[timmynausea]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

I rented the documentary " Grizzly Man " this afternoon. This was put together by Werner Herzog.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427312/

Timothy Treadwell lived with Grizzly Bears in Alaska during the summer for 13 years. He never took a weapon. In his 13th summer, he and his girlfriend were killed by a grizzly bear the last day of the 2003 expedition. He believed he was protecting the bears from poachers, and other human interactions that would harm the bears. There is much debate as to whether what he was doing was more harmful then good, such as making the bears familiar with humans and therefore making them an easier target for poachers. I do not know how I feel about whether what he did was right or wrong, but I do know that this documentary is amazing. Treadwell had a camera with him for what I believe was the last five expeditions into Alaska. His footage is absolutely amazing. Some of the scenes left me in awe. Treadwell at times came across as an amazingly compassionate man, a very funny man, and very intelligent, but at times he also came across as almost crazy. Some of the things he would do made me think of his mental state. One such instance is where one of the bears he named " Wendy " took a dump and ran over and touched it and he was in pure ecstacy over the fact that this crap just came out of Wendy. Then there are times where I feel such admiration for this man, because for 13 seasons he lived in perhaps one of the most dangerous areas of Alaska, where any normal person would probably die on their first camping trip. To watch him touch a wild grizzly bear and speak to it like a fellow human was amazing. He was also extremely close to the foxes that lived in the area. They were like his pets.

Treadwell actually had the camera rolling when they were attacked, but they did not have the lens cover off. All they got was audio. This audio I believe has never been made public. Timothy's best friend, and one time lover, had the tape and she never even listened to it. There is one scene where Werner is listening to the audio with headphones while Timothy's best friends holds the camcorder the tape is in. Werner's back is to you, and at times he would describe what he was hearing. The lady obviously got emotional, and eventually Werner asked her to turn off the tape and he took his headphones off. He tells her that she must not ever listen to that, and that she should probably destroy the tape. That scene alone I think did more, I feel, then if they actually played the tape in the documentary. It was a very powerful scene.

I could go on and on about other such scenes. I HIGHLY recommend viewing this. 10/10.

I finally got to see Grizzly Man. It was great. Some of Treadwell's footage was amazing. I didn't like some of the conclusions that Herzog came to in his voiceovers, though, particularly toward the end, so I guess I'd give it like 9.7/10. I can't believe this wasn't nominated for best documentary.