The Last Lions

source: The Last Lions

Beautiful story,it touches your heart. you'll enjoy it for sure.

I cried when i saw this movie....it really brought me to tears....a must see.

Saw 'The Last Lions' for three primary reasons. One was because of my love for nature documentaries and there are so many wonderful ones out there. Two was because lions have always fascinated me and it has always been easy for me to sympathise with their increasingly difficult plight. Being a big fan of Jeremy Irons, oddly enough ever since his iconic voice work for Scar in 1994's 'The Lion King' also was a big attraction. 'The Last Lions' did not disappoint. This is how to make a documentary that tells a emotionally wide-ranging and dramatic story and has animals worth rooting for, while mixing them with an uncompromising approach to the material, facts that educate and makes one think and affected emotionally and beautifully written and delivered narration. Actually think that 'The Last Lions' is one of the best examples of this mix in documentaries, some documentaries have failed such as 2019's 'Serengeti' and the recent DisneyNature 'Elephant' in this aspect but this one is an absolute winner. Is it flawless? Not quite. The sequence between the mother and wounded cub went on for too long and was unnecessarily sadistic, even for a documentary that hardly sugar-coated its subject. While loving the narration writing on the whole, we didn't need to be reminded so many times about what emotions the big cats were feeling. That did feel over-explanatory at times. However, there is so much to recommend about 'The Last Lions'. It looks wonderful, with absolutely stunning scenery and photography worthy of cinema that adds so much to the emotions of many scenes. The music has a real presence and heft, especially in the more intense scenes, yet to me it didn't come over as too overwrought or like it was trying too hard to be anything more than needed. There are sympathetic parts in more intimate scenes. Personally loved how the narration was written, it wasn't corny, it wasn't patronising (on the whole), it wasn't sugary. Instead it was uncompromisingly to the point (rightly so) but also honest, poetic and actually didn't take itself too seriously. It has a wide emotional range and has a good mix of the familiar and not so familiar. Irons' unmistakable gravitas-filled voice is a perfect fit, purring with authority and sincerity while clearly in awe and emotion over the material. While completely understanding why people feel that 'The Last Lions' to them came over as too dramatic and too humanised and that both were exaggerated, to me that wasn't the case apart from one already discussed sequence. The animals are so easy to root for here, their heart-breaking story really resonating, and feel incredibly real. Ma Di Tau is a lionness every parent will identify with with a truly powerful story, the most rootable lionness on film since Elsa from 'Born Free'. The storytelling pulls no punches, appropriate actually seeing how the welfare of lions all the time has become increasingly dangerous, and absolutely heart-breaking, shocks and tears guaranteed throughout. Not just the plight of Ma Di Tau but also the quite chilling portrayal of unseen humans. Nothing cutesy or fuzzy about it, and nothing is sugar-coated or manipulative in my view. Despite being not an easy watch, there is definitely a glimmer of hope and it does leave one thinking hard about making a difference. Overall, truly great. 9/10

It is impossible not to love this movie - one minute it will make you laugh out loud, only to break your heart in the next and it will make you keep your breath in amazement for all of 88 minutes it lasts. Mother Nature proves once again that it can effortlessly best even the best film directors, if only someone can manage to be bothered with filming the great spectacle of life in the wild. Huge thanks must be given to the Joubert couple for this movie. Oh, and yes, having Jeremy Irons as narrator was a stroke of genius!

The Last Lions, a Journey of why we should be concerned. Set in the Okavanda delta, in Africa, The Last Lions (released: 2011) documentary starts off by warning us, the audience, of how much the lions' population has declined in the past fifty years. It then takes us on a journey to discover how a lone lioness has to take care of her three cubs in the face of the harsh modern African wild-life. The documentary shows us the lioness's point of view on things and how she devices plans to get her cubs to a place safe enough, long enough so they can grow and be able to defend for themselves. The lioness's journey starts with her being named Ma Di Tau, which means protector of her young. The Documentary shows us the many obstacles that Ma Di Tau has to overcome, starting from the moment where her mate is killed, she's left all alone to defend herself from the new pack of lions that had to move because of human advancement. The documentary then shows us that although Ma Di Tau had lost her mate, she still had a sliver of hope that she wasn't all alone, she still had her three cubs to take care of. Ma Di Tau takes her cubs and starts moving away from the pack – that's trying to hunt her down to kill her. In addition, a new obstacle appears: a fire ignites; which leaves the lioness to choose between walking along the fire line, or heading off in the direction of humans, and guns. In this moment the documentary shows us an effect of human advancement: limiting the land to which she can run away. But Ma Di Tau doesn't give up; she keeps looking for new land; the lioness then finds an island – named Duba – safe enough, until the new obstacles arrive. All the while, the documentary shows us the very complex thoughts that the lioness goes through in her survival oriented mind; the narrator speaks for the lioness and how she goes through her options, and executes them precisely. Even though the documentary gives the point of view of the lioness, it also explains the logic behind her actions and what consequences these options might produce. This documentary has a specific audience, because it is not the general wild-life documentary that you might watch on a Sunday afternoon. The documentary specifically shows how this one lioness survives in the wilderness, so it'll interest people who are trying to understand how the lion mind works. On the other hand, if you are not patient enough this isn't the documentary for you because there's a lot of moments in the documentary where all you do is wait for the lioness to attack, or the lioness bonding with her cubs. It also shows a very cruel part of the wild-life, a part where the weak is left behind, so this might not be a good documentary for kids. All in all, this documentary is very informative and expressive. It shows Ma Di Tau in a very logical sense, instead of the mindless predator that a lion is represented as; it also shows a very emotional part where she's represented as a protective mother trying to save her cubs, or a grieving mother trying to get revenge for her cubs. The documentary clearly represents all these emotions and logic by showing it on camera: you can see the logical predator when she has all that blood and battle scars on her, or the protective mother look that the camera captures, and lastly the pride in which you can see in her walk when she succeeds in being a protector of her young.

This Natural History documentary is in my opinion one of the best ever produced. This is in part due to the tremendous narration by British actor Jeremy Irons together with the incredible photography. It has been given a UK PG Certificate and I agree with this because it is not recommended for young viewers. The documentary films the life of a solitary lioness and her three cubs. SPOILER BEGINS This story begins with the lioness (given the name Ma di Tau), her lion partner and their three cubs living on their own without a pride of lions. Another pride invades their home and kills the male leaving Ma di Tau and her three cubs to fend for themselves. SPOILER ENDS I am not giving any more information about the film because it should be watched and the viewer must form their own opinion about it. I will say that for all those who have an interest in Natural History, either great or small they should watch this extremely sad and enlightening documentary and for those who do not have an interest they should watch it and perhaps they will develop an interest and a great concern for the future of this beautiful Earth's wildlife. 20 years ago 450.000 lions roamed the wild but now only 20.000 remain due to being hunted and having their natural habitat stolen from them by greedy humans.

I read in some reviews people complaining this is not a "pure" documentary, that it might have been edited to create a certain storyline. All I know is that every documentary has editing, and that clearly this one was made a bit dramatic on purpose (and that is the only reason I don't rate it 10)... but I don't care - It is excellent! It generates a wide range of feelings (good and bad) and I simply could not stop thinking about it later... It not only serves well the Big cats cause but it is also very good entertainment. Even if you are not a wildlife documentary fan, this will touch you. Please see it! It does mean it should be the only Africa documentary you should see, I've already seen other great ones, like Eternal enemies our Great Migrations, but this one is very nice complement.

Oh my God! This was so good. It's probably the best documentary on lions I have ever seen. Honestly. The lioness overcame so much! I bawled my eyes out when she had to leave the cub with the broken spine. And I don't cry that often. She became a leader, and forged friendships, and thankfully still had one child. She never gave up on that herd of buffalo...she was going to get one no matter what it cost her. Usually, I watch these things and feel sad for the prey, but I wanted her get one. And you could actually see the pain of loss in her face when she lost her mate, and her two cubs, especially the second one. She knew she would have to leave it behind. I know I sound corny, but this movie was great. It made me feel sad, happy and guilty all at the same time. It makes me want to quit my job and go save lions!

I know that most animal documentaries are also sad but this one got to me towards the end with Ma di Tau and her precious little daughter. I still think about the face of the little cub. This documentary is fantastic. Great scenery and puts you in the predicament of our lions. I highly recommend watching it. One thing really got to me. It was a review by MANOHLA DARGIS of the NY times. Did this women watch the movie or just have an agenda? She says "Within the first 20 minutes of "The Last Lions" one adult lion dies in a ferocious on-screen fight .." Then in the next paragraph she says "First, her old man splits..." Well, if Manohla actually watched the movie rather than looking at it she should have known that the adult lion who died was her mate fighting for her and the cubs to protect their territory. He did not split. He fought and gave up his life for the family. That is a helluva difference Manohla. And Ma di Tau and her cubs did not "lose their home in a fire." They were forced out by the new pride that came in and took over their territory. The fire was an impediment to their escape. Geez woman get the facts right. And you are a film critic????