Grizzly Man (2005)

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In his mesmerizing new film, acclaimed director Werner Herzog explores the life and death of amateur grizzly bear expert and wildlife preservationist Timothy Treadwell. (Lions Gate Films)

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Directed By: Werner Herzog

Written By: Werner Herzog

Starring: Werner Herzog, Amie Huguenard, Timothy Treadwell, Franc G. Fallico

Genres: Documentary, Biography

Country: USA

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Grizzly Man belongs to 61 collections

1. 21st Century Top 250 (collaborative: moderated by dardan - 49 stars)

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7. Humanity and the Natural World (collaborative: moderated by paulofilmo - 18 stars)

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20. List: Best of the Decade by The Documentary Blog (collaborative: moderated by KasperL - 5 stars)

21. Sight & Sound Greatest Documentaries of all Time (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 5 stars)

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24. Slant Magazine's Best of the Aughts (collaborative: moderated by theficionado - 4 stars)

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TCI | Percentile | Date Rated | # Stars (Reviews)

Stars	User	Rating
15	overrated	80 _89th
A man tries to convince a bunch of bears that he's straight.
9	kubricksucks	70 _42nd
Bart Simpson gets eaten by a bear.
9	Paxton	75 _78th
I've been holding back on this one for a long time for two reasons. One: overrated already wrote the perfect review. Two: Timothy Treadwell was a real person that died, and I do not take that lightly. Regardless of how I feel towards his methods, he did some amazing things and furthered man's understanding of grizzly bears. I would insist upon myself that any attempt at a joke on my part should be done in good taste. You know, like Timothy Treadwell was to the bear. I'm so sorry.
8	DavidBlast	95 _96th
Where other directors would have made a freak show, Herzog dissects hundreds of hours of footage in search of Treadwell's soul, uncovering accounts of extreme highs and lows as Timothy, in an almost 'Michael Jacksonesque' manner, tries to reinvent himself as a mythological man-bear. Instead of smearing on the drama, Herzog's fascination with the inherit honesty of the image, brings to life an account of beauty, madness and tragedy; Sometimes involuntarily funny, but always dangerously human.
7	jimmynmu	12 _5th
fuck that guy was annoying
6	Magb	90 _85th
The maniacal behavior of our story's main character, the wildness of the nature he's so drawn to, and a heavy dose of fatalism, are the main ingredients of this sordid tale. Herzog's cynical outlook on the events that transpired stand in stark contrast to Treadwell's unhinged enthusiasm. Treadwell alternates between catching beautiful, fleeting moments, and ranting and raving at the skies. It's impossible not to empathize with him, but it's harder still not to judge him for his recklessness.
5	MartinTeller	90 _94th
Grizzly Man brings together most of the typical Herzog elements: madness, the hostility of nature, the role of the filmmaker, people at the fringes of society, and horrifying tragedy. Herzog edits this beautifully, revealing the story gradually, like a flower slowly opening, petal by mysterious petal.
5	Farzan	88 _87th
Wow. Herzog did it again. The story and subject really suited something Herzog would tackle, and he couldn't have done it any better than this. Treadwell was truly insane but at the same time you couldn't help but feel sorry for the man. Herzog really shows both sides of Treadwell, the raving obsessive lunatic, and the compassionate and down to earth lover of nature to a tee. The film and Treadwell's actions are debatable, and that is what's great about this film, Herzog let us decide. Awesome!
4	Moribunny	85 _95th
It is very fortunate that Timothy Treadwell's own video footage fell into the hands of Werner Herzog. Herzog's presentation is attentive and sympathetic, but not fawning. He lets Treadwell's voice be heard but ends up making a comment or two of his own. I highly recommend the film to nature lovers.
4	chow25	92 _93rd
Great fucking movie. I loved every minute of it. The analysis about nature and humans was philosophical: Herzog is a genius.
4	frederic_g54	7 _57th
What you're looking at, is a 5 year old kid who's still in love with animals, which unfortunately led to his demise. Herzog did a fine job in collecting the best parts of Treadwell's footage. But my biggest complaint here is: half of this film seemed unbelievably fake and fishy. For those who've seen a lot of films, that's not how people act in documentaries, especially the guy who played the coroner: laughable to the point of disgust. Second viewing is suggested for those who liked it a lot...
3	lrampartl	89 _91st
Wow. Treadwell is a freak, but you can't look away from him. It's like watching a clown tease large hungry animals. Actually, that's exactly what it was. The coroner was really bizarre, and his scenes are out there. He just couldn't stop smiling. And to think this was all because Woody Harrelson got the bartender's part on Cheers. And, just for reference, Herzog's narration was completely unnecessary.
3	Pickpocket	5 _44th
Treadwell was obviously someone who had a lot of mental issues. If he said he loved a fox and/or bear one more time I was gonna lose it. I mean, for someone who immersed himself in nature for so long you would think he would know just a little about what he was doing. It was entertaining for the most part but Jesus it was frustrating a lot of the time. And what was the deal with the coroner? It felt so fake that I was yelling at my television. Herzog has done better, disappointing =(.
3	theficionado	100 _97th
A humanizing but unsentimental portrait of a man who loved nature but didn't understand it.
3	Scottathon	83 _82nd
While anyone probably could've constructed a good movie from the hours and hours of Treadwell's footage, Herzog made a great movie from it.
3	mwgerb	55 _53rd
I think the beauty that I experienced in this movie came more from the raw nature captured in Treadwell's footage, carefully selected by Herzog, than it did from the examination of Treadwell's personality. He invariably comes off as either childish or insane to the point where it's nearly impossible to sympathize with him, in spite of Herzog's philosophical musings on the nature of man.
2	doctor7	90 _91st
Amazing documentary. You can tell that even though Herzog didn't necessarily agree with Treadwell's outlook he still respected the man. Herzog picks the most beautiful shots of the thousands of hours of footage shot by Treadwill and creates an amazing documentary.
2	Alex Watkins	3 _38th
Treadwell is a fucking weirdo but there's no doubt he makes for an interesting documentary subject. Despite his bizarreness and probable mental troubles he's an engaging and empathetic figure. I love how Herzog commands the film, offering his own insights through narration and commenting on Treadwell's character and speculating on his motivations. It gives the film an interesting layer.
2	td888	70 _76th
I couldn't believe this is a true story. Had to google it to be sure. Great job by Herzog
2	hellsditch	88 _90th
Herzog does it again, with yet another fascinating account of an outsider living on the fringe. This time he focuses on a "preservationist" with an unnaturally strong love of animals. Although Herzog clearly identifies with the obsessives, he never fails to give a balanced view of things, and is not shy about injecting his own viewpoints either, even if they directly contradict his subject's. In this case, he's not shy about shunning Treadwell's naive and optimistic view of the natural world.
2	gtown1479	76 _57th
The scenery shots are really cool, and I enjoyed seeing the bears in thier natural habitat. Treadwell is quite a complex character, and is worthy of a film centering around him. Some of the interviews (the morgue especially) are a bit odd, and I am thankful they didn't actually show the video or play the audio. Don't buy into the idea of trying to become a bear, but if it mkes you happy then I guess go for it. HErzog does a good job splicing the interviews and treadwell's video together.
2	BillyShears	90 _92nd
Chilling look at a man who loved nature; but didn't understand it. Fantastic documentary.
2	purgatos	89 _89th
A portrait of a man whose dedication to nature far outweighs his expertise and understanding. Herzog really forms a distinct story-line out of Treadwell's life showing him as nature's hero, a disturbed young man and finally as a child too dedicated to understand the consequences of his actions. Really interesting stuff.
2	panzerwolf	75 _70th
With such many hours of footage the "Grizzly Man" gathered during his expeditions, it is good to question how much Herzog has actually used selective editing while making this documentary. Still an interesting and thought-provoking documentary about the nature of people and animals.
2	omgfridge	9 _92nd
Herzog can definitely make a documentary. Makes you question what is fact and what is fiction. You just notice as it goes, the clever film making of it all.
2	SirStuckey	90 _94th
You will be stunned at what you see. You may think Treadwell is nuts and that his ideals are ridiculous, but you will be shocked at some of the footage of him with these very wild bears. Herzog does a great job of actually showing more than one-side of Treadwell. He doesn't just show him as some heroic environmentalist, or just a man who has definite social and mental problems. He weaves both so you can be both sympathetic and frustrated with him at the same time. Can't recommend enough.
2	Bown	75 _37th
Interesting how it starts off making him seem relatively normal and then unfolds his madness. Also Herzog's voice is so great. I could listen to him talk for hours.
1	spoonerspot	78 _52nd
The documentary is good enough but the man it's about brings new meaning to just plain stupid
1	eveelun	79 _72nd
Fascinating look into a very odd obsession. Treadwell's footage is great, and despite his obvious problems he remains a sympathetic and interesting figure. I also really like the tension between Herzog's cynical views on nature with Treadwell's optimism; Herzog's presentation obviously champions the former view, but not so much that the viewer can't see Treadwell's side, too (it's remarkable he lasted as long as he did).
1	mdruskin	85 _91st
The trailer for this movie might indicate that this is a nature documentary about bears. But in fact this is a biographical documentary about Timothy Treadwell - a man who lived with bears in Alaska for 13 summers. The movie paints an excellent portrait of Timothy mostly through his amazing footage and also through interviews with friends and family. There is also quite a bit of bears footage if you are interested in the nature aspect of things. But really the most interesting part of this docu
1	lilyj	75 _34th
Sorry, I have a dark sense of humor, and while I understand the grim reality of the ending, I can't help but find this one of the most unintentionally funny movies ever.
1	BBBD	80 _63rd
"We bet you'd LOVE it!" ~ Criticker, it's like you've read my mind. This man's life is a roadside accident that hypnotizes you. He's insane in a way that is hilarious and sad. The ending puts the movie over the top.
1	TheDiceman	60 _62nd
The story of a closet homosexual lunatic who thinks he can live in the wild with grizzly bears,Ah well one less idiot on the planet, lets rejoice.A sure fire winner of a Darwin award.
1	cagedwisdom	75 _65th
The footage is at times beautiful, which is what makes this movie worth watching. After another viewing, bumping the score up.
1	Ytadel	6 _70th
You must nevar listen to thees! YOU MUST BURN THIS TAPE.
1	Derekstar	100 _96th
This is the best documentary I've ever seen.
1	CinematicESP	90 _87th
Sad, strange, ultimately fascinating. There's something very haunting about a man who loves and dies for nature, despite its cold indifference to him.
1	weirdyoda	95 _94th
Facinating, even without Herzog's unique view, Timothy Treadwell is just a captivating human being.
1	ThaneOfFife	70 _35th
At times, he was articulate...at other times, he was just insane. Its still a sad story. He didn't deserve what happened to him.
1	rob	16 _90th
Timothy Treadwell's life documenting grizzly bears in Alaska, his hatred of the "people's world", his efforts to be at one with the bears and reject humanness are brought to live masterfully by Herzog's masterful and wonderfully accented narration. Herzog walks perfectly the tightrope between trivialising Treadwell's experience and over-sentimentalising it--to wonderful effect. Only Herzog could do justice to as bizarre a subject as this.
1	WoozyB	90 _86th
Brings together human behaviour with raw nature in an unusual way that most likely will never be seen again.
1	immolations	80 _80th
Herzog produces another great documentary. He somehow manages to convey his own views quiet strongly without really overpowering the viewer and still leaving the ultimate questions open to the viewer. Treadwell is certainly an interesting character who found solitude from civilization in nature, however misguided that may or may not have been. Herzog manages to fill in the gaps between Treadwell's footage with some fantastic scenes such as him listening to the death tape.
1	Duder	70 _75th
I get that Tim has psychological problems and smokes 24/7, but what is up with everybody else?? There all a bit.. well.. Off.. I couldn't stop laughing, even the doctors were crazy.. Great story telling by Herzog.
1	rthornhill	90 _72nd
Terrific documentary. You will be intriqued by the story of Timothy Treadwell. Recommended.
1	Luna6ix	82 _80th
I seriously loved it when that fox took his hat and he threw a temper-tantrum. This guy was some seriously new kind of nature nut, and I honestly thought he was gay most of the movie.
1	BabbiGwen	95 _85th
This documentary made me yell at the TV a lot. I mean, we've all [read: biologists] played around in grizzly scat, but who waxes poetic about it, and then proceeds to do everything possible to become grizzly scat? The whole thing plays out less like a documentary and more like a horror/thriller.
1	jameskey	90 _92nd
10/9/9 - Beautiful, haunting and amazing. Herzog is a master editor, letting the story slowly reveal itself, and its clear that he views Treadwell sympathetically. The scene where he listens to the tape is heartbreaking.
1	batface89	88 _70th
Gripping film. Treadwell was an interesting guy.
1	Optimus_mike	85 _80th
An incredible portrait of a man some would call deeply disturbed, but who in reality came off to me as someone incredible. Another powerful film by Herzog.
1	graveyardtan	90 _84th
Yeah, some of the interviews are staged - that's Herzog. But the story here is so fascinating and tragic that I was absorbed in and connected with Tredwell from moment one.
1	tef	80 _54th
Pretty good. The Herzog's take on the dangers of wanting to believe something over having actual evidence is good, fine, probably worthwhile. Given the thesis, the subject has to be pretty goddamn dumb. And he is, ladies and gentlemen and *.
1	begoniabol	68 _56th
Like other Critties said, some things seemed staged, like those interviews. They not always seemed sincere, like they recited from a script the speakers wrote or something. There clearly was something mentally wrong with Treadwell, like the people acclaimed in the doc.
1	Melvin Smif	95 _96th
The entertaining and haunting look at the real life of a man who tempted nature in an attempt to discover his place in the world.
1	lovejoy	65 _25th
An intriguing and tragic story, but whether it was worth a film documentary of 90 minutes is another matter. I think a half hour show would have covered it just as well, if not better as there comes a point about 40 minutes into the film where you think "we get the message now". Not a film you'd want to watch more than once.
1	chiefg	95 _98th
Grizzly Man paints a vivid, emotional portrait of a world-weary, deeply troubled man who seeks to escape the confines of our overburdening society. A wish that he is ultimately granted. A wonderful, if staged documentary. But, as much as I love Werner Herzog and enjoy listening to his stories (in german that is), he ought to reconsider narrating his own movies in the future, as adorable as he sounds.
1	oldgoat	75 _66th
Interesting but wears a bit.
1	bolivar	75 _75th
mindblowing material somewhat over-analyzed and over-directed by herzog. ironic, I guess, seeing as how simplistic this documentary is.
1	Gideon	2 _59th
Call him nuts, call him noble. Timothy Treadwell lived his dream, to the extreme. Not many of us can say the same.
1	Omringo	95 _82nd
Fascinating. A very different take on documentary movie-making. Part documentation, part psychological analysis of a truly unique individual.
1	Syntheseizur	71 _31st
As far as personality-focused documentaries go, the methodology of this one and its effort to explore the philosophy of its subject as much as his idiosyncrasies is far more palatable than others. I appreciate Herzog's deep interest in the subject, even if it feels slightly objectifying, but his ideological interest in the story shows through and reveals something about obsession, nature, and modernity that might've remained buried in the story and its sensationalist retellings otherwise.
1	svnhf	89 _90th
Is this the story of the worlds most persistent and dedicated environmentalist or the self-destruction of a socially-starved and mentally unstable society drop-out? Werner Herzog portrays with immense perfection a journey into a hurt human life and it simply just blew my mind many times over. Deeply personal, Herzog makes its clear that this view presented is his and his alone and through that, tells the viewer to make up their own mind about Treadwell. Fascinating, so intriguing and so intense.
1	glumpy_99	98 _95th
Utterly captivating, unique portrait of Treadwell and his obsessions is an ideal fit for Herzog's fascination with eccentric, single-minded people on foolhardy quests. Vigorous and stimulating because of the delicate balancing act Herzog manages by never overtly sympathising with Treadwell or sentimentalising the animals - the bears are an unblinking reflection of the cold disregard of nature; Treadwell's ultimate grisly end is neither tragic nor heroic it just is (as Herzog all but states).
1	Trash Puppet	3 _9th
...Timothy Treadwell had obviously never heard of Gloomy Bear.
1	Lord Moe	75 _35th
An intriguing documentary by Werner Herzog about the power of nature and a man who challenged it.
1	stevekimes	83 _63rd
Excellent documentary of a fascinating individual. As usual, Herzog the director is a character in his films, but he 's such a great character, we don't care. I learn more about him in every one of his films.
1	fxcrnr	88 _81st
Must-see, but probably only the once.
1	jeporcher	73 _45th
It could have been a great documentary, except Herzog can't keep himself from narrating and putting words in people's mouths.
1	Hofschneider	90 _91st
Herzog is the most virtuous man in cinema! He has the gift of showing people with all their weaknesses and is still able to obtain their dignity. How he just interrupts and says "I disagree here" is so simple and yet so graceful. It opens up the posibilty of the true observation of Timothy Treadwell. Herzog allows us to think about ourselfs while we're watching Treadwell and his overreaching behaviour. Hail to you, Mr Herzog - my teacher of humanity!
1	eCitizen	20 _8th
I have to hand it to him for being brave enough to get eaten by a grizzly bear. But I think that's also the definition of stupid.
1	TheEscapist	73 _65th
Interesting documentary that is worth a watch. Treadwell is a very interesting character and unique individual. I respect him in a lot of ways, though he obviously had his flaws, which made him more sympathetic. His fate was tragic, for some reason this film felt as a mockumentary at times and I couldn't stop laughing at some unintended points, simply because the whole situation is so crazy. Could have been shorter, it did drag a little here and there, but I am glad this film was made. Watch it!
1	Hawkins	77 _61st
There's foreshadowing, and then there's a bear licking his chops behind Timothy Treadwell for an hour. Quote of the movie: "We hauled four garbage bags of people out of that bear."

Average Percentile 67.32% from 3750 Ratings