to walk with lions

this movie follows the real life story of george adamson, a man who went to live in africa and set up a lion reserve for lions that were to be set free from captivity. i guess there was already another movie about him called 'born free' and this is a sequel to that initial setting up of the reserve. in this film richard harris plays george and we join him as he has been living on the reserve taking care of dozens of different lions, trying to keep them safe from potential hunters and the like. at the beginning of the film we join a new recruit who has just arrived to be an assistant to adamson. as he begins to learn about the place adamson has set up, they begin to have a conflict with the local government who says they can no longer give him protection or grant him the land he has been using for all these years. the assistant tries to find an alternate place to keep the lions safe, but adamson is not interested. he has supported them here for this long and is not going to give up on this place now. the film, though it has admirable intentions, is not very good as a movie. the story of adamson is very compelling, but they obviously did not have much of a production budget. almost any time there is a lion on the screen it is stock footage cut to make it look like the lions are there with the actors. this becomes especially troublesome when they are supposed to be interacting in any way. also, we never really understand why adamson isnt willing to move the lions. it is apparent that the lions are in eminent danger by staying where they are, but adamson's bull headedness makes any other opportunities for their continued freedom impossible. its a great story, but the obvious budget problems along with the unexplained character motivations make this one a pass.