Available: August 12, 2014
This is the story of Sky, a mother brown bear, and her two cubs Scout & Amber as the cubs survive their first year of life as a bear. Set in Alaska’s beautiful Katmai National Park, Bears filmographers spent over two years following and filming Sky and her cubs adventures through incredible weather patterns often inventing methods for capturing the moments they wanted. The result they found was how adaptable, calm and beautiful encounters with bears in their natural habitat could be. But what was more fascinating about this documentary was all the trivial information about salmon! You might actually learn more about these fish than you do about bears, which is sort-of what Disneynature is going for in these films; after all the end goal is about how we, as human beings, need to protect more than just these species, but also their food supply and habitat.
Although the pacing could’ve moved a hair faster and John C. Reilly’s narration is often absurd, the cinematography is breathtaking and you can really notice a difference in the quality on the Blu-Ray disc. The sense of humor in George Fenton’s score was highly amusing. And for those who only saw Bears on the big screen, the bonus features really complete this journey as you get inside the crew’s experiences in the wilderness. You’ll be amazed how they had to track the bears, lug their equipment through various obstacles and what they did on days Sky and her cubs couldn’t be found. It’s educational and fun for the whole family.