This 36-minute retrospective documentary covers a lot of interesting and informative ground on the making of the low-budget killer animal horror opus "Grizzly." Co-producer/co-writer Harvey Flaxman reveals that he got the idea for the story after he visited a national park where a grizzly bear was on the loose. Andrew Prine talks about how went on a plane to the location prior to reading a script and discusses improvising his big speech about a Native American tribe being attacked by grizzlies as well as describes his character as a laidback good ol' boy. Joan McCall has fond memories of her co-stars Christopher George and Richard Jaeckel. Co-producer/co-writer David Sheldon goes into detail about how film critics lambasted the movie for being a rip-off of "Jaws." By far some of the best stuff covered in this doc is Sheldon and Flaxman candidly covering how they had to file a lawsuit against distributor Edward Montoro after he tried to hog all the profits from the film's massive box office success. In addition, there's a touching tribute to director William Girdler and some good stories about working with the bear. Worth a watch for fans of the film.
2 Reviews
Following Jaws
Michael_Elliott13 February 2018
Jaws with Claws (2006)
*** (out of 4)
Fans of the 1976 film GRIZZLY will enjoy this documentary that takes a look back at its making. We get interviews with actor Andrew Pine, producer (and in his words co-director) David Sheldon, actress Joan McCall and writer Harvey Flaxman. For the most part this documentary does a very good job at covering all aspects of the production including what they were wanting to do with the film (be the first to rip off JAWS) and how the production got off the ground. There's a nice tribute to director William Girdler who of course would sadly pass away a short time later. There are some good production stories dealing with what it was like working with the bears as well as what protections were taken to make sure the cast and crew weren't harmed. Overall there's certainly nothing ground-breaking about this documentary but fans of the film should enjoy it.
*** (out of 4)
Fans of the 1976 film GRIZZLY will enjoy this documentary that takes a look back at its making. We get interviews with actor Andrew Pine, producer (and in his words co-director) David Sheldon, actress Joan McCall and writer Harvey Flaxman. For the most part this documentary does a very good job at covering all aspects of the production including what they were wanting to do with the film (be the first to rip off JAWS) and how the production got off the ground. There's a nice tribute to director William Girdler who of course would sadly pass away a short time later. There are some good production stories dealing with what it was like working with the bears as well as what protections were taken to make sure the cast and crew weren't harmed. Overall there's certainly nothing ground-breaking about this documentary but fans of the film should enjoy it.
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