Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Cocaine Bear Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman April 13, 2023

It's not hard to believe that Cocaine Bear is at least based on a true story. Apparently, back in 1985, a bear did stumble across a load of the drugs and unwittingly indulged itself. It is also not hard to believe that the movie that has been made around the story is a far-flung reworking of the real story. In this take, the drugged-out bear drags out human victim after human victim, ripping off limbs, destroying flesh, and indulging itself time and again in white powder and red blood. It's a ridiculous premise but, if nothing else, in a world of copycat movies, this one at least aims to do something fairly original, at least in terms of arcing plot dynamics.

When a frenzied drug smuggler dumps his cocaine cargo over the beautifully idyllic Chattahoochee–Oconee National Forest, the white power is found and devoured by a black bear that finds itself high on drugs and, suddenly, hungry for blood. The bear will stop at nothing -- including ripping apart human flesh -- to find its next fix. The drugs are scattered all over the park, and they are also all over some of the people in the park. As the bear hunts for its next fix, a handful of humans find themselves in danger, including park ranger Liz (Margo Martindale), Nurse Sari (Keri Russell), children Dee Dee and Henry (Brooklynn Prince and Christian Convery), criminals Daveed (O'Shea Jackson Jr.) and Eddie (Alden Ehrenreich), and more, all of whom find themselves forced to set aside differences of objectives and personalities if they are to survive a nightmare journey into the world of the cocaine bear.

Cocaine Bear is gleefully gory and overtly outrageous. The movie aims for a hybrid of shock value, macabre mauling, dark humor, and over the top characters who are hopelessly one dimensional but who serve the movie well enough as cannon fodder for the bear, and sometimes for the environment, to rip apart. The film delivers exactly what is expected of it, then: a carnival ride through the grisly world of a bear hopped up on drugs and hungry for human flesh because, well, why not. The film holds zero value beyond shock and awe, but to its credit it knows its place and it knows its audience, and maintaining focus on what the audience wants, rather than pretentiously try to build something more into the film, allows it to play to its strengths. At about 90 minutes sans credits, it's very brisk, too, so love or hate what it does, there is no mistaking that the film is focused on the prize.

The story, then, is practically nonexistent, and that's what the film wants: any semblance of forward narrative motion is due only to the progression of the attacks and the film's efforts to push the boundaries of the bear attacks and provide some level of context for what is otherwise a string of gory moments spread out over 90 minutes. The characters are likewise uninteresting, but they are at least played with physical zeal to spare. The cast, to a person, rightly disregards even a hint of internal growth in favor of working up the energy to push the film's content on the outside. The film is fully focused on and committed to spectacle and nothing more, and audiences looking for that kind of experience will definitely find it here.

Cocaine Bear Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Universal releases Cocaine Bear to Blu-ray with a top-flight 1080p transfer. The digitally sourced image is super sharp, abundantly clear, and perfectly colorful. The image (cocaine) bears much fruit for crispness and textural efficiency, boasting ample clarity and definition to faces, landscape, and gory wounds. Viewers will never be left wanting more in terms of overall sharpness, stability, and detail. Colors are satisfyingly rich and deep. Natural greens are splendidly deep and realistic. Vivid red blood and punchy clothing both appear well saturated, especially during bright sunlit exteriors. Noise is kept to a (cocaine) bare minimum and there are no compression artifacts, banding, or anything of the like. This is modern Blu-ray presenting a modern movie at just about its very best.

Cocaine Bear Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Cocaine Bear roars onto Blu-ray with a high quality DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation delivers on all fronts, offering depth to bear growls, accuracy to frenzied action, clarity and expert spacing to music, and satisfaction in the track's ability to integrate natural world ambience during dialogue and other more hushed moments. The track never stumbles in any area, offering all content in perfect balance, with ample and accurate subwoofer and surround usage. Dialogue is clear and center positioned for the duration.

Cocaine Bear Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Cocaine Bear includes several extras. A DVD copy of the film and a Movies Anywhere digital copy code are included with purchase. This release ships with an embossed slipcover.

• Alternate Ending (1080p, 0:48).
• Gag Reel (1080p, 1:54): Humorous moments from the shoot.
• Deleted & Extended Scenes (1080p, 4:33 total runtime): Several scenes with no identifying markers.
• All Roads Lead to Cokey: The Making of Cocaine Bear (1080p, 9:14): Looking at cast enthusiasm for the material, the real history behind the story, Elizabeth Banks' direction, key roles and actor performances, the bear in the film, and more.
• Unbearable Bloodbath: Dissecting the Kills (1080p, 8:16): Making several of the more grizzly, er, grisly, kills.
• Doing Lines (1080p, 4:00): Cast reads script and lines with added dramatic zeal.
• Audio Commentary: Director/Producer Elizabeth Banks and Producer Max Handelman discuss the film.

Cocaine Bear Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Cocaine Bear delivers just about everything that one would expect of a movie called Cocaine Bear: it's gory, irreverent, and unapologetic. It's certainly not for all audiences, but for those to whom the title beckons, it should prove to be a riot of a time at the movies. Universal's Blu-ray delivers the expectedly rock-solid video and audio presentations while offering an average allotment of bonus content.