Some highlights, but overall kinda lame
RELEASED IN 1975 and directed by Vincent McEveety, "The Strongest Man in the World” chronicles events at a Southern California college where Dexter Riley (Kurt Russell) & his pals inadvertently discover that a concoction of a new chemical mixed with a certain cereal will grant anyone or anything superhuman strength.
It’s interesting seeing Kurt when he was so young (23 years-old during shooting) and there’s a fun all-star cast of familiars who were popular at the time (Joe Flynn, Dick Van Patten, Phil Silvers, Cesar Romero, etc.). I also like the mid-70s fashions & décor; and there are a few laughs or well-done scenes, like the great conference room sequence.
But, with the exception of Eve Arden as a cereal mogul, there’s zero emphasis in the female department. In other words, the story takes place at a Southern Cal college, but there are no women, except in a very peripheral sense. Someone might argue that this is a film for kids. Yes, real LITTLE kids; and maybe adults on a nostalgia trip.
THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour 32 minutes and was shot in Los Angeles, Glendale and Pasadena, California. WRITERS: Joseph L. McEveety and Herman Groves.
GRADE: C-