Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Better Late Then Never

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

I first saw this some ten-twelve yrs back on Sony pix channel. Revisited this recently on a DVD. Plot - A national park is terrorized by a man-eating grizzly of extraordinary size, picking off stray campers and backpackers... It has enuff kills n gore. There are pools of red blood, a decapitation of a horse, a leg torn off, arms torn off, mauled faces, a beheading, and a child losing a couple of limbs. One effective trick that is utilized regularly is a shot from the bears point of view that was a new gimmick in the late 70s. But there was zero tension n suspense. The photography and editing are atrocious and William Girdler's direction is completely without interest or pace. The bear chase scenes r dull n makes no sense. There is one waterfall bathing scene which lacked the nudity n to top it all our killer bear is hiding in the waterfall like some pervert.

I watched director William Girdler's animal attack movie Grizzly a while back and completely forgot to write a review about it. Still, it doesn't matter too much that the details are now a little vague, because this film can be summed up easily in three words: Jaws on land.Instead of swimmers being gobbled up in the sea, it's hikers and campers that are on the menu of an 18-foot tall grizzly bear in a national park, with concerned ranger Michael Kelly (Christopher George) in charge of hunting the hairy beast down. He is aided in this task by naturalist Scott (Richard Jaeckel) and helicopter pilot, Don (Andrew Prine), but is hampered by a stupid official who wants to keep the park open.Of course, Girdler's film isn't a patch on Jaws, the director not nearly in the same class as Spielberg when on top form, but it does offer up some cheesy B-movie fun, with a few gory killings (the first victim has her arm torn off and is gripped in a deadly bear hug, a young boy loses his leg, and a horse is decapitated!), an entertaining attack on a lookout tower, and a craptabulous finale in which the bear has a go at Don's helicopter before finally being blown to smithereens with a rocket launcher.

Most every review you read of this movie points out that it is a rip-off of Jaws, so I won't belabor the point. The interesting thing, however, is that much of the movie is so implausible that you wonder if perhaps the writers are doing it for laughs. The best bit is of course the female forest ranger who strips down to bra and panties to go skinny dipping while hunting a dangerous bear that has killed two people, but there is also the park manager who decides that the best way to combat the bear is to open the hunting season and let the masses of hunters go after him. This is COMPLETELY unrealistic. I can only guess that the film is employing a certain exploitative impressionism, kind of like when you are telling your five-year old a story and you exaggerate stuff for the fun of it. As a result, this movie is actually fairly entertaining, sort of like bedtime horror story for adults.

Grizzly is, as many reviewers have noted, basically Jaws on land. Except cheaper. And not as well written. And not Jaws.It is wonderfully fun for what it is. The gore effects aren't too over-the-top, but they represent the budget this movie must've been made on back in 1976.One thing that's really worth noting is that the color effects are delightfully 60s-70s. The colors are rich and vibrant, with strong dark contrasts. The visual texture of the film has a very gritty feel to it, a heavy realism that is both reminiscent of filmstrips and such of the 60s and 70s that were used well into the late 80s. It's a rich color that becomes nostalgic for the time period.The writing and characters are often what you'd expect, with a couple surprises, but the actors take their roles seriously and some of the over-the-top clichéd dialog is delivered with such a straight face that it's actually good. Exchanges like "Listen -" "NO, YOU LISTEN!" carry a lot of acting talent with them - even if they were clichés then - they're played straight and played well. There is a lot of manly manliness in the movie, but none of it is parody, and that gives it a wonderfully dated charm as well.Richard Jaeckel's character is great every time he's on screen. His proto-Timothy Treadwell is a great addition to the story, and is a lot of fun.The monster effects, like the gore effects, are limited by a small budget, but they're adequate for the story, and are still fun.The ending is unintentionally wonderful if you watch it as a bad movie, and adequate if you watch it as a good movie.Overall, if you like bad movies, you'll be pleasantly surprised by this as a really good bad movie. If you like good movies, you'll be pleasantly surprised with the earnestness of the film, and you'll enjoy the visuals as well as the often quite good acting.