Zulu (1964)

Outnumbered British soldiers do battle with Zulu warriors at Rorke's Drift.

Director:

Cy Endfield

Writers:

John Prebble (original screenplay), Cy Endfield (original screenplay),

Stars:

Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stanley Baker	...	Lt. John Chard R.E.
Jack Hawkins	...	Otto Witt
Ulla Jacobsson	...	Margareta Witt
James Booth	...	Pvt. Henry Hook
Michael Caine	...	Lt. Gonville Bromhead
Nigel Green	...	Colour-Sgt. Bourne
Ivor Emmanuel	...	Pvt. Owen
Paul Daneman	...	Sgt. Maxfield
Glynn Edwards	...	Cpl. Allen
Neil McCarthy	...	Pvt. Thomas
David Kernan	...	Pvt. Hitch
Gary Bond	...	Pvt. Cole
Peter Gill	...	Pvt. 612 Williams
Tom Gerrard	...	Lance Corporal
Patrick Magee	...	Surgeon Reynolds

Storyline

Two Lieutenants, Chard of Engineers and Bromhead find that their 140 man contingent in Natal has been isolated by the destruction of the main British Army column and that 4,000 Zulu warriors will descend on them in hours. Each has a different military background in tactics and they are immediatly in conflict on how to prepare for the attack. Nearly a third of the men are in the infirmary, as the welsh company tries to somehow survive with no help in sight. Based on a true story.

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Plot Keywords:

zulu | warrior | battle | british army | military | 

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Taglines:

The supreme spectacle that had to come thundering out of the most thrilling continent!

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Genres:

Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Zulu

Release Date:

17 June 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

Zoulou

Filming Locations:

Drakensburg Mountains, South Africa

Company Credits

Production Co:

Diamond Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Mono (35 mm optical prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the real battle for Rorke's Drift on which this film was based, only 17 British soldiers were actually killed.

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Goofs

The final salute by the Zulus depicted in the film did not take place. Some warriors did appear on the hill the following morning, but they simply observed the British in silence for a while before leaving again.

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Quotes

Surgeon Maj. Reynolds: You know this boy?
Orderly: Name is Cole, sir. He's a paper hanger.
Surgeon Maj. Reynolds: Well, he's a dead paper hanger now.

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Crazy Credits

"And introducing Michael Caine"

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Connections

Referenced in Army of Darkness (1992)

User Reviews

Undisputed Classic

It`s shameful no-one makes films like ZULU anymore. In these PC dominated times there are those who may view this film as being racist dealing with a heroic battle between white foreign troops against native black Africans during Victorian times. Nothing could be further from the truth. The zulus are rightly presented as being fearless and disciplined warriors ready to willingly die than show cowardice.

The only other criticism a modern day audience can level at the film is the fact that the battle scenes are slightly ungory compared to the likes of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and PLATOON. But so what ? How many other films compete with the excitement and tension of scenes like the soldiers fighting off the hordes of zulus in the hospital building ? Would graphic disembowelment and decapitation improve these scenes ? of course not.

I could go on all day as to what`s brilliant about ZULU , but I wont. But I will say that for me the greatest aspect of the film is John Barry`s score. The fact that he never won an oscar for it just goes to show there`s no justice in the world.

Without doubt the greatest British film of the 1960`s , probably the greatest British picture ever , and possibly the greatest film ever. Let`s hope Hollywood never decides to remake it