Synopsis
Beary Barrington (voice of Haley Joel Osment) runs away from his (human) adoptive familyto seek out Country Bear Hall. When it turns out that the evil Christopher Walken hasdevelopment plans that include the Hall’s demolition, Beary is determined to re-unite theCountry Bears for a benefit concert that will save the Hall.
Audio
The big star of the soundtrack is the music — arena-style country rock that will either haveyou stomping your feet or slitt…ng your wrists, depending. The reproduction, however, is beyondreproach: good, enveloping and loud. The sound effects are quite effective too, with a goodenvironment and zero distortion.
Video
In deference no doubt to the film’s young target audience, the picture has been cropped tofullscreen. Boo hiss. The colours and contrasts, however, look terrific — very warm and quitebrilliant. The blacks are just as solid.
Special Features
The menu has an animated and scored main page and transitions, while the other pages arescored. Most of the extras are in the form of mock documentaries of one sort or another. Thisis true of both of the featurettes: “The Country Bears: Out of the Woods” has all sorts ofmusicians talking about the influence the Bears have had on them, while “The Country Bears’Concert for America” is a TV special that pretends this was a real concert. Even the commentaryfollows this line: director Peter Hastings talks with Bears Ted and Zeb, which is all very nice,but since it’s so fictional, tells us nothing about the actual making of the movie. “Video MixMaster Jamboree” allows you to edit 5 clips together in the order you want, and then play themback to music. If you like the songs, you can have the lyrics pop up on the screen during the film.Finally, there’s a music video by Krystal Marie Harris: “The Kid in You.”
Closing Thoughts
I’m not sure how many kids out there will want to listen to a feature length fake commentary,and adults will find some of these extras tiresome. On the other hand, home video is very muchthe proper venue for this movie, and I’m sure it will find some welcoming homes.
Special Features List
- Commentary
- “The Country Bears: Out of the Woods” Mockumentary
- “The Country Bears Concert for America” TV Special
- Sing Along Option
- Krystal Music Video
- Video Mix Master Jamboree
