Spirit Bear: The Simon Jackson Story

This film, made with the financial support of the Canadian government, is based on the true story of a genuine environmental hero. Simon Jackson was only 13 when he began his crusade to save the Spirit Bear, a white version of Ursus Americanus Kermodei, which occurs in about 10% of the black bears which live in a relatively small area in Canada. The only habitat of the Spirit Bear is Princess Royal Island, other adjacent large islands, and nearby coastal British Columbia. This unique temperate rainforest area was threatened by clearcut logging. Simon faced down not only the BC government, and the timber industry, but also the loggers themselves.

His story is one that needs to be told to everyone on this planet---that it is possible for one determined person to change what is happening to our environment, before it is too late. The film is not a millions-of-bucks slick production, but is touching and feels genuine. The footage of the Spirit Bear(s) is truly remarkable. I love Graham Greene and he was perfect in his role of a somewhat disillusioned environmental organization employee and mentor to Simon. My only real criticism is the music, which seemed much louder than the rest of the soundtrack.

For people who know nothing about the campaign to save the Spirit Bear's habitat from destruction by ignorance and greed, the film is very enlightening. For those of us who joined our voices to the thousands who heard about the Spirit Bear directly from Simon Jackson, it is very heartening to see the story disseminated through this film. I can only hope everyone who sees it will feel empowered to lift their voice to protest greed and injustice in the world.

While hiking on an island in British Columbia one day a teenager by the name of "Simon Jackson" (Mark Rendall) finds himself trapped by a wild bear with nowhere to run. Miraculously, a white bear appears out of nowhere and not only fights the bear but allows Simon to escape afterward as well. Not long afterward he learns that this particular animal is neither a polar bear nor an albino but belongs to a unique class known colloquially as a "spirit bear" which only exists in a very small geographical location. To his horror, he also discovers that the bear's environment is about to be destroyed in the near future by a powerful lumber company and he becomes determined to prevent this at all costs. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this turned out to be a much better film than I initially expected with some heart-warming scenes here and there. Admittedly, there were a couple of rather corny scenes as well but all in all I enjoyed this film for the most part and have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Why hasn't this excellent film shown up in theaters and/or on TV in the US? This is great storytelling with an urgent message of how we are losing so much of our natural resource treasures to greed and unbridled development. The cinematography of the British Columbia rain forest and encounters with the Spirit Bear are remarkable. The film is not, however, just a pretty picture. We follow the difficulty of convincing people who have economic interests in development that some things are worth preserving. Having been involved in conservation projects myself, I find the inclusion of the hard fight to win over the public to a conservation cause very close to the mark. Well done! Hope this film gets the play it deserves.

After has been watched this picture, I have a look on the Internet to certify the story of this Canadian Hero, who includes a cameo appearance several times on movie, sadly even uncredited he didn't appears, nevertheless I don't find further additional data, just on the Wikipedia as the same of the movie, worst nothing Time's cover as shown in the picture, thus is hard to believe in such events, stays clear that the producers garnished to amplify the whole stuff to sell as true events, driven to younger audience and introducing an unknown Rock band to dramatized to improve a little bit, the Spirit Bear deserves all efforts to keep your environment untouchable to preserve this unique genre, however in my humble opinion the whole thing collapse by itself!!!

Resume:

First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 6.5

Pleased to note that the movie is now airing in the US on at least my local PBS station KBYU in Utah. Just saw it today and decided to sign up to IMDb to give a review (my personal first on IMDb) and note of well deserved encouragement for the work this movie represents. Im glad for the preservation actions to protect this rare animal. In writing this, some may think me to be an "environmentalist", etc. Which is not the case, I just like to encourage support for good things when I see them. Although I do love the outdoors and work in related industries. Keep up the good work! This is a good message which I think, if listened to, can increase appreciation of balance in the world we live in between industry and the nature and creation of life on this planet. The movie stirs the spirit towards appreciation for the natural world around us and can help one to realize, remember and appreciate things in our world before we slip to accidentally or intentionally destroy them. Such appreciation, I believe, can help prevent human regret of mistakes that can be irreversible.