Product Details

• Actors: Bill Travers, George Adamson, Virginia McKenna
• Producers: James Hill
• Region: All Regions
• Number of discs: 1
• Studio: Beckmann Visual Publishing
• Run Time: 54 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001F5O8PW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,600 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

What became of the lions who starred in the wildlife classic Born Free (1966)? This question haunted the human stars of Born Free, Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna whose lives had been transformed by their experience.

"However much I tried, I could not accept that some of our lions had ended up in zoos." - Virginia McKenna

In 1967 actor and film-maker Bill Travers left the safety of the Surrey hills and traveled back to a remote part of Kenya for a reunion with his old friend George Adamson and seven lions.

In this, his first documentary, Bill follows the fascinating story of three of them, Boy, Girl and Ugas the one eyed lion, as they adapt to life in the wild. With astonishing close-up footage, we watch as George patiently encourages his man-made pride to embrace a natural and sometimes savage life in the wilderness. In a moving climax, Girl detaches herself from the group to give birth to two cubs.

This documentary proves that Elsa was not unique - that wild lions were born to be free.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Marvelous Look at George Adamson, the "Father of Lions", April 9, 2009

By 

Kimba W. Lion "kimbawlion.com" (the East Coast) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Lions Are Free: The True Life Sequel to the Classic Born Free (DVD)

The Lions Are Free is a one-hour documentary filmed in 1967, three years before the famous Christian the lion was brought to Africa to learn how to live in the wild. The connection is that Christian was socialized into lion life by George Adamson, and The Lions Are Free is mostly about Adamson and the work he did in doing the same retraining for seven tame lions that had been used in making the movie Born Free.

This film really shines when it focuses on Adamson, which it mostly does. Adamson is fascinating; his easy rapport with the lions is practically telepathic.

The unifying story of the film is Bill Travers' trip to see these lions, two years after he worked with them in Born Free. As with Christian, the lions not only remembered him, despite some of them being young cubs when he last saw them, they overwhelmed him with affection.

All in all, I'd say this film gives a better idea of Elsa's legacy than a recent (2011) TV show did.

The video quality of this DVD is not all it could be, but it is certainly watchable and this DVD made by Beckmann Visual Publishing is the only way to see this rare film.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating documentary, April 28, 2009

By 

D. Taylor "Lion Lady" (Salt Lake City, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lions Are Free: The True Life Sequel to the Classic Born Free (DVD)

I enjoyed watching this documentary about releasing the lions used to make the Born Free movie back into the wild. Fans of George Adamson will greatly enjoy seeing this lion guru interact with his "pride". Those intersted in Africa and it's wildlife will find it interesting too!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truely Free, September 10, 2010

By 

Kim Clayton (BELLEVILLE, IL, US) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Lions Are Free: The True Life Sequel to the Classic Born Free (DVD)

I found this a very compelling film. It was interesting to see George Adamson in real life and the real life lions that were used to film Born Free. There is a sadness knowing that Mr. Adamson was murdered shortly after this film and the sadness of not knowing what would become of these lions who befriended people; their primary destination would be zoos. That unique and rare bond of a wild animal and human was touching to watch as Mr. Adamson was greeted by them, bonded with them, napped with them and eventually their cubs as well. Unfortunately that is probably the worse thing for wild animals since they won't fear people and can make them more vulnerable to hunters or poachers. All in all I enjoyed this rare type of film/documentary and if you loved Born Free as a kid I think you would really want to see this film as well.