WoW Moviewatch: Orc vs. Wild: Hillsbrad
by Michael Gray 
Oct 6th 2010 at 12:00PM
I was a little confused by the morale system at first, since I was trying to find a similar system in World of Warcraft. I guess there was the old pet loyalty system for hunters, but that didn't seem to be what Wowcrendor was going for here. Still, once I stopped trying to fight that similarity, I was totally able to rock out and love the video. And really, when there's a murloc involved, how can you not have fun?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Arbolamante Oct 6th 2010 12:07PM
Bear Grylls is a poser. He takes a camera crew with him. Les Stroud (Survivorman) goes it alone.
Saeadame Oct 6th 2010 12:30PM
Lol, I do like Survivorman, but really. "Posuer" (poseur? poser? it's so hard to know) comments are kind of in bad taste... He's just making a living. Give him a break.
Drakkenfyre Oct 6th 2010 1:28PM
He's right.
You see the gag abour staying in a hotel? He's been caught doing that.
On the shows where he's supposedly out in the wild surviving, a UK TV station found reciepts where he was in a hotel.
His recording breaks for the night, they go to a hotel, then go out the next morning to finish filming. Alot of the stunts performed are just that, stunts. With safety crews and advisors standing around.
After Discovery found out what a fraud he was, they were pissed, and there is now a disclaimer slapped on the show saying he recieves help in life-threatening situations.
Wither Oct 6th 2010 3:33PM
The lure of the trolls is to strong. So the big deal is Bear Grylls has stayed in a hotel, when off camera.
Here's some other amazing facts.
He got married, off camera.
He's brought up kids, off camera.
He's served in the special forces, off camera.
He's climbed Everest, off camera.
He's broken his back in a bad parachute jump and recovered, off camera.
Hell, he has a whole other life off camera!
What he does on camera - including traversing white water, swimming in frozen lakes, negotiating great heights, eating whatever he can find in the wild - is clearly real.
Discovery were never surprised to learn he spent time in a hotel off camera, they paid for his expenses!
They expressed a statement to clarify the situation (for the benefit of the more stupid viewers).
"The programme explicitly does not claim that presenter Bear Grylls' experience is one of unaided solo survival. For example, he often directly addresses the production team, including the cameraman, making it clear he is receiving an element of back-up."
For most people, this was frickin' obvious. When I go to sleep at night, I don't worry about what TV presenters are doing at night. Yet weirdly, some viewers were upset to learn that when Bear WASN'T filming the show, he also WASN'T in a life-threatening situation.
GAH! Some people are so stupid!
/rant over.
Drakkenfyre Oct 6th 2010 4:11PM
Wither, when you lie about what you are doing, come across as a bad-ass survivalist, and pump up your "military career" (i.e. advisor), make out like you are surviving in the wild (telling your audience this) and pretending to build things you don't (craftsment create some of his tools, like the raft, not himself) or say you are out in the middle of nowhere, hundreds of miles from civilization when you are actually in a state park, and put plenty of unncessary drama in your show that's all scripted, no, I don't care what he does off-camera. That doesn't mean he has a legit show.
Survivalist show = Good.
Survivalist show where you don't actually do anything you say except eat dead rotten things and shit = Bad.
The entire point isn't that he is doing these things on-camera, it's that he presents himself as this hardcore survivalist who's surviving out in the wild while eating rotten zebra corpses, fending off lions, and riding wild horses (which had horseshoes) while he does none of it. He finishes filming, goes back to the hotel, and sits around drinking beer with his camera crew. Even the animals he hunts down are farm-raised.
That disclaimer was added AFTER people found out. The show went years without that disclaimer. Then a UK TV station did an investigation on him, found out most of what he says is shit, and had evidence to back it up. Then the disclaimer went up.
His entire draw is that he does gross things like eat shit and has dramatic moments, like leaping over "vast pits" that consist of cracks in the ground beside a major highway, while a safety crew sits there and watches him.
People prefer Man vs. Wild over Survivorman because of the drama. The drama on Man vs. Wild is manufactued for the idiot audience who loves it. The drama on Survivorman is real. Bear Grylls acts like he's sleeping in the dirt, and surviving off berries. Les Stroud actually does. He has no camera crew, he has no safety team right at him, and he often limits himself to simulate a broken limb, or other injury.
But because Survivorman actually shows a survival situation in a realistic manner (man, it's cold here. Man, I'm hungry) people often say he's a "whiner". Meanwhile Bear Grylls will talk about the hardships, then go back to his hotel for a 5-star meal.
Tunahead Oct 6th 2010 7:09PM
Well what you've got to understand is that everything on television is fake. EVERYTHING. Usually this is because shooting something "for real" would often be much more challenging or potentially life threatening or strangely fake-looking or just not viable for other baffling and mysterious reasons.
Just get to watching documentaries and reality television with a critical eye and really thinking about what you're seeing, and you'll soon begin to have thoughts like "If the crew all packed it in and drove off in those jeeps disappearing into the horizon, then who's the guy filming this?"
What you've got to understand is that television doesn't do this because it's made of two-faced jerks. It does it because it has to. Supply and demand. Nobody wants to watch American Idol with authentic but boring judge reactions, so they film more over the top ones later and edit those in. Nobody wants to see medieval stuff where hoofbeats don't sound like coconuts banged together and where swords don't make magical metallic ringing sounds that make no sense. And nobody wants to see the final shot of the crew leaving in their jeeps shot via nausea-inducing shaky-cam from inside the vehicle. The reason television lies to us is because we want it to. This is not a thing we should be blaming on bears or TV executives.
Drakkenfyre Oct 6th 2010 7:41PM
You people don't get it.
It isn't because "it's fake", it's because he says IT ISN'T FAKE, then goes and fakes it.
"Hi, I'm Bear Grylls, I'm going to show you how to survive in the following situations" is ok.
"Hi, I'm Bear Grylls, I'm a hardcore survivalist, using my military background to show you how to survive! Today I'm going to be out in the middle of nowhere, relying on my wit alon to hunt down wild game. After that, I'm going to track down a wild horse, and jump on him and ride him to a shelter. Then I'm going to use my skill in survival to build a boat and get off this coast! Afterwards, I'm going to spend a week in the wild fighting off lions and dangerous snakes. Then I'm going to show you how to get rescued!" is not.
Yes, we know it's a TV show, yes, we know it's fake. The point is he lies about everything and says it's all real.
Les Stroud is his own camera crew, and a rescue team is within radio contact. He tells you this. Watch the episode where he was put adrift at sea. He tells you right up front due to it being too dangerous, they put a strobing beacon on him to keep track of him at night, and he has a radio with him in case it gets too bad. And when a storm comes up, yes, they come and get him and he stays on the ship for the night until the next day, when he goes back out.
The thing is, he tells you all this up front, in fact he shows it. He tells you it's because the situation with the storm got too dangerous.
Bear Grylls tells you he's outside the entire time, and that besides his camera crew he has no one else there, and they aren't allowed to help him. Then meanwhile a safety crew is standing there the entire time, and he has a harness and whatever else equipment he needs.
He is shown huddling down in a bush, talking about how utterly cold and miserable it is, and how it's going to be rough the entire night. Then as soon as the cameras stop filming, they break, get up, go back to the hotel, spend the night, then the next morning go back out, he gets back into the dirt, and they film him acting like he is waking up.
Yes, TV shows are fake. But if you want to be lied directly to your face, go for it. The guy is a total fake, and is leveraging his "military background" to make him seem tougher. If you want to be insulted, keep watching. He is simply an actor, and should not been seen as a "survivalist".
At least on documentaries they usually give a disclaimer how some things were reenacted. And they don't require being busted for them to put those disclaimers up.
Wither Oct 6th 2010 7:42PM
Look, it's pretty simple. There are lots of people that love Bear's shows and there's a lot of haters like yourself.
So get over it. Don't watch his show. Fine.
But, why feel it necessary to belittle a man who CLEARLY has achieved far more than me, you or 99% of us. If you don't believe me, do some simple research, look him up. Google him.
Don't just make stuff up. Like "Discovery was pissed". That's untrue. He pumped up his military career. Link or it didn't happen. Claiming that he doesn't actually eat what you SEE him eat on the show.
You say "the point isn't that he is doing these things on-camera" and then in the SAME PARAGRAPH you use the punchline "he finishes filming, goes back to the hotel, and sits around drinking beer with his camera crew".
I get irritated (to the point of feel compelled to rebutt your troll bait) whenever I hear "average Joe Internet" trying to belittle the guy. Where's your CV? Where's your show? What's your agenda for writing a hate post?
I think Les Stroud is great too, but it isn't a competition, they're DIFFERENT shows. Both on Discovery. They don't even compete for air time.
So wave the flag for Survivorman, but stop attempting to bring down Bear Grylls, because I and others love both shows and am getting sick of the hate.
(BTW, excellent machinima BTW, I like to think of it as a tribute to the show)!
Drakkenfyre Oct 6th 2010 8:12PM
You said he does things off-camera, like have a wife. As if that mattered about a show. I was saying it doesn't matter what happens on-camera as far as that goes.
Yes, it did appear I was saying he didn't eat rotten zebra, if you kept reading I said he did. I wasn't saying he wasn't eating that, I should have worded it better. I said it's one of the things that he does, and that's about it.
You are one of those people who think anyone disagrees is a troll. So it's pointless to respond to you.
The guy gets enuf shit because people found out what a fake he was. If you can't handle that, don't get into discussions about him. The fact is even Discovery didn't know he faked what he did. If you did a little research yourself you would find out his show did not originate on Discovery Channel, and is, in fact, an import to our market.
Like I said in a previous post, the manufactured drama on Man vs. Wild is for the idiot audience that loves it. You enjoy it so much, keep enjoying it.
Wither Oct 6th 2010 9:15PM
The recent seasons of Man Vs Wild (or Born Survivor) are only available to the British from Discovery and it premieres in the US, so I wouldn't call it a US import. It's in it's seventh season, so the fact that it once was on Channel 4 once is mind-boggling irrelevant.
The "UK TV station" that investigated the show, was in fact, the Daily Mail newspaper, which is if you ask any Brit would tell you that it's, well, not exactly the Washington Post. It's a sensationalist tabloid that makes it's own headlines.
I don't think anyone who disagrees is a troll. My definition of trolling is posting inflammatory hyperbole in the hope of getting a response. Perhaps you weren't trying for a response, but your lack of respect for facts and your disrespect for Bear Grylls incensed me. It's made worse because that same bit of Bear-bashing nonsense just detracts from the rather excellent video that Wowcrendor made. Posting "why you hate person X" is wrong at the best of times, let alone here.
Drakkenfyre Oct 6th 2010 10:46PM
Give me a reason to respect him. An actor will tell you he has a job acting. Bear Grylls acts and pretends it's real.
You also replied with a bunch of unrelated facts. "He has a wife, he has a kid", which has no bearing on the discussion. You replied to my reply to someone else berating the OP.
If you think Wowcrendor's video is an homage to him, you better look again. It's an obvious parody.
Saff Oct 6th 2010 12:12PM
Watching this machinima: +10 Morale :)
andrey30 Oct 6th 2010 12:12PM
My morale just got a boost !
regisfrost Oct 6th 2010 12:13PM
These just keep getting better and better! (+3 Morale)
Matthew Oct 6th 2010 11:27PM
I liked the winterspring one the best, and the scene where the tauren camera man saw he was in the shot and slowly moved back . that was the best. this was good too, i appreciate the hard work that goes into making this for us!
Hyacintha Oct 6th 2010 12:19PM
What do you know, it IS pronounced aye-kor. Thanks, Wowcrendor!
Aaron Oct 6th 2010 12:54PM
It's kind of funny that he put that in there. In his last video there was an "argument" about the pronunciation in the Youtube comment section where wowcrendor ended up tell them to look it up on dictionary.com and hitting the playback button. haha
Ice Oct 6th 2010 12:21PM
Naga stole (my) bike. Brilliant and something I didnt except from Crendor. Its pretty bold too so yeah.
After the bit medicore Brewfest this one was good and the usual quality, amazing. Orc vs wild is good series.
I didnt really except it to go to hillsbrad because theres not much to film "vs wild" wise but this showed that there is indeed even if they are tiny bits l ike mushrooooms and ICHOR.
Brendan Oct 6th 2010 12:29PM
Is it just me or do Billy and Boar Thrills look an awful lot alike?
Chris Oct 6th 2010 12:36PM
"I was a little confused by the morale system at first, since I was trying to find a similar system in World of Warcraft. I guess there was the old pet loyalty system for hunters, but that didn't seem to be what Wowcrendor was going for here."
It's something Bear always says during the show. "Eating these grubs will boost my morale." "Having a fire on a cold night is a real morale booster." Etc., etc.