Premiere
"Herzog not only tells an incredible story but implies a dark metaphysic of the natural world that makes this film unsettlingly larger than its human subject." 07/01/2005 p.48Rolling Stone
"[S]omething unique and unforgettable....Herzog conducts his own expedition into knowing the unknowable..." 08/11/2005 p.82 Entertainment Weekly
"[A] mesmerizing work of disturbing power and unease....Herzog has bushwhacked fearlessly into one man's thorny soul." 08/19/2005 p.123 New York Times
"It is the rare documentary like GRIZZLY MAN, which has beauty and passion..." 08/12/2005 p.E11 USA Today
"[T]his documentary offers an intimate window into its subject. By using Treadwell's own words, ideas and point of view, Herzog makes audiences feel as if they are poring over a video journal of a tortured soul." 08/19/2005 p.6E Movieline's Hollywood Life
"[T]his is at once a beautiful nature doc and a fascinating fable about a dangerous state of mind, American innocence." 01/01/2006 p.106 Sight and Sound
"[A] fascinating twice over: as a courageously close-up view of Alaskan wildlife, red in tooth and claw, and as an unwittingly self-condemning portrait of the artist as a would-be Tarzan of the Bears." 02/01/2006 p.62 Uncut
4 stars out of 5 -- "[An] exceptional documentary....[The film] does lend his quest a dignity it might otherwise have lacked." 03/01/2006 p.124 Total Film
4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] tense and cinematic doc....Equal parts disturbing and hilarious." 06/01/2006 p.119 Wall Street Journal
"[A] mature and evenhanded documentary. The film poses more questions than it answers, and has a haunting afterglow..." 11/20/2009 James Berardinelli's ReelViews 9 of 10
2005 has been an uncommonly a good year for documentaries, and Grizzly Man, the latest from acclaimed German director Werner Herzog, does nothing to weaken the field. Grizzly Man is actually three movies in one: a wildlife film about how grizzly bears behave in their natural habitat, a character study of an eccentric environmentalist, and a chilling, voyeuristic narrative of how death stalks that man. - James Berardinelli
Chicago Sun-Times 10 of 10
The documentary is an uncommon meeting between Treadwell's loony idealism, and Herzog's bleak worldview. Treadwell's footage is sometimes miraculous, as when we see his close bond with a fox who has been like his pet dog for 10 years. Or when he grows angry with God because a drought has dried up the salmon run and his bears are starving. He demands that God make it rain and, what do you know, it does. - Roger Ebert
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