The Last Lions

PG

Released Feb 18, 2011

1h 28m

Documentary

List

87%

38 Reviews

Tomatometer

88%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

When a rival pride attacks and kills her mate, lioness Ma di Tau faces an arduous battle to preserve the lives of herself and her three cubs. She knows the conquering lions will kill her offspring if they are found, so she leads them to Duba Island. There, she and her cubs face additional danger from the hungry crocodiles and the fierce water buffalo.

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Dennis Harvey

Variety

Gripping.

Apr 4, 2011

Full Review

Roger Moore

Orlando Sentinel

A gorgeous looking film filled with the sort of footage one can only get with patience and persistence.

Rated: 3/4

Mar 30, 2011

Full Review

Andrea Gronvall

Chicago Reader

Many of the sequences are intense, like those in which the lioness refines its hunting strategies in unfamiliar territory. But they're undercut by Jeremy Irons's sonorous narration.

Mar 18, 2011

Full Review

Jay Antani

Cinema Writer

an extraordinary achievement

Rated: 3.5/4

Jan 27, 2012

Full Review

Robert W. Butler

Kansas City Star

There's some heartbreaking stuff here but also moments of triumph. Not to mention visuals that will leave audiences breathless.

Rated: 3/4

Apr 4, 2011

Full Review

Justin Strout

Orlando Weekly

It's uplifting, but also raw and brutal.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 31, 2011

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Felix Garza M

One of the best documentaries on wildlife. Jeremy Irons does an excellent job at narrating the documentary. It is structured on an interpretation of what likely is perceived based on primal instincts & behavior. Surreal how animal behavior and actions are alike to that of our own. Only David Attenborough legendary life's wildlife experiences can surpass this documentary.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/20/22

Full Review

Audience Member

The Last Lions is a contrived documentary film, edited to appear more like an animal reality television show, unnecessarily and inaccurately personifies animals. NatGeo's inclusion of a realistic scene in which the lioness abandons her badly injured cub, leaving it to die a slow and painful death, stands against its earlier attempts to convince us these wild animals are loveable and tame. The irony of the narration by Jeremy Irons, who scars me with his monotone, wasn't lost on me. At the end of The Last Lions, Scar's words to Simba echo clearly: "run away and never return." #foursentenceratings

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Beautiful and heartbreaking.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Great nature movie. One of the best lion films ever. Lion King, The ghost in the Darkness then The Last Lions.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

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Audience Member

Wonderfully shot documentary about a lioness and her determination that both she and her cubs will survive the cruel wilds of Botswana. Grade:B+

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

How fitting for Jeremy Irons (Scar from Lion King) to narrate majestically a magnificent, violent and tear jerking story of Ma di Tau "Mother of all lions"

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

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Dereck Joubert

Director

Jeremy Irons

Narrator

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Synopsis

When a rival pride attacks and kills her mate, lioness Ma di Tau faces an arduous battle to preserve the lives of herself and her three cubs. She knows the conquering lions will kill her offspring if they are found, so she leads them to Duba Island. There, she and her cubs face additional danger from the hungry crocodiles and the fierce water buffalo.

Director: Dereck Joubert
Distributor: National Geographic
Production Co: NGE, Wildfire Films
Rating: PG (Violent Images Inv. Animal Lfe)
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 18, 2011, Limited
Release Date (DVD): Jan 3, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA): $631.9K
Runtime: 1h 28m