Product: Born Free [VHS] (1966)
Rating: 5.0
Great family film that stands the test of time!
Based on a true story, as told by Joy Adamson in her book of the same title, this 1966 film remains compelling today. The movie follows the adventure of a British couple, game warden George Adamson and his wife (Joy, author of the book), living in Kenya in the 1950s, who become surrogate parents for a litter of three orphaned lion cubs. When the mother is shot in self-defense, the Adamsons bring the cubs into their home, planning to turn them over to the Rotterdam Zoo as soon as the zoo is ready to receive them. However, Joy forms a strong bond with the smallest of the cubs, whom she names Elsa, and ultimately cannot bear to part with her. So while Elsa's siblings eventually depart for the zoo, Elsa herself stays with the Adamsons. At first all goes well, but as Elsa grows into a mature lioness, it quickly becomes apparent that she cannot remain with her human family. And so, rather than send Elsa to a zoo and subject her to life in a cage, Joy is determined to do something no one has ever done successfully before - teach a tame lion to survive in the wild, and ultimately set her free.The acting is good, with real-life couple Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna playing George and Joy Adamson (McKenna also narrates the story as Joy via voice-over, pulling passages from the book). There are a few places where the dialogue seems slightly forced, but for the most part it is very sincere. The real star of the show, though, is Elsa herself, actually played by three different lionesses. You can really see the genuine affection between the large cat and her caretakers as they interact. It is magical to watch."Born Free" relies on none of the modern-day tactics for holding an audience's attention. There is very little violence of any sort, no gore, no explosions, no sweeping romance, no sex, and as far as I could tell, not even a single swear word. The only fight scene is one between two lions, and the only chases are lions going after prey. Yet the movie maintains the ability to captivate a viewer entirely. It may hold the highest appeal for children, but animal-loving adults are sure to love it, too. I first saw this movie as a kid, but when I recently re-watched it after many years I was happy to find that it remained thoroughly enjoyable. I would warn, though, that very small children may possibly be frightened by the lion attack scene at the very beginning. The attack itself is now shown, but the lion's leap and the victim's scream are. I remember being a little unnerved by this part when I was little, so if you have a very young child, it may be best to watch this scene yourself first to determine whether it's likely to bother them.The one thing that worries me a bit about this story is the fact that the Adamsons actually used gunshots to call Elsa to them. Even at the end of the film, Elsa still displays no fear of either guns or humans. Such a lack of fear can be quite very detrimental to a wild animal, particularly in an area where lions are often shot to protect livestock. I don't fault the makers of the movie at all, since this is based on events as they really happened and the movie couldn't have been filmed differently without altering the story, but it's still a little worrisome.The entire movie was filmed on location in Kenya, and the scenery is gorgeous. Unfortunately, the picture quality is not as crisp as you would see in movies made today. However, it is full color and still quite decent. The sound quality is slightly disappointing. It is occasionally difficult to make out what is being said, but turning up the volume enough to hear the dialogue clearly in turn makes the music a little too loud for comfort. I have no idea if either the picture quality or the sound have been touched up at all in the DVD version, as I only own the VHS, but neither is enough of a problem to interfere with the enjoyment of the movie, and one can easily forgive these things in a movie made nearly four decades ago. On the whole, this is a terrific family film and is just as touching and fun as it must have been when it first came out. And if you're the type that gets a kick out of watching your cats watch TV, this one has the potential to catch their interest as well, as it did mine.