Zulu DVD

Advantages: Very well made and acted.
Disadvantages: A lot of killing.

...depicts a battle between the Zulu warriors and a garrison of the Welsh Borderers who were defending the missionary station of Rorke’s Drift. The garrison of men is commanded by Lieutenant Bromhead who is magnificently acted by Michael Caine, however at the time of the battle Lieutenant Chard (Stanley Baker) an engineering officer is at the missionary station to build a bridge over the nearby river. As Chard is the more senior officer by a few ...
...outnumbered by the 4000 ferocious Zulu warriors so the only chance the soldiers have of staying alive is by the use of superior tactics, hard work and determination. This is depicted so well in the film by the excellent acting by all of the cast. The film is set in the magnificent mountain scenery of South Africa, which adds to the feeling that the men in this small British force are alone in a vast country many miles from the Wales they love. There ... Read review

Advantages: Very Good Script, Very Good Acting
Disadvantages: Some of the details aren't historically accurate

...Democrat!' And it's true that Zulu is about imperialism and slaughtering the natives but it's also about the true heroism of those who didn't choose to invade another country but were just doing their job. And of course it's also a very very good film. If you don't know the plot a) Why not? b) In 1879 4000 Zulus have attacked and massacred 1500 British Soldiers at Isandlwana and then set off to wipeout a Mission Station and Hospital at Rorke's Drift ...
...3. The quotes: Zulu has some of the best quotes of any war film I've seen, which is quite a lot. "That's a bit of cheek: our own bloody rifles!" and "He's a peeler 593, come to arrest the Zulus" being 2 of my particular favourites. 4. The action sequences and choreography: The fighting is excellently choreographed and kept me glued to the screen particularly the hand to hand fighting in the compound and in the hospital. The choreography of the mass ... Read review

Advantages: Only to the survivors
Disadvantages: To the Zulus

...make a good target for Zulu spears. One of the most awe inspiring sequences was not visual. Hearing the sound of the masses of Zulus banging their cow hide shields with their spears in a relentless rhythm would chill the blood in my veins. After seeing the film umpteen times, usually at Xmas, the story gets boring but those drumming spears still get to me. "Don't throw those bloody spears at me" is attributed to Michael Cain speaking in his Harry ... Read review

Advantages: See Opinion
Disadvantages: See Opinion

...and then imagine hundreds of Zulu warriors bearing down on you from all sides, and try to feel the courage and faith in comrades, training, discipline, equipment and superior officers which made the men stand and fight and survive. Then walk to the foot of one of those hills and imagine the courage and discipline which it took for the men to charge again and again into the disciplined withering fire of a regiment - whose brothers in arms in the not ...
...the flower of the Imperial German Infantry at Mons, with similar disciplined fire. This is the essence of the greatness of the film. You are there - feeling the action unfold around a band of courageous men facing almost impossible odds. These soldiers are no apologists of latter day political analysts wondering as to the reason of their being there, but soldiers of an expanding vigorous empire, sure in their faith of friend and training, in possession ... Read review

Advantages: Great family viewing
Disadvantages: None really

Zulu is a real classic film. It is exciting, fast moving, and, without all those modern day effects it still has a fabulous atmosphere. The sound of the Zulu army approaching is what attracts me most to the film. The rhythmic drumming gets louder and louder and it is caused by the soles of the warriors' feet thumping on the ground.The sound grows in intensity and sounds like an approaching freight train. The soldiers put their heads to the ground ...
...with the battle with the Zulu army which, using it's traditional strategy, attacked again and again. The boredom of the British Soldiers between attacks is quite clear, then the tension builds as we hear the drumming of approaching Zulu feet. This film is a historical account and even today's military strategists are still trying to work out why the British were so badly defeated by an army that was nowhere near as well equiped. The sheer numbers ... Read review