THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD (1975) ** Back in my day, apparently the youth culture was willing to believe anything. Maybe that's why things have turned out the way that they have. A cereal eating contest/weightlifting challenge, televised and on the radio, replete with enthusiastic fans; a magic formula or two; industrial spies for corporations; Chinese mind control methodology; inane deans, bad cops--we thought we were about to inherit the earth, but we were being overloaded and set up. Not just who could sort through all that stuff, but that so many can probably be forgiven for not bothering. Video games and fast food, we sure dwarfed those Roman peons who settled for bread and circuses. At its best this sort of cinema could be both charming and amusing, and begin to raise questions that kids could then develop on their own. At its worst it was a form of generational bigotry, and an excuse for making fun of cops, businessmen, and anyone who didn't immediately pledge allegiance to our fashion sense and embryonic genius. This isn't a particularly good representation of the genre, even though Kurt Russell is served up Cesar Romero and Dick Van Patten as foils. I mean, at some point...no one cares. Wait! That's it! I've got the formula...
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