The Last Lions

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.

man!i was spell bound to watch the motherhood of these iconic animals.firstly the direction of the scenes was spine chilling,raise your hands to the only mother lion who takes survival and courage to a whole new transition. my salutes to the filmmakers who made shot these fantastic story . last but not the least a huge cheers to the narration and background score.then there one question that pops in my mind.could we humans do a bit more for helping these gigantic creatures by providing enough space for them to freely inculcate the natures beauty and save our mother earth.together we all can. 10/10 from me with out a doubt.

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

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!