Alicia I love this movie so much

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Johan Rytters I'd like to point out that I'm getting tiresome of reviewers either throwing away 1's or 10's and I feel like they are to be used more thoughtfully. At the same time, I cannot stray away from giving this movie a 10 since it's amongst my all-time favorites so I do admit on this being a bit of a double standard. With that said I cannot praise this movie enough. I have no idea how they've done it (If they've violated any animal rights, hoping not of course!) because the craftsmanship of this movie is just amazing. How they've managed to capture the emotions of the animals and made them all perform so naturally is just beyond amazing. I'm so happy that they've used real animals as it just gives this movie an authentic feel. Had it been with today's CGI it would have been a different experience and I'd probably be entertained too but it'll never feel "real" the same way this one did. I like the simplicity of the story and I enjoyed spending time with the bears as well as the hunters. The story doesn't seem one sided and you get the motivation for the hunters and I really like the way the story portrayed them. The two main stars of the movie are of course the bears and as you can guess I loved them both. There was just something heartwarming about their tale and how they connect with each other. One of the few movies to really get me emotional. This is one of those movies I just don't understand why isn't on the top 250 or is more widely regarded. I think I'd to some more digging to see other user's response to it because there must be something I have missed but then again this is solely based on my experience with the movie and "The Bear" is without doubt amongst my top 20 favorite movies and a movie I'd recommend to anyone solely on how mind-blowing well it's made.

Scott LeBrun Based on James-Oliver Curwoods' 1917 novel "The Grizzly King", "The Bear" is quite remarkable, a heart tugging and involving drama where animal actors are at the forefront. At the beginning, a grizzly cub is orphaned, and the poor little thing eventually hooks up with an adult Kodiak bear. The big and fearsome Kodiak becomes the cubs' companion and protector, but is itself a tempting prize for a pair of hunters, Bill (Jack Wallace), and Tom (Tcheky Karyo).Written by Gerard Brach ("Repulsion", "Frantic") and directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud ("Quest for Fire"), what's nice about "The Bear" is how well it manages to promote love and respect for Mother Nature. It's a beautifully shot (by Philippe Rousselot), picturesque story, with no shortage of perils into which our four legged heroes are placed. It may be hard for some people to watch at times, although scenes of harm to animals were faked as best as possible using special effects. (Admittedly, the blood looks rather like paint.) It's sometimes manipulative, to be honest, but it still engages the viewer, thanks to a delightful pair of performances by Bart (the Kodiak) and Youk (the cub). Youk in particular is adorable. Wallace and Karyo are good, refraining from being purely one dimensional. Philippe Sarde composed the touching music score.The film is actually not without humour, and even creates some surreal "nightmare" sequences containing striking imagery.Must viewing for lovers of both cinema and animals.Eight out of 10.

calvinnme ... is to leave your enemy alive knowing that without his dogs and his guns and his buddies and his notched bullets meant to cause his prey to explode not just die, that this enemy is just a great big sissy. No, the story is more complex than that, but at the climax of the film you can almost detect the trace of a smile on the face of the gigantic Kodiak bear as he roars in the face of the unsuspecting hunter who is left on his knees, hands on his ears begging "please don't kill me". And then the bear just turns around and ambles away.So how did we get to this point? It is British Columbia 1885, and this story starts out with a momma bear and her cub, digging honeycomb out of the base of a hill. The momma is making such a ruckus digging that she causes a minor rock slide and is killed instantly in the process. This is the very saddest part of the film, as the baby first tries to help mom by removing the rocks, and then snuggles up next to her corpse until hunger makes him leave her behind.Meanwhile there is the gigantic Kodiak bear I mentioned in the first paragraph, doing what Kodiak bears do - scratching his back on trees until they fall, mating with female bears he comes across, and killing elk for food because, for something this big, some fish and berries are just not going to do the job.Also there are a pair of hunters, an older one and a younger one. They are obviously after bear pelts, because as we meet them the older hunter is flinging the bear meat into the fire and finishing up the job of skinning his latest kill. Now at the time I am writing this, trophy hunters are in the news, and the news is repellent, people killing wild animals just for the sport. But this is a wilderness and more than likely these hunters need the pelts to sell and to use in the harsh cold winters for themselves. Everything pulls its weight in such an ecosystem or it is deemed as unnecessary and won't last long anyways.What sets up our story is that the pair of hunters detect our gigantic friend. The younger hunter is inexperienced, though, and shoots too soon. He wounds the bear but does not kill it. The hunters go out looking for the bear and when they don't find it, the older hunter says to let it go. That is, until they realize they are the hunted and see that the bear has doubled back on them and slaughtered their pack horses, including the older hunter's own horse, and probably as close to a pet as you get in this place. The older hunter swears revenge and leaves the younger hunter there while he goes back to town and gets their tracking dogs.In the end we have the most unlikeliest of scenarios. The male bear takes up with the baby bear feeding it and protecting it in almost a big brother/little brother relationship that provides some precious moments, and we have the young hunter and the old hunter deciding to let the giant bear get away in spite of the fact that he killed the older hunter's horse and the younger hunter's favorite dog in the chase.Watch this one to see the forgiveness that seems to go both ways in the animal kingdom - human to animal, animal to human, and to see the possibility that sometimes animals can strike up friendships even in the harshest of environments. And might I add that the beautiful Canadian scenery almost steals the show. Highly recommended. Let me also note that there is almost no dialogue in this one, but it is unnecessary to convey the relationship between the hunters and what they are thinking. The acting and direction are that good.

ccthemovieman-1 Almost 20 years later, this remains the best of "animal" movies I've ever seen - where there is little dialog and animals dominate the screen. The amazing photography with the bears, the stunning cinematography overall and the great landscape (British Columbia) all make this a visual treat. Even better, it's an interesting story and has remained that with each of the viewings I've had of this film since discovering it in the mid '90s.It's a solid adventure story, and the little bear in here is lovable. The "bad guys" (the hunters) aren't really all that bad, either. The bears' performances are fascinating, simply amazing. It must have taken incredible patience to film this movie.Outside of a couple of "damns," there is no profanity and, I would think, is a great film for any age person to see. Highly recommended.