Barnes & Noble

In the grand tradition of Born Free, this live-action adventure chronicles the adventures of two tigers separated as cubs. As he demonstrated with The Bear, director Jean-Jacques Annaud is expert at encouraging affecting performances from his animal stars. In the film's masterful, near-silent first half hour, the personalities of fearless Kumal and meek Sangha are established as they mischievously frolic in an abandoned temple. Their idyllic life is shattered when a plundering hunter (Guy Peace) kills their father and yanks Kumal from his home, while Sangha escapes with their mother. Kumal winds up in a circus, where he is mistreated and has his spirit broken by the cruel trainer. The young son of a French colonial administrator adopts Sangha, but when he grows to maturity, he is placed in the menagerie of a young prince with deep father issues. In the emotional climax, the brothers are unwittingly pitted against each other Gladiator-style in a fight to the death. Sangha's realization that his opponent is indeed his long-lost brother is powerfully moving. Tigers in peril and animal mistreatment may disturb younger viewers, but all will come away with an increased appreciation for these magnificent creatures who, as the end titles inform us, have drastically dwindled in number. Donald Liebenson

All Movie Guide

Like The Bear, director Jean-Jacques Annaud's acclaimed animal picture released 15 years prior, Two Brothers offers a family-friendly epic as told through the eyes of its four-legged protagonists, who, in this case, are sibling tiger cubs Koumal and Sangha. Though a life in the jungles of French colonial Indochina circa the 1920s seemed certain, the cubs are separated shortly after their birth when the notorious hunter Aidan McRory (Guy Pearce) kills their father. Koumal is whisked away to a circus, where he is cruelly beaten into submission and forced to perform tricks to earn his keep. Sangha fares better at first -- he lands in the posh estate of a French government official who wants the big cat to serve as a companion for his lonely son, though a series of unforeseen circumstances ultimately finds Sangha in the hands of a man determined to turn him into an aggressive prizefighter. Understandably, neither tiger is happy with his arrangements, and both escape captivity in hopes of returning to the jungle. Unfortunately for them, the prospect of two loose tigers is hardly comforting for the locals, who quickly demand that McRory kill the cubs before they threaten the safety of the village. Once McRory finds the tigers in their natural habitat, however, he faces a crisis of conscience he hadn't thought possible. Two Brothers also features Jean-Claude Dreyfus and Freddie Highmore. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Product Details

• UPC: 025192412820
• Source: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Pan & Scan
• Language: Français
• Time: 1:45:00
• Sales Rank: 32,512

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Two Brothers/Flipper

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