The amazon rainforest features in my Top 10 wildlife movies list.
There are lots of different films that have a wildlife or environmental theme to it. There’s so many it can be hard sometimes to choose which are the best wildlife films or movies with an environmental conscious.
This is my list of personal favourites in descending order of preference. The top 10 list of environmental films was not easy to put together. This list is only made up of movies made for cinema so there’s no TV movies or documentaries on the list. I may put together a top 10 of wildlife TV documentaries later.
This though is the list of films shown at a cinema.
10. Hoot.
This is a great feel good family movie where a couple of friends work together to stop a fast food restaurant from being built on the homes of some rare burrowing owls. Don’t expect too much in-depth examination of issues but if you have a couple of kids and some time to spare this will entertain them.
9. Gorillas in the Mist.
A film based on the true story of gorilla researcher Dian Fossey. It covers her battle to get selected as the researcher to take part in the gorilla project and some of the conflicts that she had to deal with at her research station in the African mountains. The scenery and the animals make this an enduring Sunday afternoon movie to watch if there’s nothing on the TV.
8. The Medicine Man.
Sean Connery is in a race against time to rediscover the cure for cancer. He needs to find the secret ingredient that cures cancer in a local tribe before the loggers move in and destroy the possible source of the cure. Some great scenery of rainforests and a timely reminder that there’s still cures to be found in the forests if we can save them.
7. Born Free.
This is probably the film that spawned the animal and wildlife conservation industry. Released in 1966 it is the true story of Joy and George Adamson. It tells the story of a Kenyan game warden and his wife who raise 3 orphaned lion cubs with an aim to release them eventually back into the wild. It’s quite amazing to think that this film is now 45 years old but is as relevant today as it was then.
6. March of the Penguins.
An unexpected box office success, the March of the Penguins follows the life-cycle of the Emperor Penguin that resides in the vast ice continent of Antarctica. The film contains some exceptional shots of the penguin as they march towards the breeding grounds. It’s a wildlife film that is worthy of all the praise that it received when first released.
5. Tarka the Otter.
A film which follows the adventures of an otter in Devon throughout it’s life. It’s a no hold barred story based on the book written in the 1920′s - a time of otter hunts. It’s a hard life for Tarka as he moves with his family to avoid the hunters. soon he’s on his own to fend for himself. Some stunning wildlife photography and scenes of Devon’s wonderful countryside.
4. Madagascar.
One of my favourite cartoon films of all time. There’s no special message associated with Madagascar just a hilarious story about a group of zoo animals who end up marooned on a deserted island. There’s killer special ops penguins on the prowl and watch out for our hero lion when he turns wild.
3. The Emerald Forest.
A small boy gets lost in the Amazon jungle. He grows up as part of a local tribe and the film follows both him and the father who is searching for him. It provides a good window onto some of the conflict between indigenous people and ‘civilised’ people. The film highlights some important social, cultural and ecological issues.
2. Erin Brockovich.
There’s something special about movies based on true stories. not least because truth tends to be stranger than fiction – but true stories are also a little more scary than fiction. This film documents Erin Brockovich, an office assistant at a small law firm, discovery of a community and it’s contaminated water source. This led to one of the biggest environmental legal claims in history.
1. Silkwood.
It’s almost 40 years since Karen Silkwood’s mysterious death and this film still delivers a powerful warning about corporate greed being more important than public safety. A union activist Silkwood discovers that breaches safety measures at a plant producing plutonium pellets for nuclear reactors are not just being ignored but being intentionally covered up. This film shows her attempts to raise awareness of the issue and her mysterious death.
So that’s my top 10 wildlife and environmental films. I know there are hundreds of other great films such a ring of Bright Water that could be included but when you’ve only got 10 films to recommend some great movies are going to be left out.
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