Customer Reviews

The Lions Are Free: The True Life Sequel to the Classic Born Free

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

This is an interesting film with lots of great photography of the lions from Born Free. Highly recommend for those interested in lions.