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.

"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.

Hello, I am from the Yukon Canada, and having seen Brown Bears in the wild, I was looking forward to viewing these wonderful creatures filmed by Disney Nature. I was looking forward with great excitement to seeing the Movie based on the movie trailer. However the Narration was at a preschool level, and yes i understand Disneys desire to appeal to family audience. However less narration and more overall scenery and how the scenes were filmed would have been enjoyable. Overall great Film except for narration, i will be enjoying the film once again on DVD with sound in mute mode, over and over as the bears are still the most majestic creatures.

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.

John C. Reilly narrates this Disney nature documentary about Sky, a female brown bear, and her two cubs, Scout and Amber, in Alaska. They climb out of their snowbound den and traverse mountains to greener pastures. It's a year in their lives. They scavenge for food and watch for predators. The big feast comes with the salmon run.

This has all the great Disney nature cinematography. It looks beautiful although the slow motion can linger a little too long. I'm less convinced about the Reilly narrations. His casual speaking voice is too colloquial sometimes. It's mostly fine except for the bears' voices which comes off a little sarcastic. There are stretches missing in the journey which could have added to the drama. There isn't much film about being lost in the woods for two weeks. That could have been great darkness before the dawn. The movie isn't that long and Sky's shocking thin appearance is jarring in its disconnection. That could have added some depth to the desperation. This is fine for the G-rated nature films for the kids.