The Last Lions

This movie gives away something more than a normal documentary, it makes us feel for our emotions, emotions for the lions we watched in this movie. It is most beautiful animal story i have ever watched, thrilling but very beautiful. It shows us the real life of lioness and her cubs going through difficulties that the wild life has to offer. Wonderful narrator, one of the best, top class cinematography and lovely music.

Emotional, beautiful and thrilling, this is not a ordinary documentary, it is a masterpiece.

10/10 must seen movie for those who have emotions and want to get more from a documentary.

The trailer doesn't give the movie the look and feel and is some kind of misleading how the film really is.

The Last Lions is an excellent documentary that illustrates the drive to survive in nature. Without giving it away, the film clearly illustrates that Mother Nature is a system of checks and balances and outcomes aren't what they always appear to be.....As a high school science teacher, this film helps my students understand how nature works and the impact the human species is having on the natural world. The Jouberts have always made excellent films that help students understand that nature is always changing and we can help keep it from disappearing. I hope that they continue to make these documentaries and help shed light on the natural world.

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

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.

I walked into this movie somewhat by chance but I had heard the interview the film makers had done with Terry Gross on NPR. And I was very surprised that despite a constant narrative by the great Jeremy Irons, this film works. The question remains-can we take the humanizing of wild animals too far? The answer is, probably not, because humans NEED this point of view to develop empathy for these ferocious beasts. At least this is the point of view of the makers of this beautifully filmed and surprising documentary. What I find missing is more about the ugliness of the human condition, bent on every type of destruction of the wild, promoting guns and hunting like this is some type of sport, and a culture everywhere that promotes economies built on destructive and deadly consequences. But that is probably another film and another day. Here we have a meditation of nature, its cruelties, pathos and sheer beauty that you will never forget. Don't miss this one.