★ 6 / 10
Though certainly epic in cinematographic terms, this is
CinemaSerf
Though certainly epic in cinematographic terms, this is a really meandering and over-cast depiction of the Zulu defeat of the British garrison at Isandlwana at…
Though certainly epic in cinematographic terms, this is a really meandering and over-cast depiction of the Zulu defeat of the British garrison at Isandlwana at the end of the 19th century. I'm assuming it was made as a precursor of - and to capitalise upon - the far superior "Zulu" (1964) but right from the get-go it's just wordy and ponderous and, well, lacklustre. Peter O'Toole does exude a certain arrogance in his role as the Commander of the army (Lord Chelmsford) but Burt Lancaster - and his distinctly ropey accent - as "Col. Durnford", features all too sparingly to offer much more than a casual dig at the incompetencies of his boss as the Zulu and the soldiers of the Queen square up. This cast list is impressive but none of the assembled stars of stage and screen are really used to any great effect. History tells us what happens next, and the colourful action scenes are well put together with enthusiastic efforts from the Zulu themselves delivering well staged combat scenes. Sadly, though, we have to wait far too long for these to rescue this from the doldrums of colourful but procedural cinema that offers us little to nourish either our interest in the characters or in the colonial and ambitious politics of the region that prevailed at the time. Underwhelming, sorry!
★ 8 / 10
Meticulous recreation of a bloody clash between British and Zulu forces in 1879 South-Africa.
pete36
In fact, a prequel to 'Zulu' (1964) directed by Cy Endfield who was also a major collaborator on ZD. As 'Zulu' is about the battle of O'rourke's drift, one of…
In fact, a prequel to 'Zulu' (1964) directed by Cy Endfield who was also a major collaborator on ZD. As 'Zulu' is about the battle of O'rourke's drift, one of the most celebrated victories in British military history, ZD deals with one of the biggest defeats of the British army by an indigenous force. It happened just a few days before the events in 'Zulu'.ZD is sheer heaven for history buffs : everything is recreated into the tiniest detail : the uniforms, entirely filmed on location in South-Africa Natal province , the famous Martini Henry rifles, even including some kind of prehistoric rocket launchers, so no cost or effort were spared to recreate the conditions of the battle.The Brits are represented by the cream of English actorsgild : Peter O'Toole as the too self-confident general, Simon Ward as the green lieutenant, Bob Hoskins (just before his breakthrough role in "the Long Good Friday") as a hardasnails sergeant and Denholm Elliot as one of the ignorant troop commanders.Also a large Boer party ( settlers mostly from Holland as 'Boer' is the Dutch word for farmer) took part in the battle, lead here by none other then Burt Lancaster ! In 1879 the Boers still sided with The British against the Zulus. Twenty years later, after having defeated the Zulus, the Brits and Boers turned against each other and became involved in a struggle for the diamond-rich Natal province. A very bloody three-year war followed, simply known as 'the Boer war', where the British army was nearly defeated by the much smaller number of unprofessional Boers soldiers.Director Douglas Hickox ( Entertaining Mr Sloane, Sitting Target, Sky Devils,etc..)does an excellent job and turns in a classic-style, immaculate and spectacular epic. Sadly ZD was a big flop at the box-office and marked the end of the old-style colonial epics, up until the recent remake of 'The Four Feathers'.It also marked the end of the career of director Hickox in feature-length movies and he was forced to work for TV, condemned to churning out superior 'schmalzy' series as 'Mistral's Daughter', 'Sins', etc...But as historical epics go, they do not come any better than this. I rate it 8/10.If you like this try also 'Khartoum' (1966).
60%
TOMATOMETER
· 10 reviews
61%
AUDIENCE
· 2.5K ratings
6.7/10
8.5K
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