Customer Reviews

Grizzly

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I remember when I first saw "Grizzly" at the movie theater during the mid-1970s. I must be truthful. At the time, filled with a child's energy undoubtedly spawned by too much candy and coke, I thought it was a terrifically exciting action flick. I loved the thundering musical score by Robert O'Ragland, the dizzying camera angles during the helicopter sequences and the likeable camaraderie between leads Christopher George, Richard Jaeckel and Andrew Prine.

When watching the film again as an adult, I was pleasantly surprised that many of my fond memories still held up. Granted, "Grizzly" is strictly a B-Movie imitation of the far superior "Jaws," complete with an inexperienced law enforcement official, an eccentric zoological expert, a salt-of-the-earth guide and a corrupt supervisor/executive. But there is a surprising energy to the proceedings as these hunters slowly close in on a prehistoric 18-foot grizzly dining on unsuspecting (and for the most part female) campers.

The picturesque scenery (filmed at a state park in Georgia) adds to the energetic proceedings, camouflaging the film's conservative budget. But not even the tallest of pine trees can cover up a painfully awkward supporting cast (many of whom are the title character's appetizers), backyard special effects (a man in a bear suit) and the prolonged, violent deaths of two important cast members.

Granted, "Jaws" was an extremely violent film, but the violence was always stylish. The corpses which begin popping up (and falling down) in "Grizzly," look as if they've been bathing in buckets of discount Karo syrup.

What I like about "Grizzly" is the tremendously exciting final battle between the bear and the surviving members of the hunting party. Intense close-ups and quick editing truly create a suspenseful confrontation. We should probably thank director William Girdler (a schlock hack whose infamous credits include "Three on a Meathook" and the horrible "Day of the Animals"), in what is most likely the only good film he ever helmed.

An added note must be made about the film's rather somber conclusion, where a survivor sadly inspects the chaos surrounding him. While "Grizzly" does not necessarily have a sad ending, there is general remorse shown by this character for the victims of the title beast. This haunting moment is actually an improvement over the rather lighthearted conclusion to "Jaws" the year before.

The three leads are uniformly likeable, as Christopher George, Richard Jaeckel and Andrew Prine utilize their experienced personas to full effect. As a child watching these brooding and flawed heroes traipse through the forbidding woods hoping to somehow kill this indestructable beast, I remembered thinking..."They are so cool."

The movie's premise is unbelievable, several scenes are laughably bad and the gratuitous violence is unpleasant to say the least. But even today, 30 years removed from the cramped mall theater, George, Jaeckel and Prine versus The Grizzly is still oddly...."cool."

Somewhere, Jack Arnold is smiling.

I remember watching GRIZZLY on television many years ago. I didn't watch much of it but a few scenes stuck out, such as the aerial photography of the forest and the climax. But after watching the DVD last night, I can tell you that GRIZZLY is one of the better JAWS-style, nature-run-amok films. Although the similarities to JAWS stick out like ol' Grizzly's claws, there's plenty going for it to make it stand out on its own, such as the three leading men (Christopher George, Andrew Prine, and Richard Jaeckel), the aforementioned aerial photography, Robert O. Ragland's musical score, and some very intense Grizzly attack sequences, especially the one on little Bobby! If a movie such as this invites comparisons to a bigger and more successful movie, it must have its own unique qualities to really stand out, and GRIZZLY does the job; it was the highest-grossing independent film of 1976 and is still remembered today.

Big up to Shriek Show for another top-of-the-line release of something other labels would not have even given a passing thought to. On this double-disc edition, there's a commentary, a vintage featurette (culled from VHS, no doubt), a screening of the film, new interviews, a trailer, radio spots, and a poster and photo gallery. I also recommend DAY OF THE ANIMALS, another nature-run-amok film from William Girdler, the late director who really knew how to work these kind of films.

I have always been a fan of this film... in fact, I wrote a couple reviews on the VHS tape before registered here. I first saw it on the VHS from Media, then Ig ot the crappy DVD that lacks a menu or extras, and scene select! Well, I have been petitioning this for years and now my wait is over. I can't wait to see what kind of features this film will get. ANyways, the film is great, with cool gore and scares a plenty. If you like killer animal films, this is for you!

I loved this movie as a kid and still enjoy watching it BUT, I recently bought the DVD and it is in FULL SCREEN format, and has A HORRIBLE TRANSFER PICTURE QUALITY.A movie that had such beautiful scenery is destroyed on this DVD. I played my VHS tape next to the DVD and actually thought my old VHS tape had a better picture quality and the tape is over 10 ears old. The compy that released it on DVD, called Nutech, should be called Notech because the transfer is the worst absolute DVD picture I have ever urchased. I pray this classic horror movie wil be re-released by a company that knows how to transfer the best possible picture. This DVD features what THEY CALL, an R Rated version. I played my old VHS side by side to the DVD version and SEEN NOTHING DIFFRENT. No extra gore or extra parts from the original. Besides that, I hated the picture quality so much on the DVD that I couldn't wait to finish watching it so I could return it to the store I bought it from.Shame such a good fun classic movie was destroyed for DVD. Why they bothered releasing it is beyond me. They must like ripping the public off. If they couldn't find a decent pcture to put on DVD they shouldn't of bothered. They (Nutech Company) knew the hard-core fans of this classic would buy it anyways. If I ever find another DVD made by Nutech then I will pass on it for sure.

You know how there are movies you remember from your youth as being absolutely awesome, but upon revisiting them as an adult, you wonder what sort of mind-altering, sugar-bomb, breakfast cereal you must have been on at the time?

I don't think I've had such a disparity in my opinions as I had with "Grizzly". "Grizzly" at one time was my second favorite film, after "Jaws" (which still remains right up there).
I haven't seen this film since I was a kid...and honestly I'm not sure if I saw it in a theater (shame on my parents... : ) or edited on bad weekend afternoon TV.

Regardless, I recall the thrills of the rampaging bear. I remember the three protagonists being similar to my Jaws family. I remember the horse.

So I gleefully plopped down in front of my TV, and spun up my new copy of my old fave, "Grizzly."

WOW is this a bad movie! Howlingly bad. Excruciating. Painful. Often unintentionally funny, and not in a good way.

In terms of "acting", Christopher George does his best to maintain some sort of rugged believability. Andrew Prine has a modicum of laconic naturalness. Richard Jaeckel, as the slightly-off naturalist, has, I think, one decent line.

Everything else, and I mean everything else, is flat-out awful. There is better acting to be found in any elementary school Christmas pageant seen across the country each winter.
The gore is not enough to satisfy the Fangoria set, yet the day-glo blood and brief shots of mangled limbs (and one mangled child) will surely turn off those with less-hardened sensibilities.
Even the score must have sounded dated the weekend after this film was originally released.

The only real pleasure in seeing this film now is mentally checking off the hysterical number of similarities to "Jaws". THAT'S kinda funny, and could be somehow converted into a pleasant drinking game amongst fans...

SPOILER ALERT...I'm giving away a little of the ending...

...especially when throughout the movie, this freakin' bear gets shot a few dozen times, without a scratch. There's a casual comment about a helicopter pilot being in Vietnam, and a brief scene of two people loading up the copter with guns and stuff.

So after this bear wreaks his havoc throughout the forest, the bear gets shot with a bazooka-like device, and explodes like nothing you have ever seen.
Seriously...the editing is comical, but it's basically...shoot! Then...HIROSHIMA! Then somebody somberly walking by a perfectly circular spot of fire about ten feet in diameter.
It's just goofy.

The most exciting part for me was recognizing the work of one of my old favorite comic book artists, Neal Adams. He did the cover artwork!

The DVD is actually a terrific set. Nice extras. The film itself will probably never look this good ever again. The period featurette still has the VHS dropouts, rolling bars and glitches there for all to see.

Fans will wax deliriously over this release, and justifiably so. But I warn you, if you haven't seen this movie in twenty years, you might want to preserve those memories just the way they are, and spare yourself the disappointment...

If you enjoy scary movies that are tense and fun, then this one is for you. I first saw it in a movie theater in Goldsboro, North Carolina on it's orignal release in 1976. Right on the heels of "Jaws" the audiences were ready for this type of thriller and although it had it's flaws, overall it is just a campy and fun flick. The extras are great on this edition. Christopher George posed nude in Playgirl magazine just a few years before this release. I have the framed centerfold and enjoy his manly beauty both in the film and the pictorial spread. Chris was a man 'endowed' with many gifts.

Forget about the movie, this is a terrible DVD transfer. It's the same awful transfer used on VHS in the early eighties. It's not even pan & scan, it just sits there. There are times when the character who is talking is offscreen and the only thing we can see is the background person completely out of focus. Avoid.

I'm not sure what movie the viewers who gave this film five stars where watching, but it sure wasn't the one I saw. Maybe their reviews are based off a different rating system than the one here, like one that uses 20 stars...while watching Grizzly (1976), one cannot help but notice how much the film 'borrows' from the extremely successful 1975 Spielberg movie Jaws. Unfortunately, director William Girdler is no Spielberg. The movie stars B actor Christopher George as Ranger Michael Kelly, who some may remember from TV's Rat Patrol, as Sgt. Sam Troy. Also starring is Richard Jaekel as a naturalist by the name of Arthur Scott. I best remember Jaekel from the Lee Marvin film, The Dirty Dozen (1967), and I felt quite sorry for him that his career has sunk to the point where he got stuck in this pile of a movie.

The film starts off with the brutal killing of two, comely young women in a national park. Limbs are torn, blood is shown, but the only thing we see of the attacker is a pretty phony looking paw groping the women. The now deceased women are found, examined by a coroner, who informs Ranger Kelly that the women where mauled by a bear, a big bear. This sets up the search for the bear, and also for the killing of some more people. Naturalist Arthur Scott, or Scotty, is called in from the woods, and he speaks of the bear being at least 15 feet tall and weighing between 2,000 to 3,000 pounds, based on the size and depth of the bear's paw print tracks, which he has examined.

Most of the film is the characters trying to find the bear, and the bear attacking and killing more people. We don't get to see the bear often, mostly through POV (point of view) shots, which can be useful and create suspense when used properly and in limited fashion, but where way overused here, and quickly became annoying. Hunters show up, things happen, and it's all pretty boring. I don't mind when films take from more successful films, but here the pillaging from Jaws was so very blatant it only served to highlight just how poor this movie was compared to Jaws. Ranger Kelly (Chief Brody), Naturalist Scott (Matt Hooper), hunter Don Stobler (Quint), Charley Kittridge, The National Park Supervisor (Mayor Larry Vaughn), it's all here and more. Even specific scenes were lifted and not very competently inserted into this movie. Had there been an ounce of originality present, I would have been inclined to judge the film less harshly, but there wasn't. Not one bit. Also, there were a number of scenes with things that just made no sense. A perfect example...Ranger Kelly's quasi love interest is presented early on, and she is, we find out, a professional photographer. Well, after finding the remains of the two women mauled at the beginning of the film, she's at the site taking pictures. Only thing is, it's in the middle of the night, and she never once uses a flash. What kind of pictures was she taking? If you've ever been in the deep woods in the middle of the night, you'll know how dark it can get. And she was supposed to be a professional photographer? There are a ton of discrepancies like this throughout the film. After awhile, these things gave me a headache, and I just decided to go with the flow, and ride this dog out to the end. And what an end! I won't spoil it, but I laughed so hard at the abruptness of the final scene, and couldn't help question just exactly where the character acquired the piece of ordinance he had, useful as it was. And do bears drink gasoline?

The picture quality on this Nutech Digital Inc. release is pretty poor, but watchable, and is presented in full screen format. Don't bother looking for special features of any kind. Heck, there aren't even chapter stops here, which, to me, is a sign of uber-cheapness. I know the film was like only ten bucks, but would it have killed someone to included chapter stops? I guess so...I know many films have tried to catch a ride on the meaty Jaws gravy train, some being moderately successful, but this one tried to align itself just a little too closely, causing a copious amount of dislike to be generated within this viewer. That, along with the just all around poor release on to DVD, elicits a two star rating, which is generous, in my opinion. Oh yeah, a little tip...if you are ever in the woods searching for a giant killer bear that's eating people, avoid separating from your group to take a half nekkid bath in the river, especially if you're a woman. Grizzly bears seem to like to eat mostly women, especially scantily clad ones. Movies teach us so much...

Cookieman108

This movie while being blasted as a Jaws-on-land ripoff was very successful when it was released in 1976 (made over $39 million on a budget of under $1 million). This is fun from start to finish. Lots of bear POV shots and plenty of gruesome deaths (some are a bit cheesy but that still works in this movie's favor). I have become a big nature attacks movie fan and this movie is a must own for fans of this genre. The recent release by Media Blasters/Shriek Show is top notch.

I recently picked this up and being a fan of this film ever since it scared the crap out of me as a child, I was blown away to see it in all of its widescreen glory. The cinematography is beautiful. It was also a welcomed surprise to finally see the cut scene of the discovery of Scotty's body. I always hated the vhs copies with the jarring cut before they discover him. Fans who have the video and the first released dvd will know what I am talking about. The extras were great and I still need to listen to the film with the audio commentary.