Abstract: A plastic film preform is expanded to form a container. The preform has a longitudinal axis that extends from an open top to a closed bottom. The preform is pressurized with a first pressure sufficient to cause side walls of the preform to expand outwardly and the bottom of the preform to be drawn inwardly thereby reducing a length of the preform along the longitudinal axis. Side molds are closed around the side walls of the preform, the closed side molds being larger than the expanded side walls. A bottom mold is closed to be adjacent to the bottom of the preform after pressurizing the preform with the first pressure. The preform is pressurized with a second pressure sufficient to expand the preform to fill the closed molds. The preform is thereby significantly stretched in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and minimally stretched along the longitudinal axis.