I saw wild lions in Kenya and Tanzania in 1983, and I am very sympathetic to their plight. I hadn't known their population had decreased to 20,000, and I completely concur with the filmmakers about the issue of dwindling habitat for so many species. However, I was irritated by the anthropomorphizing all the way through this movie, as well as by the music. I wish this had been a more straight-forward documentary. In fact, I don't think the film was all that educational. For example, I had thought that adult male lions were mainly solitary except when mating, but the movie showed a group of adult males. I would have liked to have learned more about how lions really live (including an explanation of that group of males) rather than a story that was probably made up to some extent. The lions and the scenery are beautiful, but it's obvious that to tell a story, the filmmakers must have used scenes taken at other times - probably of other animals. There's no way they could have had multiple camera angles of key scenes. I also would have been interested in seeing more of how the movie was made - the final shots of the filmmakers were tantalizing but too few. I do encourage viewers to find and donate to appropriate charities that help save wildlife habitats around the world.
Review of The Last Lions
