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Directed by: Morgan Spurlock Starring: Morgan Spurlock So here's the newest documentary to hit theaters (albeit, a limited release at this point). Basically, the premise revolves around Spurlock's experiment to eat at McDonald's every day for every meal for a month. His doctors don't expect that much, maybe just slight weight gain... is McDonald's really that bad for you? Spurlock is only allowed to eat the food and drinks (including water) that is served over the counter at McDonald's. The documentary explores the theme of obesity in America, and answers the question whether a man can really survive on fast food alone. This is Morgan Spurlock's first film (I checked IMDB, and it looks like the only other experience he's ever had is working as a production assistant in Luc Besson's The Professional), and from what I've seen this is one of the better documentaries to come out. Spurlock isn't an rear end in a top hat like Michael Moore; he's even friendly with the employees at each McDonald's. He's a funny, goofy, geeky guy from West Virginia (growing up, he was the youngest of three ballet dancing brothers). Spurlock's commentary is entertaining, and you really feel for him as he starts feeling the effects of his McDiet. Additionally they play the song "Rock n' Roll McDonald's" by the late, great Wesley Willis. Rock over London! Rock on Chicago! Like I said though, you get a metric ton of statistics thrown at you. Therefore at times the movie really feels kind of long, especially the beginning. Besides that though, this is a pretty drat good documentary. RATING: 5.0 PROS: Entertaining and informative view of McCulture, makes fun of vegans CONS: Too many statistics, get kind of long at times ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.supersizeme.com/ rojazz fucked around with this message at 03:52 on May 10, 2004 |
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May 10, 2004 03:50
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I was set against the movie because of the premise. But I walked out of the theater with a completely different opinion. It looks at the food-culture in a way that doesn't make you puke, even though Morgan did. Spurlock is indeed friendly and likable, and he doesn't shove his message down your throat (or at least he's got some humor in it to keep it light). He keeps the facts in there, and they usually break up the film nicely. I felt it dragged a bit after the School Lunches segment, and really was annoyed at the dude with the pop-art that was used so heavily. Doesn't make you feel like the corporation's an evil heartless sack of poo poo, and it also doesn't excuse such horrible eating habits. 4/5
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May 10, 2004 06:21
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This was an utter waste of time. He could've done the exact same movie about a bakery. Hey, did you know that if you eat cake for every meal you'll get fat? Just like if you eat McDonald's every meal you get fat? Anyone with common sense knows that McDonald's should be viewed exactly like a Baskin Robins or a candy store. It's a treat. An unhealthy, yet yummy, treat. Anyone trying to make a conspiracy theory out of something liek McDonald's is just aksing for a lawsuit, and I'm utterly astonished that McDonald's hasn't sued the unholy gently caress out of this guy yet. They shut down little old ladies in Scotland named MacDonald who cook hamburgers on their backyard grills. Lowest possible rating because this guy is a total attention whore with nothing to say that anyone with common sense won't laugh off.
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May 22, 2004 04:16
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Amazing film about fast food and the dangers of a high fat diet. Very funny and informative, worth watching just to see his dramatic change in health, mood, and surprisingly, looks. In 30 days the guy gains 24.5 pounds. Ok, maybe it doesn't sound as appealing as you might think, there's some pretty sobering images and facts, such as the scene where they show a stomach reduction. Looked like alien probes sticking out a human balloon of a stomach. What is also striking is that 1 in 4 people visit McDonald's every day in the US and serve 39 million people worldwide daily. He also presents some rather sickly problems associated with obesity, such as adult diabetes. He lightly tackles the legal issue. This film, while inspired by these lawsuits, does not try to 'push' the blame one way or the other (personal responsibility vs. McD's fault). His experiment does give compelling reason to believe that fast food is a serious cause of obesity and can kill you if you eat too much of it, something that fast food companies haven't admitted to yet? Of course, whether a restaurant is responsible for providing a well balanced menu is not clear. What is clear is that public schools are feeding many children the same type of fast food in schools, a harder fact to ignore. He also states its addictive quality, though I'm a little out on that one. Food can be addicting, but is it nicotine? Not sure. Even so, the information is woven into the adventures of the hero, Morgan. You can't help but pity him when he throws up on the 2nd day of his quest. You wonder what compels a man to continue killing himself even though 3 doctors tell him to stop before his liver literally pickles itself (alcohol binges cause similar problems). Be amazed at what grade schoolers eat for lunch (ho-hos). Barf when you see him pull a pubic hair out of a parfait. Watch him eat a Fillet of fish. mm mm delicious 4.5/5
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May 23, 2004 13:44
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Just got back from this, I'm not really sure, some of the parts were really great and informative, but a lot of it sounded painfully coached (i.e. pretty much 90%of people interviewed were fat, the PICTURE OF JESUS THAT THE CHILDREN DIDN'T RECOGNIZE?!) Morgan got pretty sassy at some points, seriously, and god, dramatic. "I'm so depressed, everything is going great but I'm so depressed oh god I'm eating I'm so so happy, I'm addicted to McDonalds" I don't know. Personally, I don't eat McDonalds, I haven't since I was probably 15 (21 now) but I still didn't like the movie. Unfortunately, I went with my idiot housemate who is now spouting off "facts" from the movie. I want to stab her. Concluding, the artist was good, but the label "Artistic Genius" under his name? Please, stab me in the face. 2/5 I'm glad my boyfriend and I got in for half price because we're students
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May 24, 2004 02:20
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One of the more frighening documentaries I have seen recently. Seriously. The movie is split between standard Michael Moore style "Big Business is Evil" stuff, funny scenes (when he threw up I laughed like mad) and most of all, weird scary things, like how he is sitting in his living room, all depressed and sad. Then, 20 minutes later, he's eating McDonald's and smiling and saying "Yeah! That's what I needed." Another creppy scene was when "Subway" Jared was trying to motivate an overweight 14 year old girl. Afterwards, the girl told the camera that she would love to be like Jared, but she couldn't afford to eat at subway every day... Wow. It lacked in power though. Morgan Spurlock is obviously a nice person and dosen't take any hard digs at anybody. It would have been a better movie if it had been more of an in your face style. Good "need to see" movie though. 4/5
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May 31, 2004 19:41
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Great Movie!! 4.5/5 If you liked it check out the book Fastfood Nation. It goes into the details of fastfood cultural and history in more detail. They could practically sell them together in a package. I agree he got really dramatic at times. I think his girlfriend's sex diary probably showed he wasn't completely faking it. I wonder if he followed the recommended fasting period before his cholesterol tests? Does anyone know if he has an online posted diary of his daily food intake?
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Jun 6, 2004 20:09
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quote:apoxuponme came out of the closet to say: This is why I give it a 5/5. It wasn't confrontational at all and didn't really claim to have all of the answers, just a point of view. That's what I got from it, obviously some of you did too. 
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Jun 6, 2004 22:43
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my favourite part was when everyone walked out of the theater defending their diets.
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Jun 7, 2004 02:54
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quote:RippedOff came out of the closet to say: Everyone in the theatre I was in swore off fast food. But then I live in LA, people tend to do that alot here. Oh yeah, excellent documentary. 5/5
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Jun 7, 2004 06:10
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Checked him out on iMDB. He's from my home town (Parkersburg, WV) Ironically, the movie isn't playing here.
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Jun 7, 2004 07:26
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This movie was refreshing and lighthearted, a welcome alternative to Michael Moore's sometime nagging antics. Although I didn't swear off fast food, I guess you could say I pay more attention to the people (or size of the people..) next to me in line at McDonald's. I give it 4/5, mostly because the creepy clown art really freaked me out.
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Jun 8, 2004 02:02
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Decent movie. It makes me wish there were healthier fast food chains in the end. Fast food will always be a part of my daily diet simply because there is no time for anything else. 4/5
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Jun 16, 2004 15:07
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Apparently, fast food is bad for you. 3/5
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Jun 20, 2004 19:43
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I enjoyed it. While it's common knowledge that eating McDonald's (and fast food in general) isn't the wisest food choice you could make, I doubt any of us expected that it would be this hazardous to your health. I thought the material was presented in a straightforward way, and with a LOT less political spin than Michael Moore. Overall, a movie I don't feel guilty about enjoying. 5/5
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Jun 20, 2004 20:26
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NOT A REVIEW. I AM A human being
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Jun 21, 2004 07:48
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I liked Super Size Me, but I hate hearing people talk about it because they spin off in to two camps fighting because they love or hate McDonald's. The point of the movie isn't that McDonald's will ruin your life and kill you, or Spurlock wouldn't have changed his exercise pattern for the study or shown Mr. Big Mac. It also wasn't that McDonald's is responsible for your health choices, he said the opposite two or three times in the movie. It was about personal responsibility, which is such a foriegn concept in this country that most of the audience can't recognize it when they see it. quote:Chief Rebel Angel came out of the closet to say: What you see in this movie is Spurlock, knowing that eating there everyday is terrible for him, and he doing it anyway. He was an idiot for refusing to do lift weights or jog, just like all the fat fucks who eat like a pig are idiots for refusing to leave their couch unless they have to use the toilet. Every chubby momma's boy that waddled home to rant on the internet about how stupid it was that Spurlock put himself through such abuse fails to recognize that they're being just as dumb. He's mocking you. Common sense doesn't mean jack poo poo if you know better and still do it. You can't change any of these people by telling them the food is bad, because they already know it. The only real way you can reach them is by showing how stupid it is that they know better and they refuse to do anything about it. If it got a few of those fatties to realize how stupid they are and take a jog after their next cup of bacon grease, it will have been worth it. Fairly interesting, not a lot of innovative work in the genre of documentaries, but it's worth watching. Personal - 3.5 Technical - 3 Rating - 3.5 (rounded) Knight fucked around with this message at 19:18 on Feb 10, 2005 |
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Jun 21, 2004 09:14
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quote:RippedOff came out of the closet to say: HEE My wife and I walked out all smug with the not needing to defend our diet. Snooty snooty snoot snoot. That cinema customarily has ushers standing by the exits with big ol' bowls of individually wrapped hard candy for the patrons leaving the theater. Though we stayed until almost everyone had left the theater, the ushers were still holding bowls filled to the rim with candy. Apparently, not a soul had taken one. When the movie was featuring the school that actually prepared and cooked its meals and we got to see some actual fresh vegetables, dang. The wife and I did audibly mmmm, such a relief it was to see that after all the glistening, sugary spectacle that preceded it. I GIVE IT eight tentacles. Ten thumbs up. 5/5. Whatever. EDIT: Okay, I give it a 4.5/5. It was excellent, but it was no Godzilla vs Monster Zero.
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Jun 22, 2004 09:39
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Super Size Me is an interesting and occasionally funny documentary that struggles to be more than just a summary of an interesting experiment. Anything surrounding Morgan's 30-day McDonalds eating experiment is extremely interesting (especially once the results start pouring in, which are suprisingly severe). However, in order to make this more than a 30-minute short about his diet, there's a lot of mediocre filler. All the staples of the obesity debate from the last 5 years: school lunches, addiction, portions, advertising, etc... if you watch Dateline you've seen all these reports before. It never really goes beyond what's already been discussed and debated for years. Morgan is likeable enough, although he can begin to get on your nerves at times (throwing up after his second McDonalds meal and using 30 different "Mc" puns -- McAche, McGas, etc). He has an annoying Vegan girlfriend who thankfully gets limited screen time to preach her vegan ideals. In the last 10 minutes Morgan attempts a Michael Moore-ish phone effort to get an interview with McDonald's CEO. We're not told what he's calling for or if he intends to tell them about his diet, but we get a big enough portion of big-corporations-suck yammering throughout the movie that it doesn't really matter what the interview is about. Their dodging his interview suites his point better anyways. The production is great... good music and good visuals. A few annoyances: the title screens that seperate the sections of the movie are taken from an anti-corporation/marketing artist (who they subtitle as "Whateverhisnameis, Artistic Genius"  ) and feature mainly demonic Ronald McDonald clowns and other stuff. So yeah, basically, it's possibly worth seeing for the stuff about his specific experiment, but you have to sit through a lot of filler to get to anything interesting and there's no reason it should be 1hr40mins long. 2.5 Bloated Pussy fucked around with this message at 06:04 on Aug 8, 2004 |
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Aug 1, 2004 21:27
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The seed of an interesting documentary is there, but it's dusted with way too much filler. The moments with Spurlock gorging himself are great until the psychological effects of the diet start kicking in and he turns into a whiny bitch. This might be a great supplement to his argument, but the fact is that he's getting paid to put himself through this poo poo and the sicker he looks, the more lucrative. His attack is aimless, and his potential audience is questionable--it panders more to the artsy assholes than the obese people it objectifies and empathizes with. It's a big fat wasted opportunity. Two.
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Aug 5, 2004 03:43
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good movie. well done. The guy seems col and conveys the point well (although i got the feeling a few times he was overdramatizing his sickness). Only bad thing: When the movie ended, all i could think was: "Boy, a Big Mac sounds like it would hit the spot." And i'm not a even a fatty. Quite the opposite. PS- i had the Big Mac. It was delicious.
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Aug 7, 2004 00:55
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Oh noes!
Bio-Hazard fucked around with this message at 05:54 on Jan 13, 2011 |
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Aug 7, 2004 01:33
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quote:Chief Rebel Angel came out of the closet to say: McDonalds claimed that their food could support a normal diet and was not the cause of those fatty's weight problem. So Morgan did just that (went on a McOnly diet) for 30 days and when they offered to Super size him, he said 'yes' because according to McDonalds it is part of a normal diet. Why would they personally offer him a super size if it wasn't part of a normal diet (that too would go against their claim in court). This was kind of evidence that McDonalds did lie when they stated that their food could be eaten on a regular basis for a normal person (which is why he would only walk 5000 steps a day..like the average normal person). I liked this movie a lot, personally. It had some good things to say and this guy really sacrificed himself for it. After doing a bit of my own research, it is basically true. NOTHING at all in any fast food place is even good (some stuff is... not very bad, but not good) for you. Nothing. except comedy water http://www.dietfacts.com/fastfood.asp The Crab:fat:protein ratios are off and if something does look good (low in calories), its probably ultra processed and has no nutrients. I am going to try and never eat fast food again. rated 5/5 for the good message and information.
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Aug 8, 2004 04:07
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i loved this film. to me it's the first nail in the coffin of fast food restraunts. i give it a 5/5
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Aug 8, 2004 05:05
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I've always known fastfood is terrible for me, but this movie really motivated me to do something about it. Hopefully it has a similar affect on the other folks living here in Houston . I give it a 4.5/5.
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Aug 8, 2004 05:33
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quote:cannibustacap came out of the closet to say: How does reducing his physical activity help the study, if the study is about McDonalds? It doesn't, it confuses the results, since other parts of his lifestyle were also modified for that month. He reduced his normal amount of exercise, and it no doubt also played a large part in his health problems. It's what cripples the movie in the end. They needed to make it about more than just eating McDonalds for a month, because with only that to go on, you've got a 30min movie. So they go and emulate other unhealthy behavior, and before you know it, the movie isn't even about McDonalds, it's about school lunches, exercise programs, and all kinds of other stuff that detracts from the creative part of the movie. It's fine that they wanted to make a larger point about unhealthy lifestyles and culture, but it's nothing that hasn't been said before. His take on the subjects is identical to stuff we've all seen before on nightly news shows and in magazines. When he actually does raise some interesting issues, like personal responsibility, they're never debated or concluded. There's a brief in-office interview with the lawyer who's suing McDonalds on behalf of fat people that never really goes anywhere, and then a "humourous" 20 second interview with him at a McDonalds. That's it. They finally get a potentially interesting topic, and ignore it in favor of the all-too-easy discussions about advertising and food addiction. They want to make a broader message (beyond just McDonalds), but they betray their original purpose in doing so. At the end the conclusion can't be about McDonalds (even though he tries, and fails, to turn the movie back in this direction), and unfortunately that just makes things a lot less interesting for me. It should've just been "yes, we know McDonalds is bad, but here's exactly how hilariously bad it is" instead of "unhealthy lifestyles make you unhealthy, did you know that?!". Bloated Pussy fucked around with this message at 06:12 on Aug 8, 2004 |
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Aug 8, 2004 06:03
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quote:Chief Rebel Angel came out of the closet to say: But there are people who do eat fast food every single day... I work with people that do, and drat near every day get BK or McDonalrds. For them it's not a treat, but a habit Anyway... I liked the movie. It dragged at the begining when they had to show him getting checked out over and over again by all 4 doctors, and then there were segments I just didn't care about. Overall I like his style, and how he doesn't spin anything like Moore. 3.5 / 4.0 out of 5 for m... I'll go with 4.0 on the rating though
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Aug 8, 2004 18:27
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i liked the movie. ive been cutting down on fast food, and watching the movie helped me on that track. i think the lawsuit against mcD is bullshit. God forbid people should be held accountable for their own actions. oh and i would do morgan's girlfriend, what about you goons?
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Aug 9, 2004 03:30
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This movie is abseloutely awesome, as it really put the importance of nutrition in a new light for me by darkening the one surrounding fast "food". Very good stuff - I'd recommend that it should be watched by schools all over the country. 5.0
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Sep 3, 2004 09:51
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I haven't been able to eat McDonalds or most fast food since seeing this. That's a good thing.
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Sep 4, 2004 17:24
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If you listen closely, you can hear Michael Moore screaming in pain, as this man sucks the skin off his poor cock. There's a lot of science missing (or covered up) in this documentary. We all know that McDonald's isn't the place you go when you're looking to maintain a healthy diet. I was hoping he'd uncover something useful. Instead, we get a meandering collection of some guy's visits to McDonald's. Looking at the subtext here, we can reasonably assume from his girlfriend (and yes, she's drat hot) that he's used to a semi-vegan diet. Fair enough. Where it falls apart is the lack of any real science related to human biology, other than him getting BMI checks. If you've spent years on a semi-vegan diet, suddenly bombarding yourself with meat is going to make you sick. Your body has adjusted to digesting fruits and vegetables, so of course you're going to get sick when you're eating meat all day long. Not only was that science lacking... the converse is also true. If you've spent your life ordering by numbers, a sudden regimen of vegan food is going to make you feel pretty ill, too. Sure, you're not going to gain weight, but you're going to spend the entire month on the toilet. It's simple biology. I would have been more interested in the "why" of it all. Why are people going to McDonald's? Why aren't people eating healthier? Why isn't there any sort of competition from someone with fast vegan/vegetarian food? Why is their marketing acceptable? Why aren't people getting the education they should have? What are the economic implications of this all? The audience receives none of this. The only conclusion they're left with is a quasi-alarmist "OMG MCDONALD'S ALMOST KILLED ME!" ambiance, which is disingenuous at best. If anything, this is the propagandist book Fast Food Nation put to celluloid, and stripped of all useful information. There is so much wasted potential here. Seriously. Are you going to watch this movie thinking "Gee, I wonder if 30 days worth of McDonald's food really is bad for you!" or "I'll bet he's just fine after it all."? Of course not. In essence, he's preaching to the choir.
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Sep 14, 2004 08:00
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Very entertaining documentary. Similar to Bowling for Columbine in how it uses different techniques to present the material in interesting ways. The director/star is also a very funny guy. The movie isn't exactly eye-opening (kind of a big "duh!" really), because everyone knows fast food is bad for you, but it is kind of a shot in the arm to get so much information about it at once, and to see just how bad it can mess you up. Rating: 4
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Feb 9, 2005 21:58
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Even though I loved Fast Food Nation, for some reason I was never enticed enough to watch the show. Morgan's late night television shows seemed to confirm the obvious; a McDonalds diet is bad for you. My girlfriend recently joined NetFlix so we caught this on DVD and I found myself thoroughly entertained. I really enjoyed the bonus feature where he talks to the author of FFN. I disagree that the movie suffered from lack of the information contained in FFN. For one, it's not an adaptation of FFN even though it is similar. For another, to add that degree of information would bore the audience from the fundamental message which is: A fast food diet is bad for you. That may seem obvious to say, most people on the forum, but to everyone else, I'd expect it to be new information. Voted 4/5.
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Mar 28, 2005 15:14
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 13:21 |
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An entertainment documentary with an over-the-top biased agenda. Yes you'll get fat and cranky from eating 3 supersize meals a day for a month, but seriously, aside from gigantic buttertrolls, who does eat 3 big McMeals every day other than trying to prove it would make you fat? The man was puking from trying to eat his half-pound of french fries - now why would anyone actually voluntarily stuff oneself with those amount 3 times a day? Oh noes, they don't stick nutrition information in your face the moment you walk in a restaurant and you might have to walk to a back wall, ask an employee or visit their website for the info -- such consipiracy I tell you! His new-age vegetarian girlfriend with her "omgz genes" FUD was a joke by itself. Though I gotta admit one thing, I never realized how much sugar I'd ingest from drinking a 2-liter coke, or how what calorie-bombs milkshakes are. So despite the movie's blatant, forced agenda -- if you force yourself to stuff huge piles of greasy food into yourself whether you like it or not, you go fat -- it does raise some good points. 2/5
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Mar 30, 2005 11:46
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