Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
3/4
"Zulu" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 09/13/2012
A small contingent of British soldiers stationed at a mission in Africa is ordered to stand their ground against an enormous Zulu army. Zulu is an old school war film concerned with the courage of ordinary soldiers fighting shoulder to shoulder against overwhelming odds. It also goes to great pains to avoid demonising the Zulu nation, showing them as brave and cunning warriors in a similar way to John Ford's cavalry films and their depiction of native Americans. The story does not shy away from showing the appalling loss of life and has an understated yet strong anti-war message as a result. The film is essentially one long battle sequence, but things are kept interesting by the diverse set of interesting characters; notably the class tensions between Stanley Baker's pragmatic engineer …
Rating of
4/4
A prayer's as good as a bayonet on a day like this
gideon43 - wrote on 05/30/2010
An incredible recreation of an incredible battle, Zulu's main attribute is the fact that most of the story is completely true.
Rorkes Drift was a small British mission post which was held by less than 150 soldiers against overwhelming numbers of Zulus in the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879.
It also holds the record for the largest number of Victoria Crosses ever given to a regiment for a single action.
Taken in context, Zulu could be construed as highly politically incorrect, its leanings towards the British Empire and the madness of Colonialism are not in doubt but what makes this film so rich and powerful are its almost constant battle scenes and the stylish and classic study of heroism and fortitude.
Michael Caine and (the vastly underrated) Stanley Baker are splendidly British and the …
