Highest-Rated Movies about 'Animal Rights'

Twelve Monkeys (1995), Grizzly Man (2005), Born Free (1966), The Protector (2005), Unlocking the Cage (2016), Return to Me (2000), To Walk With Lions (1999), The Shooting Party (1984) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Animal Rights movies.

#1. Twelve Monkeys (1995)

Storyline: An intense film about time travel, this Sci-Fi entry was directed by Terry Gilliam, a member of the comedy troupe Monty Python. The film stars Bruce Willis as James Cole, a prisoner of the state in the year 2035 who can earn parole if he agrees to travel back in time and thwart a devastating plague. The virus has wiped out most of the Earth's population and the remainder live underground because the air is poisonous. Returning to the year 1990, six years before the start of the plague, Cole is soon imprisoned in a psychiatric facility because his warnings sound like mad ravings. There he meets a scientist named Dr. Kathryn Railly (Madeleine Stowe) and Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt), the mad son of an eminent virologist (Christopher Plummer). Cole is returned by the authorities to the year 2035, and finally ends up at his intended destination in 1996. He kidnaps Dr. Railly in order to enlist her help in his quest. Cole discovers graffiti by an apparent animal rights group called the Army ...

Plot Keywords: time travel, virus, mental institution, underground, psychiatrist, plague, madness ...

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#2. Grizzly Man (2005)

Storyline: A docudrama that centers on amateur grizzly bear expert Timothy Treadwell. He periodically journeyed to Alaska to study and live with the bears. He was killed, along with his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, by a rogue bear in October 2003. The films explores Treadwell's compassionate life as he found solace among these endangered animals.—Sujit R. Varma

Plot Keywords: animal rights, airplane, wildlife, eccentric, animal attack, video footage, obsession ...

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#3. Born Free (1966)

Storyline: Married couple George Adamson and Joy Adamson have long lived in northern Kenya for George's work as the senior game warden of the region. One of George's primary responsibilities is to deal with dangerous animals that may be chronically threatening to humans, livestock and/or crops. It is in this vein that George and his staff end up killing a man eating lion and its lioness, resulting in their three young female cubs being orphaned. Although difficult to begin, George and Joy are able to wean and take care of the three cubs, who they adopt as pets. But soon, they know they have to provide a more suitable environment for the cubs, namely sending them to Rotterdam Zoo... that is except for the smallest, who they have named Elsa and to who Joy in particular has become attached as the emotional fighter among the three. As Elsa grows into lioness maturity, George and Joy provide her with greater freedom away from their property, which may get her into trouble as a largely tame animal. Ultimately, John Kendall, George's boss, directs them to send Elsa to a zoo like they did with her sisters, especially as with anyone in George's job he is soon being reassigned. Joy cannot bear the thought of Elsa being locked up for the rest of her life, believing that they can reintegrate her back into the wild instead, something that had never been done with a tame lion. John gives them three months to accomplish this task, which most specifically involves getting Elsa to be able to kill for food, other creatures which up to this point she has seen only as fellow playthings, and to be accepted by other lions, most specifically mate with and provide food for a male partner while standing up successfully to female competitors.—Huggo

Plot Keywords: affection, title spoken by character, based on true story, husband wife relationship, lion, kenya, perseverance ...

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#4. The Protector (2005)

Storyline: In Bangkok, the young Kham was raised by his father in the jungle with elephants as members of their family. When his old elephant and the baby Kern are stolen by criminals, Kham finds that the animals were sent to Sidney. He travels to Australia, where he locates the baby elephant in a restaurant owned by the evil Madame Rose, the leader of an international Thai mafia. With the support of the efficient Thai sergeant Mark, who was involved in a conspiracy, Kham fights to rescue the animal from the mobsters.

Plot Keywords: long take, blood, beaten to death, violence, wu shu, whip, television news ...

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#5. Unlocking the Cage (2016)

Storyline: Follows animal rights lawyer Steven Wise in his unprecedented challenge to break down the legal wall that separates animals from humans, by filing the first lawsuits that seek to transform a chimpanzee from a 'thing' with no rights to a 'person' with legal protections.

Plot Keywords: reindeer, courtroom, court case, court hearing, animal cruelty, caged animal, lawyer ...

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#6. Return to Me (2000)

Storyline: The film opens with a loving husband and wife preparing for a very important fund raising dinner. The evening ends with the loss of the wife. In a hospital a weak young woman who may die soon if she can not get a new heart. Jump ahead one year the young woman received a heart and is trying to adjust to a life no longer counted by hours or days, she can actually make plans. The grieving husband and his dog are still trying to adjust to life without his wife. His friends keep trying to pry him from his "work is my life" existence by setting him up on blinds dates. Finally he actually shows up for one at an Irish-Italian restaurant where he finds himself more attracted to the waitress than his blind date. He finds an excuse to return to the restaurant in hopes of seeing the waitress again, there's just something attractive about her. Unknown to both the attraction they both feel for one another is Grace has the heart of Bob's dead wife. What can you say after that! Carroll O'Connor says ...

Plot Keywords: architect, animal rights, heart transplant, grief, gorilla, loss of wife, death of wife ...

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#8. The Shooting Party (1984)

Storyline: Autumn, 1913: on the eve of the Great War, a small party of lords and ladies gather at the Hertfordshire estate of Sir Randolph Nettleby. A code of propriety governs all: dress, breakfast, relations with the estate's peasants, courtship, shooting, adultery. Lionel Stephens, who is courting Sir Randolph's daughter, gets into a shooting competition with Lord Gilbert Hartlip; Lord Gilbert's wife carries on discreet affairs; a pamphleteer circles the estate calling for no more killing, and Sir Robert's grandson hopes to protect a wild duck he's befriended. A way of life is ending: Lord Gilbert's violation of the gentlemen's code suggests internal rot as the real world presses in.—<jhailey@hotmail.com>

Plot Keywords: billiards, migraine, marital infidelity, manor house, maid, lord's prayer, jealousy ...

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#9. The List of Adrian Messenger (1963)

Storyline: Messenger asks a friend to check into a list of names before leaving on a trip. When his plane is blown out of the sky, the matter becomes more serious. As his friend checks into the list, each seems to have died in mysterious circumstances. As he goes down the list, the deaths become more recent and a race to find the remaining survivors and what put each of them on this list ensues.—John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>

Plot Keywords: fox hunt, multiple murder, crime investigation, disguise, british, character name in title, based on novel ...

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#10. Fly Away Home (1996)

Storyline: Amy is only 13 years old when her mother is killed in an auto wreck in New Zealand. She goes to Canada to live with her father, an eccentric inventor whom she barely knows. Amy is miserable in her new life...that is until she discovers a nest of goose eggs that were abandoned when developers began tearing up a local forest. The eggs hatch and Amy becomes "Mama Goose". The young birds must fly south for the winter, but who will lead them there? With a pair of ultralight airplanes, Amy, her dad and their friends must find a way to do it.

Plot Keywords: based on novel, deforestation, gift, caught naked, embarrassment, shower, loss of mother ...

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#11. Black Beauty (1994)

Storyline: Black Beauty, a beautiful black stallion in 1870s England, recalls his life from his birth through his carefree life as a colt to the many hardships he suffered after achieving maturity. He goes through many owners, both good and bad, until he finally finds happiness and contentment.—duke1029@aol.com

Plot Keywords: horse movie, horse and carriage, courage, bridge, animal cruelty, fire, compassion ...

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#12. The Electric Horseman (1979)

Storyline: Sonny Steele used to be a rodeo star, but his next appearance is to be on a Las Vegas stage, wearing a suit covered in lights, advertising a breakfast cereal. When he finds out they are going drug the horse in case its too frisky, he rides off into the desert...—Colin Tinto <cst@imdb.com>

Plot Keywords: las vegas nevada, modern western, on the run, animal rights, freedom, journalist, media ...

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#13. Fast Food Nation (2006)

Storyline: Don Anderson's marketing director for Mickey's fast food chain. He's the inventor of their bestselling hamburger, the Big One. Independent research has showm the presence of cow's feces in the Big One. Don is sent to Cody, Colorado, to verify if the main supplier of Mickey's, beef is efficient as it appears, and the production process is up to code. During his investigation, he discovers the horrible truth behind a simple hamburger; the reality is not like It's portrayed. Don discovers what the mass production system involves, from the temp-workers like Amber, to the exploitation of irregular immigrants. It's not only the meat being is crushed in the machinery, but our society.

Plot Keywords: food, environmental issue, butcher, pickup truck, bar, harassment, satire ...

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#14. Doctor Faustus (1967)

Storyline: Dr. John Dolittle lives in a small English village where he specializes in caring for and verbally communicating with animals. When Dr. Dolittle is unjustly sent to an insane asylum for freeing a lovesick seal from captivity, his animals and two closest human friends, Matthew Mugg and Tommy Stubbins, liberate him. Afterward, they join Emma Fairfax and set out by boat to find a famed and elusive creature: the Great Pink Sea Snail.—Jwelch5742

Plot Keywords: veterinarian, england, africa, talking animal, based on novel, street vendor, trial ...

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#15. Project X (1987)

Storyline: A young inductee into the military is given the task of looking after some chimpanzees used in the mysterious "Project X". Getting to know the chimps fairly well, he begins to suspect there is more to the secret project than he is being told.—Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au>

Plot Keywords: crisis of conscience, animal experimentation, swamp, monkey, chimpanzee, military, u.s. air force ...

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