Contentar Best movie of this year hands down!

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

mark.waltz My parents obviously saw the need to teach my siblings I that lesson because when this film was in its post release and had a drive-in showing, we all got to go, and that was one of my earliest film-going experiences which remains with me almost 50 years later. It isn't only the sprawling beauty of Kenya or the joyous title song which to this day instills tears, but the love and kindness of the heroine Joy Adamson (the beautiful Virginia McKenna) who raises a lioness cub to adulthood with the help of her loving but concerned explorer husband (Bill Travers). George Adamson was forced to shoot the cub's parents when they charged at him and his party, but was caring enough to bring the three cubs back. The story starts with Joy finger-feeding the stubborn cubs milk and shows how the two stronger cubs followed Joy's favorite cub Elsa's lead and began drinking as well. This establishes Elsa as a true heroine among cats because her accepting milk from a human saved her sibling's lives.When the curious cubs begin to get too big, Joy agrees that they must be taken to a zoo, but her love for Elsa forces George to keep this one behind. Elsa begins to think of the Adamsons as her parents, showering them with love and following them around more like a big dog than a big cat. But Elsa's natural instincts begin to take over and when finding herself in a herd of elephants, Elsa creates a stampede which infuriates the locales who demand that the Adamsons due something about the now too large adult lioness. Elsa though isn't trained to kill to eat, so in order to prepare her to be set free (Joy wouldn't hear about the zoo!), they take her to the wilds to find a mate and let her go. A truly funny scene has a very lazy male lion pretty much ignoring the affectionate Elsa as George and Joy watch (what, no privacy?) and later, Elsa gets literally into a cat-fight with another lioness over the king of beasts holding court on top of the African plane rocks.This is a movie of triumphing over the impossible which shows how human love for God's other creatures can cause them to sometimes think more with their hearts then with their brains, and how they try to amend the situation. In many cases, it reminded me of "The Miracle Worker" with Joy replacing Annie Sullivan and Elsa replacing Helen Keller. Both Joy and Annie had truly difficult obstacles to overcome and Helen and Elsa had to learn in their own way and time what their teachers were trying to get through to them. You won't be able to hold your tears in for the final scene where you feel you literally can here the beloved Elsa saying "Thank You" to Joy as nature and the good side of humanity come together for one last visit.

Leofwine_draca BORN FREE tells the story of Joy and George Adamson, a married couple who raised a trio of lion cubs in Kenya before attempting to release one of them back into the wild. Much like many of these "nature" films of the '60s and '70s - many of them invariably starring Bill Travers - this is heartwarming and naturalistic, with a slim story built around raw footage of the animals playing.The film is engaging and heartfelt, and many viewers will instantly fall in love with Elsa, the plucky young lioness who tries to adapt to life in the wild after being brought up by humans. Travers and McKenna are excellent as the human characters in the drama, but really, given the subject matter, this would have been a hard one to get wrong.

Dalbert Pringle There was no doubt about it, in "Born Free" it was Elsa, the lioness, who repeatedly stole the show with her wonderful performance playing herself, a spoiled, pampered, and truly adorable feline of the big-cat family. At times the always-gentle Elsa and her playful antics were so irresistible that you just couldn't help but fall in love with her.Based on a true-life story, "Born Free" is an exceptional adventure that was beautifully photographed on the vast, golden savannas of Central Africa."Born Free" is a tale of courage and love, nature and human nature, and a relationship unlike any other that you've ever seen.This film, from 1966, which won Oscars for "Best Original Score" and "Title Song", is a real treat that can be equally enjoyed by all ages.

moonspinner55 A true story set in the African wild which plays like a wildlife fantasy: childless couple working in Kenya (he's a game warden who hunts ferocious animals) adopt three orphaned lion cubs and rear them like babies. When they start growing and becoming a household nuisance, two cubs are sent to a zoo but the runt of the litter stays with the couple--growing particularly close to the wife, who soon finds it hard to let go emotionally when the cub turns into a lioness and is ready for mating. Sloppily-made family film from a best-selling book isn't particularly expressive; director James Hill has no headier goal than to make this a heart-tugger, one designed to inspire lots of "aww"s from the impressionable. Yet the humans at the center of the story are benign and one-dimensional--they're just good-hearted people who seem to love overgrown kittens--while the wife's voice-over is in the spirit of a bedtime story (with careful warnings of what's coming up next). The photography is uneven and there isn't much excitement from the animals; Hill is so heartfelt and sentimental, he's turgid. Audiences were drawn to the heavily prevalent theme of letting loved ones go, making the film an effective tearjerker for kids and the young at heart. Hill received a nomination from the Director's Guild (!), while composer John Barry won Oscars for his score and for the popular title song, co-written with Don Black. **1/2 from ****