Schwarzenegger backs re-release of ‘Pumping Iron’

Arnold Schwarzenegger encouraged the director of “Pumping Iron,” the documentary that launched him in Hollywood 25 years ago, to re-release it unedited -- including a marijuana-smoking scene.

“I would refuse to wipe out that record or change it or alter it because of image’s sake,” Schwarzenegger said this week. “That would not be true to the filmmaker.”

George Butler’s critically acclaimed 1977 documentary follows Schwarzenegger as he prepares to defend his Mr. Olympia title against fellow bodybuilders including Lou Ferrigno.

A digitally enhanced version of “Pumping Iron,” repackaged with previously unseen footage and interviews with actors and athletes influenced by Schwarzenegger, debuts at 8 tonight on Cinemax.

Schwarzenegger retired from bodybuilding after winning the competition and began to build a movie career, including “Conan the Barbarian” (1982) and the breakthrough “The Terminator” (1984).