Bold Native

At a recent screening I attended,the director of Bold Native described it as "a movie of ideas" and I give this film a lot of credit for addressing some of the moral complexity of the animal rights issue rather than just being a simple polemic. It doesn't demonize or romanticize either side too much.

There is a lot of heart in Bold Native. It's fast-paced, colorful, youthful and fun while underscoring the urgency of helping animals during a time when non-violent animal liberators are being prosecuted as domestic terrorists. Bold Native reminds the viewer that Animal Rights is a human rights issue, too. See this movie!

Great movie without being preachy and very thought provoking. Great story, good plot, the actors they picked for the characters were a perfect match.

I bought this DVD since it's not showing in my area. This movie should get awards!!!! You also need to watch the "extras" at the end - from the documentaries on animal treatment to the happy stories from animal sanctuaries to the cast comments and interviews. I didn't know any of the actors with the exception of Randolph Mantooth (from the 70's Emergency TV fame) so it was fun to hear the actors comments. I loved the characters of Nicole (Ursula Whittaker) and I Rock (Tonya Kay) and her interaction with Richard Cranehill (Randy Mantooth).

Bold Native is not an animal rights documentary. This is a groundbreaking, scripted film that portrays the complicated issues facing today's animal rights activists. The movie is a first of it's kind in the sense that it deals with the many controversial aspects, different strategies and the wide variety of advocacy positions that exist side by side in the modern animal welfare/rights/liberation movement. No other film has engaged itself with these topics using fiction, hypothetical situations, character development and a suspenseful storyline. This movie also exposes an important fact... that we all exist in a time where corporations, in alliance with our government, are cowardly using the fears of the masses regarding terrorism, to silence the free speech of those humans standing up for the non human animal individuals being tortured, mutilated and brutally killed by the same corporations.

No other scripted film has dealt with the despicable and little known federal law called the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act which was set up by the corporations (industries who profit from killing animals) by paying off elected politicians. No other film has concerned itself with the emotional, psychological, compassionate and political motivations of so many human beings who risk their own freedom to fight for and liberate the nearly billions of non humans who are oppressed and killed every day. It's nearly impossible to create anything new in the world of film that hasn't been done before. Hollywood has been going out of its way to make sure that everything that it churns out.... has been made two or three times before and 'focused grouped' to never ending insanity. Yet, Bold Native stands out as original among everything else recently released by the big machine that creates the same movies over and over. This is bold filmmaking to say the least.

The films logo of the HOPE piglet is a wonderful metaphor for the future of a possible state of the world. A state of the world where liberating the other animals from oppression and fighting for their rights will one day be seen as rational, sane and just. But the logo might also represent hope for a new more meaningful filmmaking that will hopefully start to include themes about the injustice and prejudices which the other species of the world must endure under human chauvinism. Bold Native is the essence/definition of great revolutionary filmmaking and real HOPE.

Come on Hollywood....get on board!

You don't need to be an animal rights activist to find the movie cinematically enjoyable. Before I saw the movie, I expected the movie to be a slightly diluted advocacy "message" film. I was wrong. This movie way surpassed my expectations. The film is imaginatively well-written (and doesn't pummel you with agenda messages), well-acted with interesting characters (and not living scenery), dramatic, and has surprising elements. The casting was also superb.

While a couple reviews here find the sex/nudity scenes to be not needed, I actually, and surprisingly to myself (who normally would agree that this is the case in many movies), have to disagree. Without those scenes, it would take a lot of umph out of one of following powerful elements in the story.

This movie also gives a person a good crash course on current politics and government as it especially relates to the animal rights movement. Something that most people are ignorant of, and will likely find pretty shocking.

The film is a brilliant mesh of dramatic stay-on-the-edge-of-your-seat storyline with important documentary footage about the horrors suffered by animals of factory farms. The film is so high quality -- artful direction, skillful acting, compelling plot, beautiful cinematography and critical and pointed delivery of the message on behalf of the deplorable state of farm animals. I hope it reaches wide delivery.

The movie is so realistic that for the first several minutes I thought it was a documentary until I recognized the intense actor who plays the father. The dynamic of conflict between the son and the father is at the core of the story. However, the true heart of the movie is the plight of farm animals and the risks that activists take when they fight to improve the lives of those animals. The documentary footage is painful to watch, but it brings home the moral fiber of the message.

Highest recommendation!