Grizzly Man - DVD modified from theatrical release? (1 Viewer)

[TonyD]

i dont see what was funny about this movie.
near the beginning whn te bear was rubbing the tree he called him a "big bear" i was concerned about whether this was a farce but very quickly i saw how serious this movie was when the bear he called the grinch walked right up to him and appeared to be about to swat him.
this was when treadwell then started yeling at the bear to keep away fom him and the bear walked away.
i dint see anything funny bout it.

 

[Bill McA]

I saw this in the cinema last month and it was 104 minutes long and that included about a minute of Letterman footage.

Great movie!

 

[Jordan_E]

I came away from GRIZZLY MAN thinking that Treadwell was a seriously sad individual. He seemed fated to ultimately die the way he did, and I saw nothing funny about his increasingly crazed rants on video.

BTW, when Dateline (?) did a segment on this movie and Treadwell, they had the Letterman footage as well. Maybe it's more a home video rights issue if it was in the theatrical edition.

 

[CraigF]

Ah, that might explain why I think the DVD has added footage: every place I looked said the theatrical runtime was 100 minutes. Like the widespread reporting that the sound is DD5.1, very poor info in general about this title. I have seen one place report the DVD runtime is 103 minutes (could account for the cut), every other place (and the package) reports 104 mins. We need a review!

Edit: David Jay, thanks for the info. I'm still a bit confused... Anyway, I think many places report the theatrical runtime as the DVD runtime when they don't know for sure. Also, imdb is generally good, but two areas they often come up short in is theatrical/DVD runtimes and aspect ratios. Two numbers I like to know to find out exactly what I'm buying. They say they are faster/better at fixing errors these days, but I haven't noticed it. To be fair, there are sites that never correct errors. So we come here to find out for sure...

 

[Justin Bauer]

I came away the same way. The movie was excellent, but I had little respect for Treadwell after seeing the movie. He was not responsible with his life or those around him...not mention the bears that he loved soo much.

 

[Doug Schiller]

I watched the DVD yesterday. Regarding the audio...

It seems to be in the hands of one of his loopy "ex-girlfriends".

He says, "Don't ever listen to this"
She says, "I won't and that is why no one else will".

He also tells her to destroy it because it will be the "white elephant" in her life for the rest of her life.

I think the tape is an important document of what happened and should be available but it is hers and that is her wishes.

I disagree that you never know what is on the tape.
I thought the coroner, who listened to the tape, explained it in great detail.

 

[Jordan_E]

That corner was really getting into the fact that he was in a movie, IMO.

Actually, I'm really glad that Herzog showed a lot of restraint in only revealing the audio through his body language; I've heard some 911 tapes that chill the blood and really don't need to hear audio of someone being killed by a bear.

 

[richardWI]

Glad I finally got to see it. Herzog does a great job with "found" footage. This isn't his greatest doc, but it's still far above most documentaries. I think going through 100 hours of rambling Treadwell footage must have been a tedious experience, and Herzog seems to have culled the most interesting bits.

Yes, some parts are obviously emphasized for humor (the "I wish I was gay" scene or the "I am the floaty thing's gopher boy" scene) But there are also genuinely touching scenes like the interactions with the foxes. From some reviews I've seen, people have problems with bits of humor being injected into the film. I guess it's supposed to be 100% serious and grim all the time and any sight of a laugh means the whole thing is one giant joke? The film shifts back and forth between seriousness and some strange moments of humor, and I watched the whole thing having no idea what would happen next, which is a great experience. I don't totally agree with Herzog's view of Treadwell, but I can see his point.

 

[Doug Schiller]

I liked how Herzog held the camera awkwardly on the coroner as he finished speaking.

I'm not sure Herzog was allowed to play the tape.
When I first saw the trailer, I thought the audio was going to be played but it ended up being audio from the 2 bears fighting.

I don't "need" to hear a tape of a Bear killing 2 people but I think it has value being in a movie that leaves so many questions about Treadwell and his motivations.

 

[richardWI]

I'm not sure Herzog even wanted to broadcast the tape at all. He couldn't even listen to the whole thing, the corner said it's 6 minutes long, and Werner got through maybe a minute and a half and said "shut it off." And telling the "widow" to destroy it doesn't sound like he was itching to get permission to broadcast it.

Herzog showed class by not pushing to air it. The corner's testimony is vivid enough, I can't see why we would need to hear two people dying a horrible death.

 

[Nick Graham]

I was curious when I saw the warning pop up as well, but once I read Ebert's review, I knew what had been cut. I'm really curious as to why...it would add a little to Treadwell's rant towards the end when he mentions someone telling him they saw him on Letterman, and the irony alone makes it worthy of inclusion....I'm gonna dig online and see if I can find the clip anywhere. This is one of the best movies of the year...I've never seen a movie, much less a doc, veer back and forth from comedy to horror so much.

 

[TimJS]

Thought I'd post to this thread in case there were others that hadn't made up their mind about this film/dvd...

It is airing on the Discovery channel Friday night.

Tim

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

Will it be on Discovery HD channel in HD?

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

Unfortunately, it looks like it wont be in HD, at least not this week.

BTW: Preceding the broadcast of Grizzly Man, 7pm-8pm (EST) Discovery is showing a one hour version of Into the Lion's Den which is a documentary of Dave Salmoni attempting to live among a group of wild lions... in many ways he reminds me of Treadwell.

[url=http://shopping.discovery.com/DiscoveryStore/images/products/extra/741041_xl.jpg] [/url]

If you get Discovery HD, Into the Lion's Den will be broadcast in HD on Sunday/Monday 12am-2am (EST).

 

[Ed St. Clair]

I have not seen this Doc.
Would those of you that have seen both the doc & DVD, say it was a better film with the Letterman clip?

Anyone else?

Anyone else think a future super re-release of this title WILL include 'the death tape'? After all, it is there, people are curious, money talks & all that.

 

[TonyD]

NO there's no reason for anyone to hear that tape. money payday or not.

 

[ThomasTreasure]

Well, his ex-girlfriend, Jewel Palovak, owns the tape, and she mentions in the film that she won't even listen to the tape herself. I seriously doubt she'd sell it so a mass audience could hear it. Also, just as TonyD says, there really is no reason for anyone to hear that tape, regardless of what people on the IMDb message boards say.

 

[Patrick H.]

I didn't see the film theatrically, so I never saw the Letterman bit in context. The ABC interview replacing it poses more-or-less the same question, just in a more serious format. Instead of the question itself, though, it's his answer that seems more ironic. It's a fair substitution...the film plays fine. If the disc hadn't admitted it, I probably wouldn't have noticed it.

Fascinating, amazing, disturbing film. Herzog is remarkably consistent in his worldview, even in a documentary. I've seen this three times, and I still don't quite know what to make of Treadwell. At times, you can see him as a lost soul who found some bizzare meaning for his life...at other times, he just appears stark, raving nuts. The film reflects all this well.

Also, morbid curiosity aside, the "final tape" REALLY doesn't need to be heard. There's a transcript of it in one of the books about Treadwell, and it's not something you'd even want to read.

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

The Katmai Coastal Bear group has two excellent articles on Treadwell, including a tasteful summation of the tragic event and some of what was recorded on the tape:

• Grizzly Attack - Timothy Treadwell
• The Myth of Timothy Treadwell (in three parts)

BTW: It is being reported that Leonardo DiCaprio's production company Appian Way has teamed up with Sony/Columbia Pictures to develop a film on Timothy Treadwell.

 

[Paul McElligott]

Is it there, or did the woman destroy it as Herzog suggested?