Sony-standard DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The track is also fairly representative of a basic documentary presentation in that its main product is dialogue and features supportive, not dominant, music and sound effects. Dialogue does push through the front-center portion of the listening area cleanly and accurately, whether newly minted interview clips or vintage television highlights from ten or fifteen years ago, both controlled interviews with Larry King and impromptu post-race comments. Music plays with fine clarity and spacing; there's nothing earth-shattering about the presentation, but delivery is even and clean with fine instrumental definition, solid bass, aggressive volume, and balanced surround support. A few more pronounced sound effects are scattered throughout. This is a good, simple lossless presentation of Documentary material, nothing more and nothing less.

The Armstrong Lie Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Armstrong Lie contains a strong assortment of extras, including an excellent commentary track and plenty of deleted scenes.

• Audio Commentary: Writer/Producer/Director Alex Gibney offers a fascinating commentary -- in many ways more fascinating than the film -- that covers Lance Armstrong in even greater depth than the film, the process of constructing the picture and its evolution, placing the revelations in context, Gibney's place as a "character" in his own film, basic history behind the scandal, and much more. It's a very well spoken track, full of detailed insight and passion. It's a must-listen. With optional, menu-accessible English, Chinese Traditional, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and Thai subtitles.
• Q&A with Alex Gibney, Frank Marshall, Bill Strickland, Jonathan Vaughters & Betsy Andreu (HD, 39:56): Moderator Thom Powers sits down with a number of filmmakers and people close to Armstrong for a question-and-answer session. From the Toronto International Film Festival, September 2013.
• Deleted Scenes (HD): What the Hell Am I Doing Here? (4:56), In My Opinion (12:44), They Don't Need to Worry About Me (4:18), Interbike Press Conference (6:07), Lance and George W. Bush (1:46), Warming Up (1:54), Stage 14 -- Big George (8:18), The Team Time Trial (2:38), and Tour of California (2:09).
• The Armstrong Lie Theatrical Trailer (HD, 2:14).
• Previews: Additional Sony titles.
• UV Digital Copy.

The Armstrong Lie Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Armstrong Lie doesn't break much new ground, but it's nevertheless a fascinating recap of a hero knocked off his throne by scandal. Armstrong's life story is both inspirational and ultimately disappointing, a fascinating dichotomy of both how to live and how not to live. A survivor, a winner, and a doper, Armstrong proved that nobody is infallible, that everybody makes mistakes, and that with those mistakes come consequences that aren't pretty. It's a sad story, even as there's still room to find in Armstrong's life inspiration for hard work and dedication, just legitimate hard work and dedication built from nothing but sweat and mental fortitude, not sweat, mental fortitude, and drugs. Sony's Blu-ray release of The Armstrong Lie features solid video and audio. Several extras are included. There's not a lot of replay value here and there's not a lot for dedicated sports enthusiasts to learn. As such, the release is probably best enjoyed as a rental.