Zulu Dawn (DVD)

I got this free with a Sunday paper sometime ago. It had been unavailable for a while but is now back in "print" and freely available. This film covers the events prior to the stand at Rorkes Drift, the one that provided the storyline for the film Zulu. Its another tale of British imperial incompetence. A well equipped European army is routed by unarmed natives, an outcome largely due to the arrogance of their officers. They underestimated the strength of the Zulu army and failed to take even the most basic precautions . Respect your enemy ! The film starts slowly, providing us with a contrast between the garden party ...  Read the complete review

Zulu Dawn is certainly worth watching, especially if you enjoyed the original Zulu film. The film starts off slowly, with a good 20 minutes of the movie being set in the British colony of Natal. This is the films main weak spot, as it is easy to lose inerest and switch off at this point, but if you bear with it, you will be rewarded. The British force then crosses into Zululand, this is where the action begins, and never stops. There is a small skirmish at the start. Eventually the film climaxes into a huge scale battle, which is extremely well filmed and created. In terms of historical accuracy, a great job has been done, Lord ...  Read the complete review

This is a great follow on to the the origanal zulu. I highly recommend this movie to all war or history buffs.This movie is based on the true story of the Battle of Isandlwana in south Africa .The battle was fought on Jan. 22nd 1879 between the 24th regiment under the command of Lt.Gen. Lord Chelmsford and the Zulu nation under King Cetshwayo. To make a long story short, The Zulus crushed and wiped out the entire British regiment largely in part because they outnumbered the British 24,000 to about 1,500, but also due to British arrogance(Which is pointed out time and time again in this movie)and the lack of respect and where abouts of the enemy.An allstar cast ...  Read the complete review

Linked to the story of Zulu, this film is in effect the prequal to Zulu. At the very beginning of Zulu, there is a scene showing the aftermath of a great battle. This film is about that battle. It focuses mainly on the battle of Isandlwana & ensuing events. The battle of isandlwana was fought on the same day as Rorke's Drift (Zulu), where the British were royally whipped by the zulus. It features several very gory scenes, and in the end results in almost more of an epic than Zulu. The film sports a star studded cast including Peter O' Toole and Burt Lancaster, but most notably, Bob Hoskins sports a victorian beard as he plays a RSM of the line. Hugely ...  Read the complete review

This film is not so well known as its predecessor, lacks the draw of Michael Caine and has a less upbeat ending (although that depends on who you're supporting;)). However, although the prequel to Zulu isn't quite up there in the hall of fame, it is nonetheless a fantastic film. It tells the story of the Battle of Isandhlwana, which was fought the day before Rorke's Drift (and indeed precipitated it). This was the battle where an entire British Army Column was wiped out by a gunpowder free Zulu army. (It was the biggest defeat that the British Empire ever suffered at the hands of an African nation, and in terms of a feat of arms is broadly equivalent to ...  Read the complete review