Zulu Dawn (1979)

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  February 10, 2011

  matertenebraum

  This film must be the most under-rated film of its time. It is a very accurate depiction of the battle of Isandhlwana and the massacre of the British Soldiers. The casting was brilliant, Burt Lancaster and Simon Ward were outstanding in the lead roles. The film following the live... read mores of very different people through a very short timespan was very well done baring in mind the amount of people the film focused on, from a native south african messenger, to an arrogant British General. The film was fair to both armies that fought on that day and deserves to be recognised as a movie epic.

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  November 22, 2009

  filmguy450

  This prequel to the very solid original is astonishing. Aside from an odd score, I am in love with this movies.

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  June 14, 2009

  jam233

  One of several "Zulu" films, not as good as the 1964 film however. Good production, great cast and it is quite well acted. The location filming is a huge plus. Professionally done.

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• 
  
  February 28, 2008

  blacksnake2

  The "Pre-quel" to "Zulu", watch this one first..A must see film IMVVHO especially for MilHistory buffs. "pete36" from Belgium at IMDB had these comments about the film which I agree with..."In fact, a prequel to 'Zulu' (1964) directed by Cy Endfield who was also a major collabor... read moreator on ZD. As 'Zulu' is about the battle of O'rourke's drift, one of the most celebrated victories in British military history, ZD deals with one of the biggest defeats of the British army by an indigenous force. It happened just a few days before the events in 'Zulu'.
  
  ZD is sheer heaven for history buffs : everything is recreated into the tiniest detail : the uniforms, entirely filmed on location in South-Africa Natal province , the famous Martini Henry rifles, even including some kind of prehistoric rocket launchers, so no cost or effort were spared to recreate the conditions of the battle.
  
  The Brits are represented by the cream of English actorsgild : Peter O'Toole as the too self-confident general, Simon Ward as the green lieutenant, Bob Hoskins (just before his breakthrough role in "the Long Good Friday") as a hardasnails sergeant and Denholm Elliot as one of the ignorant troop commanders.
  
  Also a large Boer party ( settlers mostly from Holland as 'Boer' is the Dutch word for farmer) took part in the battle, lead here by none other then Burt Lancaster ! In 1879 the Boers still sided with The British against the Zulus. Twenty years later, after having defeated the Zulus, the Brits and Boers turned against each other and became involved in a struggle for the diamond-rich Natal province. A very bloody three-year war followed, simply known as 'the Boer war', where the British army was nearly defeated by the much smaller number of unprofessional Boers soldiers.
  
  Director Douglas Hickox ( Entertaining Mr Sloane, Sitting Target, Sky Devils,etc..)does an excellent job and turns in a classic-style, immaculate and spectacular epic. Sadly ZD was a big flop at the box-office and marked the end of the old-style colonial epics, up until the recent remake of 'The Four Feathers'.
  
  It also marked the end of the career of director Hickox in feature-length movies and he was forced to work for TV, condemned to churning out superior 'schmalzy' series as 'Mistral's Daughter', 'Sins', etc...
  
  But as historical epics go, they do not come any better than this. I rate it 8/10.
  
  If you like this try also 'Khartoum' (1966)". So there you have it. Break out the popcorn and get into it, Kids!!!

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• 
  
  February 16, 2008

  flixsterbum

  A pretty dry retelling of one of the most stunning defeats in history. But it moves at a decent clip, and it's got Bob Hoskins in an early role and he's awesome, so there's that. Peter O'Toole and Burt Lancaster are all right, but they don't have much to work with and feel very... read more much like they're phoning it in. My suggestion, watch this first with a double feature of "Zulu", a superior film that will also give you much more appreciation for those events after witnessing the crushing defeat in this one.

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• Burt Lancaster as Col. Anthony Durnford
• Peter O'Toole as Lord Chelmsford
• Simon Ward as William Vereker
• John Mills as Sir Henry Bartle Frere
• Nigel Davenport as Col. Hamilton-Brown
• Michael Jayston as Col. Crealock
• Denholm Elliott as Lt. Col. Pulleine
• Ronald Lacey as Norris Newman
• Freddie Jones as Bishop Colenso

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