Bears

The photography deserves superlatives that haven't been bastardized, cheapened and ground down into nothing, but I don't know any. So, simply, the imagery is just stunning. John C. Reilly as narrator was a weak choice and his narration is definitely geared to entertain young folk, but it is good-natured enough to be excused, although the movie would have worked just fine without any narration at all. As it is, he provides all of the anthropomorphic fantasy you expect in a Disney flick. "Chimpanzee" still stands out for me as the pinnacle of Disney Nature (anthropomorphic fantasy) films.

I watched Disney's "Bears," during the opening weekend. I support the Earth Day films they make each year. Of the ones I have seen in the past ("Oceans," "African Cats," and "Chimpanzee,"), this one is not the best one they have done, but it is still enjoyable. The film is a tad slow, and at 77 minutes, you get the sense the filmmakers had to stretch the movie out to even reach 77 minutes. The end credits showed a lot of the filming, and I got the sense it could have been longer.

The good things about the film is watching the bear cubs play and frolic and their journey with their mother. The film lacks a lot of breathtaking panoramas and scenes considering it is a nature film, but the scenes showing all of the Alaskan mountains are gorgeous. I like John C. Reilly, but to be honest, his narration did not exactly add to the presentation.

I was delighted to find "Bears". What was so amazing about this movie were the close-up shots of many personal moments for this bear family. I just wondered throughout the entire movie how the film makers could have this repertoire with these wild creatures. Being a pro photographer myself, I could tell that the lenses they used were not extremely long telephoto lenses. This was better, more personal than a National Geographic documentary. The images were so sharp and colorful, it just lead me to want to visit, or live, in Alaska. The panoramas were huge, majestic, post card perfect. The narrative was helpful; I needed to know what motivated the bears through their journey; the narrative answered that. Violence between bears was muted compared to what I know they can do to one another. So, this movie is safe for little children I feel. Yes, they eat Salmon fish in the river, but I eat Salmon fish too, on a plate. Did you know that bears live at the top of the peaks of mountains? I didn't know that. They carve themselves out of their hiding place from the very top of a high mountain! This movie goes into the details of a bears life from its infancy. So, your heart will be touched and warmed up by their cute behaviors. Your city life woes will all melt away when you follow them through all of the problems that bears encounter during a year's time. Yes, I do feel that "Sky", the mother bear, should be nominated for an Oscar. If Snow White and her 7 Dwarfs were winners for the Oscar, "Sky" & "Scout" & "Amber" should also be considered. This movie has its villains and its funny friends. DisneyNature is a wide eye opening presentation. There was applause from the audience at its conclusion. I felt that this movie "brought me back" to a good feeling after I had been "crashed" by a scifi movie I had seen earlier. "Bears" is good family entertainment, and as I said, it will transport you to lush, clear and clean adventure in Alaska. Now I understand why people live there.

Beautiful-looking documentary from Disney. It's harmless fluff. There's no footage of bears killing other animals (besides fish) and the few bear fights they show result in no bloodshed. I'm not sure why it was even made as you can find such nature documentaries on television all the time. Still, it is pleasant to watch. There is a somewhat annoying narration from John C. Reilly. I get that Disney wanted this to appeal to kids so having a comedian with a silly voice is understandable from a marketing standpoint. But the documentary does have serious moments and Reilly pretty much ruins all of those. It's worth watching if you love animals and nature footage. But be prepared for it to be slow-moving and a little too cutesy at times. If you have kids, they will likely enjoy it more than you do.

"Bears" is an okay choice for a family audience looking for a nature documentary. Adults, either by themselves or with other adults, may find a few problems with it. For one thing, while this adult was wanting to learn more about bears, the movie is less educational than you might think. The documentary certainly shows over and over that bears have to constantly struggle in the wilderness, but I wanted to learn more than just that. Also, the documentary on occasion suffers from some juvenile dialogue. But I think the reason for both of those problems is that the filmmakers were trying to appeal to kids in the audience. Had the documentary been more informative and more sober in its narration, kids would probably get bored quickly. And I will admit that the documentary has some strengths. The photography is stunning, there are some exciting moments, and I will admit I was never bored. And at 77 minutes, the movie does not outstay its welcome. It's not the best nature documentary I've seen, but it's far from the worst.