Bears
Posted by Itheliving 11 years, 6 months ago to Movies
Bears / Rated G except mean and nasty bears could be scary to really young children. I ran out of the theater twice.
Bears is the 2014 annual Earth Day Nature film released by Disney Studios. They have released 8 of these films so far with one in the works for 2015. I went to and reviewed the 1st film in 2007 titled Earth. About 15 minutes into that film I had a strong feeling of dejavu. At about the 30 minute point I realized that this excellent film was not made by the Disney Co. It was in fact a BBC production narrated by Richard Attenborough and I owned and had viewed the DVD set. What Disney had done was buy a beautifully made release ready product, rewrote the narration for American audiences and added a recognizable voice to renarrate the film. James Earl Jones was the new voice of the show.
After that experience each year as they released a new film I rewatched one of my DVD’s in the Planet Earth set and saved a trip to the box office. For those that do not have and have not seen the BBC series this re-release is highly recommended. The photography is gorgeous and top not film scorers have added appropriate music.
Bears takes the same path. It is the story of 3 Bears. Not Papa, Mama and Baby but Mama and two babies. The story starts in the hibernation den and follows their attempts to survive their 1st year. Baby bears stay with mom the 1st three years of their lives returning to hibernate with her at the end of each season. During late spring through summer and early fall they make a long trek from the mountains to the Alaskan coastal area. Here they eat grass and any marine life they can entrap or dig up. If things get desperate they eat each other. What they are waiting around for during their summer sojourn is the return of the salmon who are going up river to spawn. The bears, wolves and other predators gorge up on salmon until they return to sleep off their feast.
Actor John C. Reilly is the narrator. His voice is childish and the narration has been dumbed down so 2 year olds can understand it. When the baby bear eats salmon JCR says things like “hey, mom, this is my new favorite food”. Don’t expect a lot out of the narrative portions. Expect a lot from the endurance and love mom has for the babies. Life is not easy in the Alaskan wilderness even if you weight 700 pounds and have big teeth. Other bears weigh in at over 1000 pounds and have even bigger teeth. Also expect a treat from the George Fenton musical score. GF has been at it since 1971 and my favorite’s from his resume include High Spirits (1988), Memphis Belle (1991) and Ever After (1998).
Bears runs only 77 minutes including about 8 minutes of end credits which include scenes of the cinematographers at work. Their work here is spectacular. Close ups of the bears in their den, on the snowy peaks, hunting in the meadows, napping and fighting are all superb. Again the warning. These bears are big and when they get vicious on screen it looks like Godzilla vs. Smoky the Bear in a battle to the death. Really small kids beware. Adults enjoy. Call me when it’s safe to come out of the restroom.
Rated 2.9 out of 4.0 reasons the porridge is just right.
Bears is the 2014 annual Earth Day Nature film released by Disney Studios. They have released 8 of these films so far with one in the works for 2015. I went to and reviewed the 1st film in 2007 titled Earth. About 15 minutes into that film I had a strong feeling of dejavu. At about the 30 minute point I realized that this excellent film was not made by the Disney Co. It was in fact a BBC production narrated by Richard Attenborough and I owned and had viewed the DVD set. What Disney had done was buy a beautifully made release ready product, rewrote the narration for American audiences and added a recognizable voice to renarrate the film. James Earl Jones was the new voice of the show.
After that experience each year as they released a new film I rewatched one of my DVD’s in the Planet Earth set and saved a trip to the box office. For those that do not have and have not seen the BBC series this re-release is highly recommended. The photography is gorgeous and top not film scorers have added appropriate music.
Bears takes the same path. It is the story of 3 Bears. Not Papa, Mama and Baby but Mama and two babies. The story starts in the hibernation den and follows their attempts to survive their 1st year. Baby bears stay with mom the 1st three years of their lives returning to hibernate with her at the end of each season. During late spring through summer and early fall they make a long trek from the mountains to the Alaskan coastal area. Here they eat grass and any marine life they can entrap or dig up. If things get desperate they eat each other. What they are waiting around for during their summer sojourn is the return of the salmon who are going up river to spawn. The bears, wolves and other predators gorge up on salmon until they return to sleep off their feast.
Actor John C. Reilly is the narrator. His voice is childish and the narration has been dumbed down so 2 year olds can understand it. When the baby bear eats salmon JCR says things like “hey, mom, this is my new favorite food”. Don’t expect a lot out of the narrative portions. Expect a lot from the endurance and love mom has for the babies. Life is not easy in the Alaskan wilderness even if you weight 700 pounds and have big teeth. Other bears weigh in at over 1000 pounds and have even bigger teeth. Also expect a treat from the George Fenton musical score. GF has been at it since 1971 and my favorite’s from his resume include High Spirits (1988), Memphis Belle (1991) and Ever After (1998).
Bears runs only 77 minutes including about 8 minutes of end credits which include scenes of the cinematographers at work. Their work here is spectacular. Close ups of the bears in their den, on the snowy peaks, hunting in the meadows, napping and fighting are all superb. Again the warning. These bears are big and when they get vicious on screen it looks like Godzilla vs. Smoky the Bear in a battle to the death. Really small kids beware. Adults enjoy. Call me when it’s safe to come out of the restroom.
Rated 2.9 out of 4.0 reasons the porridge is just right.
