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The Last Lions

Play trailer Poster for The Last Lions PG Released Feb 18, 2011 1h 28m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
87% Tomatometer 38 Reviews 88% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
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.

Critics Reviews

View All (38) Critics Reviews
Dennis Harvey Variety Gripping. Apr 4, 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 Marjorie Baumgarten Austin Chronicle This nature documentary about the vanishing lions of Africa is not your children's Lion King. Rated: 3/5 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 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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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 Full Review 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 Read all reviews
The Last Lions

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Movie Info

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