"Bears" is one of a series of documentaries produced by Disney's "Disney Nature" division, and this one focuses on a mother bear and her two cubs, following them over the course of a few seasons. It begins as they awaken from winter hibernation, and watches as the mother tries to protect her offspring and show them how to obtain food, which sometimes looks to be in short supply. There are also dangers to overcome, such as the threats posed by bigger and meaner bears, a rogue wolf, and nature itself.

Overall, a good if not great film. It's marked by exemplary filmmaking, with top notch photography of many beautiful Alaska locations. It benefits from an engaging cast of animal characters. Although, like so many things aiming for a family audience, it does tend to get awfully precious. This viewer thought that giving the animals character names like "Sky", "Scout", and "Amber" was overly cute, and the film IS manipulative, to be sure, with some overstated music. Actor John C. Reilly recites the narration, and while his recitation is amiable enough, the stuff he has to utter can be incredibly goofy. "Hey, Mom! Wait up!"

This viewer would imagine the other Disney Nature documentaries pretty much follow the same formula, although the intentions are certainly admirable. Any film that aims at young viewers and attempts to teach them respect for Mother Nature and the animal kingdom is alright in his book.

Seven out of 10.

I have noticed something after seeing several of the recent Disney nature documentaries. Several of them are perfect--among the best films of their type ever made. This would include "African Lions" and "Crimson Wing". However, there also are some that instead of showing the footage and providing intelligent narration, they instead try to tell a story and often ascribe human feelings, actions and emotions on the animals. It's as if the narrator is expected to entertain the audience instead of letting the footage speak for itself. The worst of these that I've seen is "Born in China", a film whose narration is simply inane. While "Bears" isn't nearly as bad as "Born in China", unfortunately, its great footage is often overshadowed by the occasionally dopey narration. It is quite strange that such a scientific and informative film is shackled with insipid narration at times.

The film begins as a mother brown bear (also known as a 'grizzly') awakens in her den with her two cubs after a long winter's hibernation. From here, the film follows them as the bears fatten up and grown as they head for the next hibernation in Alaska's wilderness.

As far as the narration goes, John C. Riley's voice is fine. However, at times he sounds like Kyle Naughton Jr. from "Talladega Nights"--with some dopey lines which must have embarrassed Riley as he spoke them. It also reminded me a bit of Fred Willard as he narrated the dog show in "Best in Show"...and was just not at all appropriate for the movie.

The bottom line is that this is a film which is enjoyable and filled with great footage BUT also unfortunately Disney felt a strong need to entertain audiences with clever jokes and comments. The films are neither scientific nor informative. And, these ultimately diminish from the overall quality of the viewing experience and make the documentary less enjoyable...and at times a bit annoying as well. Disney please stop trying to entertain us with these nature documentaries and just let the wonderful footage speak for itself!

Bears are such wonderful and wonderfully varied animals, they can be very dangerous but also very cute. Personally like John C Reilly as an actor, he has proven that he can be very funny but also capable of pulling off drama poignantly (especially evident in the title role in the 'Wreck It Ralph' films and as Oliver Hardy in 'Stan and Ollie'). Have said more than once too about loving Disney and nature documentaries, though some of the DisneyNature documentaries fare a lot better than others.

2014's 'Bears' is neither one of the best ('Earth', 'Oceans'),nor is it one of the worst ('Elephant', 'Born in China'). Along with 'Monkey Kingdom' and 'Penguins', 'Bears' is around solid middle which is a good distinction to be in. It does fall short of being a great documentary with a few things that could have been better or things that there could of been less of, but there are so many great things and nothing is executed disastrously. Even its Achilles heel.

The good things will be started first. What DisneyNature documentaries have in common is that they are extremely well made. Calling 'Bears' extremely well made is not doing it justice enough, it actually looks absolutely stunning. The scenery is majestic in colour and scope and while it is beautiful for the eyes it is sometimes suitably unforgiving. The bears and all the other animals that feature are captured absolutely beautifully on film and a great job is done making them look as great as possible. All enhanced by the photography, which at its very best is just jaw dropping. The music on the most part is fine, it fits well tonally and doesn't feel too overused or melodramatic. Did appreciate that some values and messaging were included, they were relatable ones and they were not laid on too thick.

A major star in 'Bears' is the bears themselves. There is a wide variety of them, big and little and cute and more predatory and they are all interesting in personality and information. Actually found myself learning a lot about them, so 'Bears' did do better than most DisneyNature documentaries in the educational aspect and providing facts that illuminate. Their personalities all shine too and are immensely engaging, as well as suitably varied in emotions. As well as being educational, they also have an emotional journey with tense but not too disturbing struggles. Tonally, 'Bears' is just about right, occasionally it is on the juvenile side (other DisneyNature documentaries did this worse though) but unlike 'Born in China' it is very easy to tell which audience was intended and it doesn't try to do too much. Many parts excite and there are no dull stretches.

Was rather mixed on the narration, certainly didn't hate it but didn't love it either. It does entertain and inform and Reilly delivers with a lot of enthusiasm. Do agree though that there could have been less of it, especially in the emotional moments where it was completely unnecessary. Some of it is too over-explanatory, explaining what was going on when it was very clear what was happening, and with some clumsy attempts at jokey humour that jarred on occasion.

Occasionally, 'Bears' is a little intrusive in scoring.

In conclusion though, well executed and close to being great. Would have been if the narration was better done. 7/10