Zulu

Rating:
Summary: Zulu
Review: A true story, Zulu is one of my all time favorites! Acting is superb as is the realism of war and the desperate struggle of 200 British soldiers to survive against impossible odds - 4,000 fearsome Zulu warriers. You will feel the soldier's terror at the sound of thousands of warriers beating their shields with their speers as they advance on their small compound from miles away. The battle - beginning at a distance and progressing to hand-to-hand combat - and the defensive tactics used by the British commanders is excellent. Once seen, you won't forget this one!

Rating:
Summary: Great movie with intense action scenes
Review: When I saw this I was completely surprised by how well done this was, considering it is about 40 years old. What I noticed was that at times the British soldiers were the ones who had to retreat several feet in their battles with the Zulu warriors, unlike other movies we see where the African natives are the ones who are usually being mistreated and beaten by white explorers.

But don't take this as a race vs. race type thing, this is just about 100 soldiers fighting to survive against 4,000 Zulu warriors, and the ironic thing is that the soldiers were only sent to build a bridge near their fort.

The movie stars great actors like Stanley Baker, and Michale Caine, who some of you should know or at least heard of. I think this was one of his first major roles in a movie.

The movie takes place in Africa, and the British soldiers were sent to just build a bridge [actually they were engineers, the soldiers were already at the fort] Meanwhile they are soon going to figure out that an army of Zulu warriors have declared war on any white person they see after a battle with 1000 British soldiers a few days earlier.

The fort is where the movie takes place, the men turn over wagons, and prop up sandbags to make walls to defend the open spaces between their buildings. Any man that can walk and carry a rifle is ordered to fight, even if they are injured. The main rule is that if you have an arm, you need a gun and you need to fight.

Now as far as the fight scenes, some people might find them too violent, but believe me, if you've seen the Passion of the Christ, or even Saving Private Ryan, this is nothing. I'm not the type who likes to see guys kill each other, bullets and spears flying everywhere, but I will admit that they were exciting to see.

There are a few surprises in here as well, including the Zulus getting their hands on rifles off of dead soldiers, and when a stampede of cows stops another Zulu attack in its tracks.

The scenery is great, especially when the army of Zulu appear at the top of the edge of the hills, very breathtaking if you really look at it.

This is a great movie, and if you haven't seen the ending I wont ruin it, but believe me, both sides went through hell to try and stop the other. I would totally reccommend this to anyone who likes action, suspense, or is even a fan of Michale Caine, who gives a great performance I might add!

Rating:
Summary: Great Action Movie
Review: "Zulu" is a movie about one of the many far-flung battles that took place in the British Empire during the 19th Century. In this case the battle was in the south African country of Natal in the 1870's. A small outpost of British soldiers find themselves in the path of an army of native African warriors. The numbers are overwhelming in favor of the natives but the armaments favor the British soldiers. The battle scenes and the essence of sacrifice and bravery in the face of such odds are the strength of the movie.

The movie starts out a bit slow and there are characters involved that are of limited importance to the overall focus of the movie. However, once the issue is clear, the film moves along at a steady clip. In the prelude to battle and in the pauses in between fighting, a certain amount of character development takes place. The writers seem to have set up one Private Hook for a good deal of their attention. I guess this was to help us see the common cause to battle among British soldiers in even the shirkers in their midst. The acting is of a generally excellent quality. I especially liked the sergeant major whose name slips me. This is either the acting debut of Michael Caine or close thereafter. Both his talent and inexperience can be appreciated in "Zulu".

The native warriors are generally pictured as a mass of humanity which might bother some viewers. However, I suspect further development along this line would have detracted from the pace of the movie. This is the era of British Colonialism and the movie makes no serious attempt to discuss this phenomenon. That would likewise have detracted from the impact of the movie. I felt that the warriors were dealt with in a respectable manner but it was the over-matched British who were the subject of the film and this perspective was never lost.

This is a movie that I enjoy seeing over and over whenever I can. It appeals to the emotions in a postive way so long as courage, stamina and determination are seen as positive traits.

Rating:
Summary: They just wanted to build a bridge
Review: British Army engineers came to a mission to build a bridge and ended up fighting a three day war.
This movie is an icon of the 1960s. Clear, crisp colors. Red Brit. uniformed Tommies face off against the spear and shield lugging Zulus. Neither side will give.
Just from a cinematic experience alone one should watch this film. Some people might be squeamish about the death and carnage, but it is a fascinating slice of human drama.
All actors turn in marvelous performances, and I think this is one of Michael Caine's best.
Also, the John Barry score is the best non-James Bond score he did.
All around a good Friday night or Saturday afternoon movie.