2012
USA
Lion Battle Zone
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(<i>The Lions Rule</i> review coming soon. It's even better) It's great to watch this first because it uses <a href="https://i.postimg.cc/6qt3tdBR/00-Three-Rivers-12-Prides.png">maps</a> to show where a dozen prides are in relation to one another, and more importantly the path the buffalo herds follow through each pride's territory. Filmed in the very remote and beautiful Ruaha National Park, Tanzania, <a href="https://i.postimg.cc/j5kgrhH3/00-Three-Rivers.png">between the Great Ruaha and Mwagusi Rivers</a>, it's all about the dwindling water supply as the dry season sets in You can watch it <a href="https://abc.com/episode/2f447b43-ba6d-4eb6-a891-6a076144c4cc/playlist/PL553044961">here</a> Each of the prides has a distinct personality and set of skills. Most all of them are female run. There's drama between and within the prides and some nomadic males who stop by infrequently to kick-start new generations --which is different from the well-defined male dominated territories we usually see in lion documentaries Five of the prides get named and feature in <i>Lion Battle Zone</i>: Mdonya, Baobab, Bushbuck, Kumi, and The Njaa The Njaa and Baobab prides feature in the followup documentary, along with The Glade Pride who are conspicuously absent here. If you look at the <a href="https://i.postimg.cc/W4zYYKrq/The-Glade.jpg">Pride Map</a> you can see the Glade Pride is right in the middle of things What I believe happened is this: Filmmaker Owen Prumm, who has a basecamp in Ruaha (so this was filmed in his backyard--always the best), set out to film these lions and after a couple years he discovered how charmed and magical The Glade is (it's what <a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/the-lions-rule/">The Lions Rule</a>/<a href="https://letterboxd.com/sitenoise/film/lion-kingdom/">Lion Kingdom</a> is all about) and wanted to give it proper due (150 mins) instead of briefly touching upon it in this 45min documentary. He spent five more years filming for the followup If you watch this and the followup that will make sense. This is a mid budget thriller compared to the EPIC and beautifully scored followup **- <i>The Lions Rule</i> and <i>Lion Kingdom</i> are the same documentary. The former is the 150min original European cut, while the latter is the 135min NatGeo cut Summary: Five lion prides in Africa compete for scare food and each have adopted their own style of hunting. Follow them as they take down everything from buffalo to giraffes. Only the most cunning and capable will survive. |
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