Project Grizzly (1996) User Reviews

You've gotta respect the guy, even if you think he's nuts

[bart-44 · 7/10 · 9 March 1999]

This short documentary (72 min) introduces North Bay, Ontario's Troy Hurtubise, and I can assure you you won't soon forget this guy. After a near-encounter with a giant grizzly in the Canadian Rockies, Hurtubise becomes seized with the idea of building a protective body suit strong enough to let him wrestle 'the Old Man' mano-a-mano and live to tell about it.

Just the sight of this contraption will make you laugh, and there are enough scenes of the 'field-testing' to keep you in stitches as he is knocked over by flying logs, run into by a pick-up truck doing 35 clicks and shot at with a variety of firearms, all without suffering any ill effects.

Hurtubise was apparently annoyed that the film ignores the 'science'. No doubt there are practical uses for this seemingly impenetrable body suit, but discussing the chemical properties of titanium won't make for a good film. Project Grizzly is the story of a man who follows the beat of his own drummer. And it is a very funny film. Early on, the laughter may be directed AT Hurtubise, but by the end of the film the viewer has come to respect the integrity of this man's quest and to feel certain that he will achieve his objectives someday, if not just yet. An entertaining and off-beat film.

needs a bear attack

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 26 February 2015]

Troy Hurtubise is putting together a bear-proof suit to get close to the grizzlies. He recounts an encounter with a grizzly bear he calls the 'Old Man'. It's a strange obsession and not necessarily a healthy or smart one. It's not that he's a raving lunatic or that he's some kind of idiot. It's that he is fully committed. At times, one does wonder whether this guy is real or not. Some of the testing is hilarious like Three Stooges. His wilderness outfit hints at some kind of theatricality. His fringe jacket and beret looks like some costume. Part of this is absolutely showmanship unless bears started breathing fire. There's no reason to test the suit against an inferno. In the end, this is a character study but I still need that bear attack. I expected a bear attack. A bear needs to attack that suit.

Man Fall Down. Funny.

[Jeope! · 6/10 · 15 November 1999]

Interested in seeing a kind of half-baked superhero-themed movie? Do Not Be Deceived. Project Grizzly is not about Troy-Man from the Great White North Bay; rather, it is a chilling tale about a normal (?) fellow who's taken his defiance of nature to a level not fit for yourself or your friends. And trust me on that. And while it is hard not to watch Troy get repeatedly whupped by log-catapults and pick-up trucks, or be pushed off the Niagara Escarpment (!) during 'tests' of his bearproof suit, the picture does run on. Ahhh, but wait. You'll be left curiously satisfied by watching it - knowing that your crazy friend Troy from grade school who ate worms, marbles, gravel or what-have-you might just have amounted to something.

A bit of juxtaposition...very Brechtian (!)

[Mad Baz · 9/10 · 3 May 2002]

I first became aware of this film and that figure of fun Troy Hurtubise on the hilarious British TV show "In Bed With Me Dinner" with Bob Mills lampooning the film. Although somebody reading this would say "Don't laugh about it, you haven't seen the full film". Well, I bought the full "Project Grizzly" video a while ago from a friend, and I have to say that this is the most unintentionally funny piece of documentary film-making. Troy: What can be said about the man. He just doesn't see the humour that's so clearly visible to the viewers, but you've got to take your hat off to him, purely because he seriously has a screw loose. For any novices out there, root out the scene where one of Troy's buddies is talking about the game for all the family 'Out Run The Hand Grenade', or any scene involving testing the suit. I have to say as well, that I didn't go into viewing the film being snobby about anything, or expecting a marvelous piece of dramatic film. Plus Bob Mills reigned supreme on his show by poking fun at the whole idea of Troy and his little journey. Honestly, I knew that Troy would keep going with the bear business, but I never thought that in Old Blighty, I'd see him poking out of magazines (in that probably unmovable suit to match!), and being lampooned on that old chestnut "Have I Got News For You". What else is there to say, this isn't no Academy Award winning triumph, but it's definitely worth buying or renting if you see it available. In short words: this is excellent, you have to see it.

What a chump!

[matt-mccabebrown · 4/10 · 6 February 2007]

I heard about this movie somewhere and it intrigued me. Man designs a bear proof suit. Sounds pretty cool I thought. Found the poster. Saw the suit. Looks pretty cool I thought. Rented the film. Saw the film. What a chump I thought. Don't get me wrong, Mr Troy Hurtubise's dedication to his cause is highly respectable. He has clearly spent vast amounts of his time and money designing and building this suit, which he intended to use to study grizzly bears up close and personal, without fearing for his life. The film is pretty much structured in two halves. In the first half, Troy is pretty much hanging with his family and friends, most of whom seemed as bored of their lives and everyone around them. (The scene in the diner is priceless). Troy shows off his suit with a series of tests and odd stunts. Whilst wearing the suit (The mark VI) he gets his pals to swing huge logs into his chest, beat him up with baseball bats and pool cues. They even shoot the suit at one point. Don't worry even Troy wasn't dumb enough to be inside it at the time. Showing the suit off in an urban environment, its clear that he practically immobile, which makes the second half so funny. When they eventually get to "Grizzly Country" he finds out to his horror that he can't even stand in it on rough ground and keeps falling over. The look of despair on his face would be really sad if it weren't so funny. He spends five days up in the mountains, spends his time talking gibberish, showing off his knives and moaning about the suit. He even shaves with his massive bowie knife like Crocadile Dundee. Troy tries so hard to come across as a mans man. But to me, it just seemed he was trying so hard to escape the monotony of his boring day to day life that he couldn't see the forest for the trees

Unusual, but pretty good

[Tito-8 · 8/10 · 24 April 1999]

I enjoyed this film for a number of different reasons, and although it is certainly flawed, I'm definitely happy that I saw it. Troy Hurtubise comes off as an extremely likable person, and you just have to respect his effort to make a practical "grizzly-proof" suit, even if it does seem like a rather odd obsession. The movie was sometimes funny and often fascinating, so it was unfortunate that there were some boring scenes that made it past the final cut. But even with the slow spots, I have to heartily recommend this unique film. And, on a personal note, it was pretty cool to see my hometown on film...

Project Grizzly (1996)

[SnakesOnAnAfricanPlain · 4/10 · 13 September 2012]

As many have noted, this film is not about a man fighting a grizzly bear, despite what the pitch would seem to promise. It's about a man eccentric enough to build a suit for a rematch against a bear that once pushed him over. In other words, it's about a fricking egotistical moron with too much time and money on his hands and a documentary crew giving us the most boring version. It's Moby Dick for rednecks and this time there is no climax. Troy talks about his knives, his father and rambles almost incoherently about an encounter with a bear. He makes a number of suits and there are some funny Jackass like test runs. Had the documentary explored more of the mans psychosis (like the incredible Grizzly Man) it would be of some interest, instead it pats Troy on the head to elicit cheap laughs. You're better off going elsewhere for more intelligent and well constructed documentaries.

Genius, albeit combined with strangeness

[Godstud · 8/10 · 3 October 2006]

The movie was funny and brilliant. Here's your everyman trying to make something different and following a dream. The funny thing isn't that he tried to design the suit for Grizzly bears but that after the film he actually redirected his thinking towards a suit designed to protect firefighters. While doing this and discovering his suit wasn't safe unless it was fireproof, he managed to create a compound that MIT professors said couldn't be made. He created a ceramic? compound that he demonstrated in his own unique way. He placed a small brick of it on top of a helmet and had a braizing torch directed on the top of it for 10 minutes (at 5000 degrees). After 10 minutes the temperate had risen barely 10 degrees. A crackpot? no doubt :) But likely a backyard genius too. See it once and remember that not all inventions in history were used in the original purpose that the creator envisioned.

I loved it

[c-sheffe · 8/10 · 25 May 2006]

I saw this film at the theater when it first came out and then again a couple of weeks ago ( I bought the DVD). I found it equally as enjoyable the second time around and applaud the talents of Lynch and Hertubise. I highly recommend this film to anyone who likes the real life quirkiness of the common obsessionist or a Canadian film buff. This film made me laugh out loud more than once and kept me interested throughout. I found that the humanness and the landscape of the film rings true and I believe that most people will relate to the character(s) on some level. I will definitely share this one with friends; it has party movie written all over it. Just sit back and take a sometimes fast, sometimes zany, ride. There are moments of tension, triumph and defeat that I find unforgettable.

One of the funniest movies I've ever seen!

[BrownCam · 16 December 1999]

This documentary follows a Canadian bear researcher who builds a bear-proof suit of armour so he can confront a grizzly bear head on and live to tell the tale. This documentary on Troy Hurtubise is nothing short of hilarious! We follow troy through his building and testing of his 'grizzly-proof' suit to his hunt for the angry bear from donut shops and biker bars to the Rocky Mountains. As it's been said here, you have to love this guy, even though he's a little out there!

'A bear of a movie that had audiences howling with laughter.' - The Toronto Star

Another fine gem from the National Film Board of Canada.

very funny and very well-made documentary

[noonan · 9/10 · 16 March 1999]

This is a hilarious documentary about Troy Hurtubise, a Canadian scrapyard worker who, after an encounter in the forest with a grizzly bear, devotes his life and money to researching and building a grizzly-proof suit. Troy's dialogue alone is reason enough to watch this movie, but add camera shots of his "research" (Troy (in the suit) standing in front of a 5-ton pickup at 50km per hour, throwing himself off the Niagara embarkment, getting hit by a huge log suspended in a tree) and it's brilliant comedy.

Troy

[daveharris_CrackerJacks · 9/10 · 24 September 2021]

It was many years ago I got to get to know Troy. I met him at Cracker Jacks in Lindsay Ontario. I sat and listened to a ton of stories from this man. Troy had just finished writing a book called. White Tape. Even got him to sign it. Great friend and solid man.

A movie about a man and his quest for nothing.

[vjacq · 7 June 2000]

After surviving an attack by a grizzly bear, some Canadian yahoo spends the rest of his life trying to design a suit that will . . . help you survive a bear attack.

We watch the development of his suit, which involves smoking cigarettes and being crazy, until the Canadian government approves it for testing.

It's a funny movie but not worth much but a few laughs.

Fun Documentary

[Michael_Elliott · 25 February 2008]

Project Grizzly (1996)

*** (out of 4)

Documentary on Troy Hurtubise, a Canadian man who was attacked by a grizzly so to get revenge he builds a protective suit and goes out to find another grizzly to fight. If this guy sounds strange then that's because he really is. The ending is a disappointment as the fight never happens but everything that comes before this is pretty entertaining because this guy is just so damn weird. He rambles on about stuff he has no idea about and I can't help but wonder if this guy was the inspiration for all those Holiday Inn commercials that you see all over television. Apparently Quentin Tarantino is a big fan of this movie and I'm sure he could have fun turning this into a movie of his own.