Pride (2004)

This is a really good film. It has a cast of Kate Winslet as Suki (one of the cubs) Rupert Graves as Linus (another cub), Martin Freeman as Fleck (the last cub, who's handsome but annoying), Helen Mirren as Macheeba (Linus'es and Suki's mum) plus more! This film's setting is really beautiful and the real lions - were they tame or not tame? I expect they were made tame for the picture, or else they were just machinery, which I don't think is true.This film has a good plot and storyline. It has the first half of the film as Linus, Suki and Fleck cubs and the second half of them as grown-ups.The jokes are absolutely TOP. My favourite joke (Don't worry, no spoilers) is when Macheeba goes "We're like the stars." Linus says, "What we come out at night?" "We're pretty but don't do anything?" asks Suki. "No," goes Fleck. "Everyone points at us."So watch this lovely film!! Enjoy! :) ;) :()P.S Everyone who doesn't like this film must have been very grumpy when they watched it and I think they should watch it again.

I think 'Pride' should be part of everyone' DVD collections because the interaction between the cocky Suki (Kate Winslet), her less adventurous brother Linus (Rupert Graves), and the orphaned Fleck (Martin Freeman) when they fight over who gets nursed by Macheeba (Helen Mirren) first is hilarious. Not so hilarious is the disapproval over Suki's infatuation with Dark (Sean Bean), the patriarch of the scrublands pride, as Dark and Harry (John Hurt) think they can take what James (Robbie Coltrane) and Eddie (Jim Broadbent) want to keep. I like that Dark is not completely cold-hearted, as he admits that Harry is a hell of a hunting partner. The deal is, Dark ends up with all the scrublands lionesses, not Harry, and he also literally makes every scene he's in his own. Suki's tantrum before she elopes with Dark minor spoiler) underscores that she has to experience life on her own to fully appreciate her family. Fleck came across as a big sissy, though, which makes Linus look more macho. Lush (Kwame Kwei-Armah) didn't really seem to fit in so easily, and Kwei-Armah's voice delivery sounded last-minute as well. Big one-ups to the older actors for some amazing screen chemistry.

'Pride' is a small, innocuous movie that tells a story much like animated 'The Lion King', but using real lions and computer animation of animal faces to make it appear that they really are talking. We see lots of shots of lion cubs romping and running through the grass, and exquisite close-ups of mature lions eating or reposing, and many times staring just a few inches away from the lens of the camera. How did they do this? The DVD extras tell a very interesting story, a story I found more interesting than the one told in the movie. However, I suspect that most children will really enjoy a movie where the animals appear to be really speaking.STOP reading if you want to discover it fresh for yourself, but the following comments only address how the movie was filmed, NOT the actual story. Lions from two sources were used. First, tame lions in a preserve were filmed for many stock shots of running, jumping, crossing water on a fallen tree, things like that. Enticed with large pieces of meat at the end of a pole, the lions were very cooperative.More inventive was the use of a 'boulder cam', a radio-controlled camera inside an enclosure shaped like a boulder, but on wheels. Controlled from a nearby truck, it could, and did, follow the lions into hunting and feeding sessions, into the midst of their den, even climbing large rock formations, for a total of 300 days. After initial curiosity, the lions accepted this 'boulder on wheels' as a part of their environment.The extras also showed how computer techniques were used to make the lions change expressions and appear to speak.

First off, this movie has a fantastic voice cast, including John Hurt, Kate Winslet, and Robbie Coltrane. And the actors, all real lions (with some facial expressions added via computer graphics) are excellent. The story is also a good one. Suki (voiced by Kate Winslet) is shunned out of her pride for refusing to contribute to their food supply by hunting. She is disgusted by killing. Other subplots include fighting between the pride and "the wanderers," the "bad guys" of the film who refuse to live with the pride, and instead reside in a barren area of the savanna. I am most impressed with the acting of the lions, especially the cubs. I would imagine that getting lions to behave as desired is not an easy task.I liked that this animal film wasn't all cuteness and light like some others, it had it's edgy moments, with the lions displaying their inate fierceness.Overall, an enjoyable experience, and one I highly recommend.