Man vs. Wild

Out of all the survival shows being made today, this one is by far the least realistic. Many scenes are often staged (as mentioned in the disclaimer before each episode) and the the survival techniques are suspect. Additionally, some things are done purely for the shock value, such as the way he eats live insects, reptiles, fish, etc with his mouth open and so close to the camera. This is NOT a show to watch to learn survival skills. If you go out and do what you've seen here, you will most likely die a painful and embarrassing death. Your obituary will read like that of a teenage kid who died imitating something he saw on Jackass.

However, with that understood, there is something to be said for the entertainment value, provided that you almost watch it as if it were a fictional TV series. The scenery is amazing and Bear Grylls is fun to follow through the different locations. He's got a great personality and can even be amusing at times. And there may even be a good survival tip in there now and again, but you have to be able to distinguish it from the rest of the stuff and realize that it will almost never be as easy as he makes it out to be. Plus I gotta admit, the concept of always taking a knife, a canteen with a pot and a fire starter of some sort as a minimum of equipment for any trip in the wilds seems to be good advice.

I've only seen the show a few times, but it totally has me hooked. I just can't believe some of the thing's he'll do. My favorite part was Bear wandering about the Amazon when he decides he's hungry. So he makes a bow from branches and vines, whittles a few arrows and shoots a couple of piranhas for dinner! This man is the Macgyver of reality television.

Yeah, the survival advice may not come in handy the next time I take a drive to the supermarket- but it's seriously entertaining to watch what the man can do with only a flint, knife, canteen and a whole lot of research.

Those suggesting that Bear does not have any or the best survival skills and that he is not actually surviving. Putting yourself in a position where you have to survive and presenting a show designed to entertain based on a man in the wild. To be stranded he would actually have to strand himself with a film crew. That is not actually being stranded.

The show itself is entertaining and that is what it is for. Of course he could be more logical with his survival but it is not survival. He has put himself in that position. If he did the same thing as the show referenced in other reviews 'Survivorman' it would be the same show. There is also a reason this is in the Top 150 shows on IMDb and not 'Survivorman' This is not a Documentary. Please take this into consideration when you have a low IQ and feel the need to post a review.

I watched and enjoyed Survivorman well before Man vs. Wild came along, and expected a similar type of show. The producers apparently anticipated the same reaction from their audience, and decided the show needed to be spiced up a bit.

So we have the host, Bear Grylls, performing all sorts of highly adventurous activities, like swimming upstream, climbing cliffs and trees, eating live animals/insects, and so forth. This makes for great entertainment, but much of what Bear engages in is impractical and even dangerous at best in a survival situation.

Now granted, it would also be impractical to assume that this show should be construed as a survival guide. Bear does, however, give a great deal of information and good advice mixed in with the thrills. I find him to be mostly level-headed and good natured, even when faced with very difficult situations. Despite his hardships, I don't believe I've ever heard him complain once. And that really is as important to survival as anything - having a positive attitude and making the best of one's situation.

His credibility does suffer a bit with the admission that he tends to sleep in hotel rooms or base camps as opposed to in the wild. That certainly keeps him fresh and ready to face new challenges, but perhaps most importantly to speak with authority and excitement in order to keep the audience interested.

It's difficult to sort through the good and bad advice, since the show is as concerned with entertainment as it is with developing survival skills. I suppose one must do whatever it takes to survive, but some things can make one even worse off. In one instance, Bear drinks his own urine without much second though, but in another case he is very careful about determining the source of potential drinking water. And a parasitic infection from frequent consumption of live animals might make hunger seem nothing but a dull ache in comparison.

In all, Man vs. Wild is a good show. It is more of a show about personal challenge for Bear than it is for survival education. "The Bear Grylls Challenge" might have been a better name. At any rate, despite the liberally sprinkled good advice, this show is primarily for entertainment purposes. If you want to learn about more practical, albeit less exciting, application of survival technique, then watch "Survivorman."

First of all, Bear Grylls is a fantastic charismatic person. Besides that he can rely on his experience in the British SAS.

Now, some of you might not realize how hard it is to even come into the SAS. There is a selection process that has no equal in the world. For Example, you have to go to a mountain and they drop you at the beginning and you will have to figure out where the finish is. It will be a mountain that has paths and you will have to walk instead of climbing...but still it is a very tough route. You got a rucksack full of heavy bricks to carry on your back. And you are supposed to reach the 'finish' in a short time frame. And this isn't even the hard part of the selection. There are even tougher things you gotta do. But i will not talk about it, because i want to say a few things about the show now.

The show has got me hooked since i saw the first episode. It isn't fake like some other reviewer dared to say. The only 'fake' thing is that he is accompanied by a camera crew so he is never in real danger. But i don't mind. This way the show is much more professional and how are you supposed to film yourself while you're trying to climb a mountain?

In every episode you will see Bear eat disgusting things. It's like Fear Factor in the wild. And the faces Bear makes while he eats the revolting things, it's great while you're sitting home watching the show with a back of crisps available to you. Bear is funny in his own original way, and it makes the show complete.

EnjoY the show!