Overrated and overhyped

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

This true-life account of a Kenya game warden's wife, Joy Adamson (Virginia McKenna), who raises three female lion cubs after their mother and father are shot is endearing. The game warden, George Adamson (Bill Travers of "Duel at Diablo"), is dispatched to kill a man-eating lion. No sooner has he killed the murderous lion than a lioness attacks them, and he is forced to bring it down, too. Too late they discover that the lioness sought only to protect her three cute cubs. George and Joy rear the three cubs and eventually give them to a zoo, but Joy is too grief-stricken by their obligation to watch her husband put them on an airplane. It seems that Joy has grown quite attached to one of the lion cubs, Elsa, enough so George keeps her for Joy. They make a docile pet out of Elsa, and the young lioness has a free run of the compound. Things get complicated when Elsa incites a herd of elephants to stampede through a village. George's immediate superior, Kendall (Geoffrey Keen of "The Spy Who Loved Me", demands that they ship Elsa off to a zoo. Naturally, Joy opposes this plan and she works hard to return Elsa to the wild where she was born free. Along the way, George suffers from a bout with malaria, but he survives and helps Joy ensure that Elsa makes it in the wild. Composer John Barry, who rose to fame and fortune with his orchestral scores to the James Bond film franchise, received an Oscar for his soundtrack as well as the title tune. Director James Hill received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Director.

As this timeless classic opens, George Adamson (Bill Travers), a game warden in Kenya, brings three orphan lion cubs home to be cared for by his wife, Joy (Virginia McKenna). Raised as pets, two of them are eventually sent away to zoos, but the third, Elsa, was especially loved and they decided to keep her. Of course, that soon became impossible, so they set about rehabilitating her back into the wild knowing she might not survive, but feeling she must have the chance to live free.In the 1950s, no one had ever reintroduced an animal to the wild, and the Adamses were the first animal lovers to do so. Travers and McKenna are wonderful as the couple and went on to become animal activists after the filming of the movie. Geoffrey Keene (the 'Minister of Defence' in six James Bond movies) gives able support as George's boss. The Kenyan landscape photography is simply breathtaking and the lions, at various stages of development, are adorable.John Barry won Academy Awards for both his score and song, which are truly iconic and guaranteed to have you reaching for the tissues. This beautiful, inspiring, and unforgettable movie is a must-see for animal lovers.

1st watched 9/4/2007 - 7 out of 10(Dir-James Hill): Fascinating study of lioness born free, but domesticated; then being trained to survive again in the wild. This is a unique film in that it deals with some real issues about making a wild animal a pet and the effect on it because of that. The movie begins with an African game warden, played by Bill Travers, killing an adult lion that is attacking humans but leaves behind three pups. The game warden and his wife, played by Virginia McKenna, decide to take in the pups since they lost their parents and would eventually starve to death in the wild. They are finally able to get them to feed off of their homemade formula and grow, but when it comes time to release them back to the wild the wife's attachment to the smallest that she named Elsa, has grown and they decide to keep her. Elsa quickly becomes their pet and attaches herself to them, but they know eventually she'll have to leave. They avoid the issue of sending her to a zoo because they want Elsa to be free, but then they must take on the challenge of re-training her for the wild. This turns out to be harder than they expected and their trials with this becomes the subject of the rest of the movie. This is all very well done and helps us realize the difference between pets and animals living in the wild and shows us the respect we should have of the differences. There is a good balance of sentimentality with reality as this couple thinks hard about every decision it makes thinking not just for themselves but for Elsa. This a unique movie that can be enjoyed by persons of all ages and also teaches us some things that we rarely see on film.

An English couple living in Kenya try to reintroduce an orphan lion cub back in to the wild. Based on a real story.Family movies get a bad rap because they are usually films that only children enjoy and adults can bare only when drunk. Born Free is the kind of movie that can play well to both adults and children -- if they are the type that like wildlife.You should never act with children or animals because they steal every scene they are in. Born Free features two very fine performances from real life couple Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers -- but when the cubs are on screen you won't be looking elsewhere.I have read the book which I loved and well worth checking out because it is NOT a novelisation of this film -- Joyce Adamson (whose early life the script is based on) was not the angel of virtue she is portrayed here. She was a tough woman who made enemies and ruffled feathers. Her early death is another story and another film.The problem with the film is that it has enough syrup in it without the extra sugar that is the title song. Also the real couple had personal problems that this film doesn't really want to deal with. From the nature of the film we know the final happy reel and are merely travelling towards it.There aren't many films you can enjoy two or three times over and even get a bit emotional over -- but this is one such film. One for the DVD collection of all animal lovers. If you are the sort that doesn't subscribe to the Discovery Channel than you are better staying away.