The Bear (1988)

An orphan bear cub hooks up with an adult male as they try to dodge human hunters.

Director:

Jean-Jacques Annaud

Writers:

James Oliver Curwood (novel), Gérard Brach (screenplay)

Stars:

Tchéky Karyo, Bart the Bear, Youk the Bear

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 5 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Bart the Bear	...	The Kodiak Bear
Youk the Bear	...	The Bear Cub
Tchéky Karyo	...	Tom
Jack Wallace	...	Bill
André Lacombe	...	Le chasseur aux chiens

Storyline

The director of Quest for Fire (1981) creates yet another film in nature with almost no human dialogue in this picturesque story of an orphaned bear cub who is adopted by an adult male bear and must avoid hunters. Bart the Bear stars in this anthropomorphic fantasy.

---

Plot Keywords:

bear | 19th century | survival | hunting | bear attack | 

---

Taglines:

He's an orphan... at the start of a journey. A journey to survive.

---

Genres:

Adventure | Family | Drama

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

France USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

27 October 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Bear

Filming Locations:

Austria

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,676,530, 29 October 1989, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$31,753,898

Company Credits

Production Co:

Price,Renn Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min 89 min (uncut)

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby Stereo (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

It took 6 years of preparation to start filming. The movie was then shot in 8 months.

---

Goofs

After the bear attacks the hunters' horses, and one of the hunters has tracked down his hurt horse and has it cornered in a small rock enclosure, rocks are visible being thrown from the left side of the shot to stir the horse up.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Bill: [examining bear tracks] That's a huge male; bet he's more'n fifteen hundred pounds.

---

Connections

Featured in Hollywood's Top Ten: Grin and Bear It (2010)

---

Soundtracks

End Title Theme
Music adapted from "June: Barcarolle"
by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (uncredited), from "The Seasons"
Played by Orchestra

User Reviews

Such nice memories...

I am very fond of this movie. I watched it for first time when I was a very little kid and loved it. Years later, I watched it again and again I was enchanted. This is, in my opinion, the best film about animals ever made. It is very touching, with big emotional power, very beautiful movie. It has moments in which you can cry and moments, in which you can laugh, moments of high tension and moments, in which you feel the harmony of the nature. The bear cub is very, very cute and the big bear is quite formidable. I have such nice memories of this film, I'm very fond of it. I recommend it to everybody - it is a film about life, and there aren't that many of them.

I rarely give a full mark, but here I can do it - 10/10.