Last Chance to See (2009)

Good movie but grossly overrated

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

The acting in this movie is really good.

While this is not an incredibly serious look at endangered animals, who really deserve a serious look; it is none the less entertaining and educational. I found myself getting curious about Stephen Fry, who I had never previously heard of. Turns out he is a rather famous British comedian, though I didn't find him particularly funny. However; I did become rather fascinated with the classy sort of understated way he accepted and projected his cultural/sexual orientation. He was classy and understated about it, yet at the same time just out and accepting of himself and his orientation as normal. And at the same time he was just a wee bit campy and projected and had fun with stereotypes about classy urban gay men. Roll that all up into an outdoor adventure series about endangered animals, and how could it not be entertaining?

First, it needed to be cut quite a bit. But what really bothered me was Stephen Fry's self-centeredness. After the first episode, I guess someone else told him that we really didn't give a fig about how much he hated being there and would rather be home with his wi-fi. He had no truly justifiable reason to be there, rather than someone who knew something about the animals, other than that he had known a fairly well-known author who had been on the original trip, 20 years before. So after that first episode, he toned his self-focused commentary and whining down a bit and, instead, just kept gushing about how awesome the animals were. I was so put off by him and how special he obviously thinks he is that I couldn't even finish watching the series.

Many years back I read Douglas Adams's book "Last Chance to See", in which he so colorfully tells the story of how he and his friend, biologist Mark Cawardine, traveled the world in an effort to see the seven most endangered species of animals in the wild before it was too late. Now, twenty years later, this documentary revisits the same places. Douglas Adams isn't alive anymore, but Stephen Fry is possibly the best man to take his place, providing the series with his witty comments, while Mark Cawardine provides the cold hard facts.Notably the series has six episodes, presumably because one of the seven animals Douglas Adams wrote about in his book did indeed go extinct since then.Despite the sometimes sad story that unfolds, the humor with which it is told makes it a delightful watch. Douglas Adams wrote a hilarious passage about the Kakapo bird in his book. If you've read it and want to finally see that strange bird on the screen, this is your chance! As in the book, the bird makes quite a comedic appearance in the documentary. Highly recommended! 9/10

I Thought this show was amazing!I didn't know so many animals are getting extinct. Stephen Fry Is Awesome in this series they travel all around the world to visit different places to try and find different animals that need help to prevent them from becoming extinct.This series is well presented and poor old Stephen hurt himself on the set but continued filming 7 months later after he hurt his arm in a fall.I hope they can save these animals from extinction as it's pretty sad how this can happen.Lets hope for a Series 2!They are currently in production on a Special called 'Rhino Rescuse'