maxetormer
Impressive movie, the best I have seen about Africa, the characters are very well developed, Its inspiring what people can achieve when they really put their minds to work and their hearts are on the right frequency :DThe way in which the actor playing George Adamson (Richard Harris) interacts with the lions looks very natural, almost as if the actor borrowed the soul of an old lion while performing, he left me with an intense feeling of wonder, I'm a fine arts painter, and the expressions, landscapes, and overall feel of the movie would do for some truly impressive paintings, so much that I feel the need to go to Africa one day to do sketches of lions and landscapes, a really compelling and powerful vision, my deepest respect to George Adamson and Richard Harris, the rest of the cast does an impressive job too, but some how I was very impressed by the performance of that old Man that Walked with Lions.
didi-5
The story of George and Joy Adamson and the lioness, Elsa, they raised and gave back to the wild was told in Joy's book and later in the film, 'Born Free', starring Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers.'To Walk With Lions' takes up the story some years later. George still lives on Kora, surrounded by his ever-increasing brood of lions rescued from circuses and zoos and rehabilitated for survival as nature intended. Joy has left Kora, presumably for a more conventional life elsewhere in Kenya. George's brother Terence dreams of a conservation park where he can nurture and care for his beloved elephants and keep them safe from ivory poachers. And to this strange pair of men comes a new assistant, Tony, who at first cares little for the spirituality of man-animal communication but simply wants to make money.As George Adamson, Richard Harris puts in another towering performance as the stubborn man who sees the lions as blood brothers, kindred spirits who have as much right to exist and be left alone as humans do. Ian Bannen plays Terence very well; a blustering, sarcastic old man in the early part of the film and a broken spirit following the slaughter of his beloved elephants by Africans greedy to sell their tusks. Honor Blackman makes a fleeting appearance as Joy Adamson (who was murdered by her servant in Kenya). John Michie is Tony, and Kerry Fox is Lucy, a doctoral student who befriends the tribesmen but grows to understand the life of the lions.'To Walk With Lions' is a deep film with much to say on the protection of wild animals, the changing face of Africa, and the greed and intolerance of those who only seek to do good. George Adamson's murder at 83 because he refused to leave Kora to the poachers has had a lasting effect - in real life, Tony and Lucy continue to build a sanctuary for the animals in Africa, and were eventually invited back to Kora to continue the work the Adamsons started in the 1950s.This film is about the forces of nature and the passage of time. It is a quiet, understated, and effective piece of work.
Jonathon Dabell
To Walk With Lions is a true story, based on the final few years in the life of the lion-lover George Adamson. Film buffs will remember that the film Born Free also dealt with the experiences of the Adamson's (George and wife Joy, in fact) earlier in their life, but where that film almost qualified as a feel-good children's film, this one is resolutely not so, tainted with tragedy and violence.The action is perceived through the eyes of a young British drifter, Fitzjohn (John Michie) who arrives at George Adamson's African lion sanctaury after fleeing from a run-down town where he caused a fight. Fitzjohn is introduced to George Adamson (majestic Richard Harris), now a reclusive, opinionated and weathered old man in his eighties (long since separated from wife Joy) and his elephant-loving brother Terence Adamson (Ian Bannen). Before long, Fitzjohn has grown to love the lions and understand their habits almost as much as Adamson, but the Kenyan officials are determined to pull the plug on Adamson's work. Fitzjohn tries to persuade him to leave the sanctuary he has set up, and to move to a newer, freindlier environment in Tanzania, but Adamson refuses to go and is ultimately murdered for his stubbornness.This is a moving film, helped by truly superb acting (hard to believe the Academy Awards overlooked some of these performances). The photography of the African landscapes is jaw dropping. The story sticks closely to reality, but although most viewers will know the outcome before the film even begins, the sadness of George Adamson's murder still comes across powerfully in the film's heart-breaking climax. Harris, Bannen, Michie and Kerry Fox as an Oxford graduate who becomes involved in their struggle give commanding performances. There are memorable guest appearances by Honor Blackman (as Joy Adamson) and Geraldine Chaplin (as George's old flame) too. There are no real weaknesses with this film. It's just a wonderful film, well worth two hours(ish) of anybody's time.
WeHaveSixFeet
Richard Harris is amazing as George Adamson, an old man obsessed with returning captive lions to the wild in spite of poachers, politics and his own personal demons. Based on the life of George Adamson, Joy "Born Free" Adamson's husband, the movie has a flock of really great characters wonderfully played by all sorts of semi-stars (Ian Bannen, Geraldine Chaplin, etc.). I'd see it again.
AD
