This well-intentioned prequel to the superior ZULU is an unfairly maligned movie that almost died on its box-office release. This is a real shame, because in many instances it resembles the genre of the 'epic' movie, with magnificent African location photography and culminating in one of the most ferocious, frightening, and unstoppable battle sequences put on film. The first hour or so is a little slow, as there are many characters to be introduced, although as is almost always the case with these 'all star' productions, most of the big names have very little to do.Still, bit players like Bob Hoskins and Denholm Elliott put in small performances (the former as comic relief, the latter quite poignant) whilst the heavy stuff is left to the likes of Lancaster (as an Irish hero) and O'Toole (as a leader, making the same mistakes as he does in TROY). In addition, a literate script helps the viewer in understanding the principles behind the battle and the reasons that it turned into a massacre for the British (underestimating the enemy and poor supplies are the biggest issues here). In all a very good movie, well directed by Douglas Hickox and a fine portrayal of a historical event.

Good depiction of one of Britain's worst military defeats. Historically quite accurate. The writer and director do a decent job of building the main characters, though probably not enough, as you don't feel much empathy for any of them. Good battle scenes. American Burt Lancaster as Irishmen Colonel Durnford was a bit of a stretch, and a miscasting. I assume they needed him to provide the action-star quality. Peter O'Toole is excellent as Lord Chelmsford. Solid performances from the supporting cast.In the end, a good war-documentary-movie, but lacks that extra something to make it special.

It's 1879 South Africa. It's a clash of civilizations between the British empire and the Zulu nation under King Cetshwayo. When the King refuses to comply with the latest British ultimatum, the British declares war and invade. The British are under the command of the arrogant over-confident British commander Lord Chelmsford (Peter O'Toole). The troops cross the Buffalo river into Zulu lands and meet infamy at a hill called Isandlwana. Col. Durnford (Burt Lancaster) commands the Natal Native Contingent who tries to warn Chelmsford.The first half has a bit too many uninteresting scenes. The British side especially needs to be streamlined. The encounter with King Cetshwayo is at least something different and has some tension. This has a great cast and a big production. It builds up to a great final battle. What I like most about the final battle is its wide ranging and scattered nature. It has the feel of reality as the British troops go into disorganized retreat.

A fairly early example of a prequel, this film is in the most part faithful to history and makes no effort to spare the reputations of any of the principal characters or the British attitude to the indigenous population This movie for once, portrays the protagonists correctly and one feels sympathy for the Zulu cause The films spends a deal of time dealing with the political background leading up to the invasion and subsequent defeat of the British. A lot of poetic licence was taken with the deaths of Durnford and Pulleine, and the "saving of the colours" by Vereker was in fact total fiction. The battle scenes were both lengthy and in the most part accurate apart from Zulus throwing Assegais which they never did as they were top heavy short handled stabbing weapons. That not withstanding this was an enjoyable movie at the time and you could do worse than to watch this followed by Zulu! to see the whole battle in chronological order. A little heavy on A List actors of the day which pushed it over budget