--- title: "Grizzly Man: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/grizzly-man/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/grizzly-man" critics_score: 81 critics_reviews: 7 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Grizzly Man (2005): what the critics said Critics' score 81 from 7 reviews: 7 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. The reviews are consistently positive, with praise centred on Timothy Treadwell’s own bear footage and Herzog’s handling of a subject who invites both sympathy and unease. Critics value the documentary’s combination of wildlife observation, psychological portrait and bleak reflection on nature. Treadwell’s on-camera rants also draw attention for their humour, while Herzog’s narration earns praise for questioning his subject’s romantic beliefs without dismissing his commitment as a filmmaker. The differences concern how generously to read Treadwell rather than whether the film succeeds. Empire stresses his hubris and self-torment, treating his wish to humanise animals as a central error. Evening Standard takes a gentler view, describing his attempt to befriend the bears as honourable despite its chances of failure. Reservations therefore cluster around the subject’s beliefs and behaviour, not the documentary’s craft; the consensus allows for affection towards Treadwell while recognising the force of Herzog’s harsher view of the wild. ## Empire — Dan Jolin Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 27 January 2006. Grizzly Man is a complex, unique and engrossing journey into the murky recesses of an unhinged mind that really needs to be seen to be believed. Herzog insists we should not treat animals like people, revealing Treadwell as a hubristic, self-tortured obsessive. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/grizzly-man-review/) ## Slant Magazine Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 15 June 2005. Herzog crafts a shocking, moving, and bizarre portrait of Treadwell's tragic life through his footage, capturing the primordial kinship of man and nature along with its inherent dangers. The lyrical editing and narration highlight the delusional subject's obsession while underscoring the indifference of the wild. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/grizzly-man/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 3 February 2006. Herzog has made an inspired documentary about Timothy Treadwell that is poignant, beautiful and absolutely hilarious. The critic singles out Treadwell's own extensive footage of his encounters with the bears and his eccentric on-camera rants as the core strength of the film. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2006/feb/03/1) ## The AV Club — Keith Phipps Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 9 August 2005. Herzog finds a classic obsessive in Treadwell and respects his filmmaking commitment while revealing his mental instability and sentimentalized view of nature. The director honors his subject but contrasts it with his own bleaker vision of the natural world. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/grizzly-man-1798308345) ## The Independent Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 3 February 2006. Herzog has made an extraordinary documentary about a hippie Dr Dolittle who embraced nature and paid the ultimate price for his naivety. The director's pessimism provides a counterpoint to Treadwell's romanticism, finding chaos and hostility where the subject imagined harmony. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/grizzly-man-15-6109911.html) ## Evening Standard — Derek Malcolm Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 10 April 2012. Herzog's film about a man almost as eccentric as himself is a fascinating philosophical documentary. It suggests that Treadwell's endeavour to make friends with the bears was at least an honourable try, though doomed to fail. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/man-eaten-by-obsession-7386672.html) ## The New Yorker 8 August 2005. The review calls it a brilliant documentary about a man who understands everything about nature except death. It highlights Herzog's fair-minded narration and the stunning incidental beauties in Treadwell's footage woven into a meditation on innocence and nature. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/08/08/loners) ## The New York Times — Manohla Dargis 12 August 2005. The critic praises Herzog's documentary for its rigor, beauty and passion in examining Timothy Treadwell's story and his complex relationship with nature. It singles out the film's stunning visuals of the Alaskan wilderness and bears alongside the director's insightful voiceover narration. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/12/movies/exploring-one-mans-fate-in-the-alaskan-wilderness.html) ## Time Out — BW 30 January 2006. The critic finds the film fascinating as both a nature documentary capturing extraordinary bear footage and a portrait of a narcissistic monomaniac in the Herzog tradition. They highlight the director's personalized narration contrasting Treadwell's romanticized view of nature with his own belief in chaotic indifference. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/grizzly-man) ## Variety — Scott Foundas 26 January 2005. Festival review. The critic deems it a brilliant portrait of adventure, activism, obsession and potential madness that ranks among Herzog’s strongest work. It singles out the dense exploration of Treadwell’s enigma through his own footage and interviews, alongside beautiful landscapes and score. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2005/film/awards/grizzly-man-1200528457/) ## Eye for Film — Anton Bitel Rating 4/5. 3 February 2006. Herzog examines the psyche of Timothy Treadwell, a man who lived and died with bears, presenting him with palpable affection but also a certain sternness. The result is a compelling drama that is at times hilarious, at times shocking, but always tragic, and rarely is a documentary so beautiful, so moving, and so vital. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/grizzly-man-film-review-by-anton-bitel) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/grizzly-man.md