How Did This Get Made? – "Grizzly II: Revenge" w/ Jake Johnson
Podcast: How Did This Get Made?
Hosts: Paul Scheer, Jason Mantzoukas (June Diane Raphael absent)
Guest: Jake Johnson
Date: October 3, 2025
Episode Focus: "Grizzly II: Revenge" (2020, cobbled together from 1983 footage)
Episode Overview
The HDTGM crew—Paul, Jason, and guest Jake Johnson (standing in for June)—do a deep, comedic autopsy on "Grizzly II: Revenge," an 80s-era disaster resurrected for modern audiences. The trio marvel at its haphazard construction, wild production history, and baffling choices, but quickly get delightfully sidetracked into a running riff about Hollywood's "Geek Squad" generation of young actors. In true HDTGM fashion, the episode oscillates between genuine analysis of bad cinema and uproarious tangents that become a feature, not a bug.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. The Making (and Remaking) of "Grizzly II"
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A 37-Year Journey:
- Filmed in 1983 but not released until 2020—truly a movie "cobbled together from the found scraps of other movies." (02:57 - Jake Johnson)
- Big rock concert scenes are from a real 1983 festival in Hungary, attended by nearly 50,000 people.
- Producer Joseph Ford Proctor absconded with the budget after shooting the concert, leaving the film unfinished for decades.
- Hungarian authorities seized the crew’s equipment as unpaid bills mounted.
- Final "movie" is a Frankenstein of old film, new drone shots, and random modern footage.
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Casting Before Fame:
- Young George Clooney, Laura Dern, and Charlie Sheen feature in the cold open—primarily due to nepotistic connections, not stardom. (11:09 – Jason Mantzoukas, Jake Johnson)
- Their only job: die in the opening. Subsequent edits moved their scene earlier to capitalize on their later fame.
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Patchwork Structure:
- At least 35 minutes of the runtime is concert footage and animal b-roll. (04:01 – Jake Johnson)
- Modern musical acts inserted into 80s footage, causing wild tonal and visual whiplash.
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Production Absurdities:
- The bear was portrayed by a Hungarian mime, not David Prowse (of Darth Vader fame), who auditioned but wasn’t hired. (65:31 – Paul Scheer)
- All animatronic bears were lost, some in a warehouse fire.
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"Plot" and Performances:
- The story is mostly incoherent, with random threads about rangers, poachers, and the world's least functional pop festival.
- John Rhys-Davies’ character, Bouchard—a white man adopting a pseudo-Native persona after a bear tragedy—is a particular highlight of oddness. (13:02 – Paul Scheer)
2. The Group’s Hilarious Reactions
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Acting Quality:
- “This was some of the worst stuff I've ever seen. The main guy and the blonde lady… this can't be on planet Earth.” (11:50 – Jake Johnson)
- Bouchard’s monologue sampled for its baffling intensity. (12:21 – Audio clip)
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The Concert Setting:
- The concert performances are bizarre, spanning real bands (Nazareth) to a modern wedding band visually out of sync with the 80s crowd.
- "Shot super close with no microphones and they're performing to 100,000 people with the guy has a little bit of a ponytail..." (04:47 – Jason)
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Romantic Subplots:
- Sudden, unearned romance between a park ranger’s daughter and a performer elicits confusion.
- “When did they fall in love such that he's now being a… who is he?” (19:32 – Jake Johnson)
- Inadvertently creepy dynamic between the lead male and his daughter, with too-close-for-comfort dialogue—“Do you go for Daddy?” (22:49 – Jake, Paul, Jason)
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Poachers’ Absurdity:
- The poacher gang is preoccupied with bear gallbladders for aphrodisiac sale—“All they want is the money and the boners.” (33:23 – Jake Johnson)
- Mourning a brother’s death quickly transitions to profit calculations.
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Bear Effects:
- "The bear doesn't move...it was just a matter of putting the bear in the foreground or background of shots and having the... whatever.” (53:35 – Jake Johnson)
- Concert continues unfazed as the world's worst special effects bear ambles by.
3. The Geek Squad Tangent – Birth of a (Fake) Hollywood Moniker
Throughout the episode, the hosts invent and perpetuate the idea of Hollywood’s “Geek Squad,” a tongue-in-cheek name for the current crop of young actors (Timothée Chalamet, Austin Butler, Jacob Elordi, Jenna Ortega, Sydney Sweeney, etc.). This bit quickly becomes the dominant thread:
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Criteria and Debate:
- Who qualifies as Geek Squad vs. just adjacent?
- "Margaret Qualley, Geek Squad." “She feels Geek Squad big time.” (44:15)
- Musicians (e.g., Sabrina Carpenter, Taylor Swift) are “adjacent,” not true members.
- Jennifer Lawrence dubbed the "godmother" or "forebear" of Geek Squad.
- “She walked so Geek Squad could run.” (60:42 – Jason Mantzoukas)
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Running Gag:
- Heavy self-aware meta-commentary on their own tangent—“Are we just jealous of younger actors?” (65:17 – Jake Johnson)
- “It sounds terrible coming from us.” (72:28 – Jake Johnson)
- Ongoing brainstorming about launching the term into Hollywood via Deadline/DeuxMoi and seeing if it catches on without referencing its podcast origin.
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Fan Casting:
- Speculative recasting of Grizzly II with Geek Squad members:
- Bouchard: Jacob Elordi or, in a gender-flipped version, Sydney Sweeney
- Ranger: Jeremy Allen White (before they decide he's actually too old for Geek Squad)
- Daughter: Jenna Ortega
- Poacher crew: Nicholas Hoult, Jacob Elordi, maybe Sydney Sweeney
- “I want to see Sydney Sweeney as a lady poacher... you get Sydney Sweeney, one of the greatest looking actresses of the game, you got her in a black weird wig and a beard…” (57:41 – Jason Mantzoukas)
- Speculative recasting of Grizzly II with Geek Squad members:
4. Notable Quotes & Moments
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On the movie structure:
- “This certainly feels like a movie that was cobbled together from the found scraps of other movies.” (02:57 – Jake Johnson)
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On George Clooney, Laura Dern, and Charlie Sheen’s brief roles:
- "Three people who would become unequivocally the biggest stars out of this movie are the three who are like, just cast aside in the cold open." (11:28 – Jake Johnson)
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Jake’s summary of the poachers:
- “All they want is the money and the boners. That’s it.” (33:23 – Jake Johnson)
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On the sudden romance subplot:
- “When did they fall in love such that he's now being a...who is he?” (19:32 – Jake Johnson)
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Opening the tangent floodgates:
- "I do feel like America is currently in its poacher era." (32:34 – Jake Johnson)
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Meta-commentary on the episode's digressions:
- “Is this not the perfect type of episode for Grizzly 2? A Stitch Together movie. No through line. That all of a sudden you're in a movie from 83. Then you're in a karaoke video and a guy. What am I literally watching?” (67:34 – Jason Mantzoukas)
5. Timestamps for Key Segments
- Intro to Movie/Production History: 01:29–07:15
- Explaining the Clooney/Sheen/Dern casting and editing chaos: 08:09–11:28
- John Rhys-Davies (Bouchard) performance highlights: 12:05–14:14
- Bear effects & missing bear animatronics: 14:33, 53:31–53:59
- Geek Squad origin and riff: 39:49–62:29 (threaded throughout, especially 41:29+ and 55:32+)
- Speculative Geek Squad recasting: 55:32–58:48
- Self-aware reflection on the tangent: 65:02–68:15
Conclusion & Takeaways
Though they intended to dissect the nonsensical "Grizzly II: Revenge," the episode becomes a showcase of how a staggeringly bad movie can prompt an even more free-range, hilarious, and meta conversation. The Geek Squad riff will likely outlive the memory of Grizzly II itself. The hosts, especially with Jake Johnson’s energy, revel in the absurdities, both onscreen and off, ending with a full acceptance that sometimes the best way to engage with incompetently made art is to let your brain wander.
Final note:
"If you are a first-time listener, this is a little different than what we normally do. So I encourage you to check out another episode if you'd like..." (76:59 – Paul Scheer)
Suggested Listening Approach
If you’re here for a “Grizzly II” breakdown, the first half hour is prime. If you love the crew’s legendary tangents, the “Geek Squad” saga and absurdist group riffs make this episode an instant classic—regardless of your interest in killer bear movies.