SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Cortechba Overrated

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Josh Harper Survivorman is the grandfather to almost all other survival programs, and certainly all shown on Discovery or the Science channel. I watched this show as much as I could when I was a teenager, and even now years later it's still just as enjoyable. The thing that really separates this show from others is the true reality of it. There are no scripted interactions (Dual Survival), no setups with things left for the host (Man Vs Wild), and brilliant camera work for the entire program (Ed Stafford). Les Stroud gives an air of "if i can do it, so can you", compared to most other survival programs (the 3 I named above, for example) being hosted by former military men. Stroud is in his 40's, and only has survival techniques which anyone can do if properly instructed. Stroud has a safety net usually about 5 hour's walk away, which is helpful if he's mobile, but if he's attacked but a wild animal then it's game over. Compare that to Bear Grylls and his film crew of 2/3 people watching him do back-flips over waterfalls. Les Stroud does twice the work shown on camera because of his DIY film technique.

grizzledgeezer "Survivorman" appears to be unique among outdoor-survival shows. Les Stroud is presented as being truly alone, with no one to assist him. If he makes it to the time limit (currently 10 days), he'll be automatically picked up. But he can't summon help -- and he could very well die.I normally don't like such things. It smacks of trapeze artists working without a net, pandering to the audience's desire to see someone be killed, live. But people do find themselves in extreme situations not always of their own making. Such programming is potentially helpful -- and it serves to remind us how easy our lives are.I just saw the Tierra del Fuego episode, arguably the "low point" of the series (emotionally as well as geographically). I hope Stroud was paid a great deal for this particular "adventure", as no one in their right mind would want to spend more than a few minutes in that place.This is one of a few "reality" programs worth watching.PS: After submitting this review, I more-carefully read the Wikipedia article. It seems Mr Stroud carries a satellite radio, and can get in touch with his crew at any time. This has /never/ been mentioned in any episode; the audience is left believing he is totally alone. I certainly don't want to see Mr Stroud die -- and he /is/ in rather more danger than he would be if cameramen were present -- but his lying-by-omission obliges me to change my rating from 9 to 7.

DashTheGreat Les Stroud is my hero.Survivorman is no doubt an epic show that deserves more credit than it gets. Most people pass this show off as "boring," but you can tell that they never really sit down to watch it. You can't really judge a show by the 5 minutes that you watched. Not to mention that the information on Survivorman is useful. Man vs. Wild was good, but it featured Bear doing impossible stunts and jumping from cliff to cliff. Survivorman just seems more practical. Les beats the crap out of himself for our amusement, and we should honor him for that. Excellent show.I suddenly have the urge to savagely rip into a pond tuber, but those taste like crap. I then bite into a river reed and break my teeth in half. It got woody on me.

sias-programming This is definitely one of the most interesting shows to watch. There are lots of survival shows out there, but this one really kicks the competition. This show is great to watch because Les Stroud really does survive. Most of these types of shows use camera crews to document their survival, which isn't bad either, but this is pretty much a one-man show. The show definitely has a lot of great adventures taken on by Les Stroud, the Survivorman. This is a unique show of how insane it is to survive alone in different wilderness situations and scenarios. This is a great show to watch and I'd definitely recommend watching it if you want to see REAL survival.