Zulu Dawn
In 1879, the British Colonies, in response to the perceived threat of the Zulu Nation, deliver a deliberately unacceptable ultimatum to the King who responds by putting his people on a war footing. Confident in their weapons technology and their organization's ability to crush the seemingly outclassed primitive enemy, the British invade Zululand. Zulu Dawn follows the events of this invasion through the eyes of characters on both sides as the British learn the hard way at Isandlwana just how badly in their racist arrogance they had underestimated the skill, might and courage of their foe.
Member Reviews
More like 3 and a half stars - MovieLover5
While not a great film, I feel this is certainly better than simply a well done one. Filmed beautifully on location, it is apparently an accurate depiction of one of the few (only?) defeats of the British army by a "native" people. It's one of these "a cast of thousands" films, specifically the Zulu warriors. Organizing this large army of men must have been quite a task, and it comes off so well!
Peter O'Toole is a perfect pick to portray the arrogant British general Lord Chelmsford, who foolishly attempted to teach the Zulu king a lesson in warfare. (And in typical British fashion of the time, Chelmsford evidently escaped any punishment for going off on his own initiative, and in fact went on to even bigger things in his army career.)
Burt Lancaster is also quite good as one of the few army officers with a good understanding of what they are up against. Not that it does him any good in the end. And the rest of the cast all are believable in their roles. An under rated film, much better than you would expect. The only difference I would have liked to have seen, is more 'time' spent on the Zulu side, explaining who their king was, and the politics of that period that led to war.Will Appeal to Many Audiences - TheTalon
While not everyone's cup of tea, those who enjoy period pieces, war movies, leadership dramas or clash of culture epics will find this one is worth their time on the sofa. It is a well-recreated historic battle, with convincing veteran actors. The tension builds nicely as you wait for the Zulus to appear. When the battle is finally joined and things begin to go badly, you keep expecting that, Hollywood-style, things will come out all right, which makes the movie's ending, like the historical one, rather sobering. The film is somewhat undermined by a sub-text, preachy and irritating at times, that highlights ignorant British colonialism, and it could have done with slightly fewer characters, whose introductions slow the pace early on. It also ends rather abruptly, compelling you to hasten to book from Zip the sequel (though made earlier) "Zulu".Great War Drama - leonardo
A prequel to 1964's ZULU (cowritten by that film's director Cy Endfield), showing the British command's ineffectual handling of the Zulu nation in battle. Great war drama highlighted by a brilliant cast and outstanding cinematography. This prequel is slower paced than the earlier film but is more fleshed out in showing the very dark side of colonialist adventures.
Member Reviews
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More like 3 and a half stars - MovieLover5
While not a great film, I feel this is certainly better than simply a well done one. Filmed beautifully on location, it is apparently an accurate depiction of one of the few (only?) defeats of the British army by a "native" people. It's one of these "a cast ...Will Appeal to Many Audiences - TheTalon
While not everyone's cup of tea, those who enjoy period pieces, war movies, leadership dramas or clash of culture epics will find this one is worth their time on the sofa. It is a well-recreated historic battle, with convincing veteran actors. The tension ...Great War Drama - leonardo
A prequel to 1964's ZULU (cowritten by that film's director Cy Endfield), showing the British command's ineffectual handling of the Zulu nation in battle. Great war drama highlighted by a brilliant cast and outstanding cinematography. This prequel is slower ...