Cocaine Bear - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Cocaine Bear



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
Let’s just state this up front. If you’re going into a movie about a bear who eats cocaine and then murders a bunch of people expecting high quality entertainment, then you really need to just turn around and walk away. Put down the Blu-ray, walk back slowly, and retreat from this review, no harm no foul. HOWEVER, if you want to just check your brain at the door and watch a CGI black bear eat a bunch of humans in a 1970s exploitation style of horror/comedy, then I think we might have some common ground to work with.

The story of the cocaine bear (sometimes known as “Pablo Escobear” or “sniffy the bear”) has been around for over 40 years. A real life 175 lb black bear supposedly ate a crap ton of cocaine that was thrown out of a plane in Tennessee when a drug dealer dumped his load. Said bear got super sick...and….well….died, kind of like you would expect upon over dosing from booger sugar. However, that hasn’t deterred the internet for making jokes, memes galore, and spreading internet folklore about the Apex predator hopped up on coke for DECADES. Then let’s toss in the highly controversial Elizabeth Banks into the mix by making a movie about the bear, and you start raising some eyebrows.

Cocaine Bear is pure exploitation movie at it’s finest here. I was a bit trepidatious considering that Elizabeth Banks was directing/producing (she tends to run her mouth after making movies no one wanted, and her recent track record has NOT been good), but got rather interested when the film came back with positive reviews. Pretty much everyone who I know who has seen the film has come back with the consensus of “this is a fun, stupid, silly, movie that you have to check your brain at the door to enjoy”. Since I was raised in an 80s and 90s horror household, that particular criteria is just up my ally, and boy does Cocaine Bear deliver.

A drug dealer tosses out bag after bag of cocaine from an airplane, only to knock himself out and accidentally killing himself in the process. This leaves millions of dollars worth of party powder out in the wilds of Tennessee with several people looking for it. The police are hot on it’s trail, but drug dealer Syd White (Ray Liotta) needs to get his product back asap. Sending out his associate Daveed (O’Shea Jackson Jr. who is looking more and more like his dad every day) and son Eddie (Alden Ehrenreich) to get it. Not to mention mother Sari whose daughter Elsa (Hannah Hoekstra) wanders into the same woods to paint. However, none of them have any clue that a female brown bear munched on a bag of the white pearl and is now in full on hyped up rage mode, leading to a confrontation of everyone in the woods as they all try to escape said bear’s primal wrath as it attempts to ingest more of the narcotic powder.

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, this is not high class entertainment. This isn’t even decent middle of the road film making. This is pure D level trash entertainment that just so happens to be hilarious fun to watch. Well, as long as you’re in the right mind set. Winks at the camera, a large ensemble act of character actors (and the late Ray Liotta, may he RIP) and plenty of CGI blood, the movie is unBEARably fun if you’re into B movies. For once Elizabeth Banks has stayed away from controversial social issues and babbling off camera about her film, and instead made a modern day exploitation film whose only purpose is to entertain. The movie ain’t great, but it’s a barrel of laughs and certainly enjoyable in a pulpy, grungy sort of way.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

While not perfect, Universal’s Blu-ray is almost there. This is a top notch digital transfer with nice and bright exterior shots in the forest, and decently lit cave scenes that showcase great black levels. The lush green foliage really pops off the screen and the CGI blood is bright and very splashy. Even the cave scenes showcase a lot of shadow detail and I didn’t notice any real banding or crush either. Noise is nearly non existent EXCEPT in the cave scene with the cubs, and the CGI bear, while awkward animated at times, does the job well enough. Bright, glossy, and vivid, Cocaine Bear has almost no downsides to the viewing experience.









Audio:

The 7.1 DTS-HD MA track roars (yes, I’m funny, shut up) onto Blu-ray with a ferocious and aggressive mix. There are moments of quiet front heavy clarity with some of the dialog centric bits, but there is a TON of powerful surround activity considering how much the bear is munching on people. The bit in the woods where the range gets her butt chomped on is downright incredible, with punishing bass, explosive surround shifts, and a fairly massive dynamic range. Simply put, this is pure audio pleasure.












Extras:

• Feature Commentary with Director/Producer Elizabeth Banks and Producer Max Handelman
• Alternate Ending
• Deleted & Extended Scenes
• Gag Reel
• All Roads Lead to Cokey: The Making of COCAINE BEAR - Meet the hilarious ensemble brought together to bring the movie of what is soon to be the world's most famous bear to life.
• UnBEARable Bloodbath: Dissecting the Kills - From rigging to special effects makeup, to some of the actors doing their own stunts, we'll get a bears-eye view into some of COCAINE BEAR's hilarious and gory kill scenes.
• Doing Lines - Cast and filmmakers read lines from the script to COCAINE BEAR, which was a work of art unto itself.

Final Score: ​

Cocaine Bear delivers just exactly what you would expect from a movie with that title. It’s about a bear, hopped up on cocaine, who eats people. It’s gory, ludicrous, stupid, irreverent, and strangely rather entertaining. The Blu-ray (sadly no 4K UHD in the U.S.A.) is quite stellar in the video and audio department and actually has a rather solid array of extras too. If you’re into the film, the disc is well worth picking up, and if you want to rent, this makes for a fun gore fest.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Keri Russell, Alden Ehrenreich, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Isiah Whitlock Jr., Ray Liotta, Christian Convery, Margo Martindale
Directed by: Elizabeth Banks
Written by: Jimmy Warden
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 7.1, Spanish DTS-HD MA 7.1, French (Canada) DTS 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Universal
Rated: R
Runtime: 95 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: April 18th, 2023

Recommendation: Fun Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I wasn't going to see this in the theater but I though it would be a good view on streaming/rental so will check it out.

 

[AudiocRaver]

Fun movie! Don't set your expectations too high, there will be no Oscars, but it is worth a couple bags of microwave popcorn.

Edit: Also a fitting final role for Ray Liotta rip.

 

[Todd Anderson]

I’m looking forward to this

 

[Asere]

I thought it was entertaining. In fact, it caught me by surprise because I wasn't expecting horror.