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Yar, you be here: Zulu > Customer Reviews Zulu Customer Reviews (22 - 24 of 42 Reviews)Girls can love this movie too!
I have always enjoyed this movie since I was a little girl. At 27 I love it even more. The gentleman behavior of the English, the breathtaking battle sequences and the fantastic score are spectacular. I have my favorite characters that just send shivers up my back and tears to my eyes at times for their heroism. If you don't take my word for how great this movie is you can refer to Lord of the Rings Two Towers extras. Peter Jackson was inspired by a few of the scenes from Zulu for the beginning of the battle at Helm's Deep. Brilliant film of the fight at Rorke's Drift
The heroic stand by British soldiers at Rorke's Drift against 4,000 Zulu warriors is superb filmmaking, detailing the event in widescreen Technicolor that also underscores the tension at the post and the preparation of the defenders in the hours before the attack. Michael Caine debuts in this film and his Lt. Bromhead clashes immediately with Lt. Chard [Stanley Baker], an engineer whose task is to build a bridge across the drift who nevertheless is in command of the garrison by reason or seniority. The two men put aside their differences and concentrate on battle strategy and placement of men, vowing to stand fast and confront the enemy who wiped out a British force of 1,500 men only hours earlier. The battle scenes are gripping and realistic, replete with bloody, hand-to-hand fighting that shows fierce Zulu tribesmen thrusting spears at the red-coated British soldiers who in turn thrust back with their bayonets. There is also long-range rifle firing on each side, with the Zulus pinning down the soldiers with rifles taken from their victims after the earlier battle. The determined Zulus manage to overrun the post but take heavy casualties from the defenders' withering gunfire. In one scene, the resourceful British release penned-up cattle that they use to shield themselves from the Zulus, and the cattle's horns and hoofs slash and trample the warriors in one of the final assaults on the garrison. History in Action!
The massacre of nearly 1,500 British soldiers of the 24th Regiment of Foot on January 22nd, 1879 at Isandhlwana, Natal Province by warriors of the Zulu Nation is on record as the worst disaster ever inflicted on a modern army by a primitive one. After the battle at Isandhlwana, the Zulu warriors turned their attention to Rourke's Drift, a lonely Missionary station where the 24th had set up a supply depot and hospital. It is the desperate and courageous defense of this remote station by 140 British soldiers against the determined attacks of 4,000 Zulu warriors that is the subject of this film. Zulu is a historically accurate reproduction of the Defense of Rourke's Drift. Every detail is painstakingly accurate: the uniforms of British Infantry and Engineers, the Martini-Henry rifles and Webley revolvers, foil sealed cases of ammunition, and the tactics that were used by the besieged British to fight off the Zulus. Extraordinary acting performances are given by Michael Caine as Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead, the arrogant, aristocratic officer who is humbled by his experience of the battle, a performance made even more impressive by the fact that this was Caine's first film; Stanley Baker, the Officer of Engineers who takes command of the detachment and leads the heroic defense; Nigel Green as the brave, correct Colour-Sergeant Bourne, the rock-solid pillar of Britishness; and James Booth as the rebellious Private Hook who turns hero and saves many of his comrades. Narrated by Richard Burton and featuring spectacular cinematogrophy filmed on location in Natal, Zulu is a masterful telling of one of the greatest stories in the annals of Military History, and a shining moment in the history of British arms. Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded to defenders of Rourke's Drift, and this film is a worthy tribute to their heroism. It should be in everyone's DVD library.
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