Goofs

The firing line uses carbines in long shots, and rifles in close-ups.

Bob Hoskins's character is addressed throughout the film as Colour Sergeant Williams, and wears the insignia of that rank. In the credits, he is called CSM (Company Sergeant Major) Williams.

As Colonel Pulleine writes his last letter in his tent, the pen is in his left hand. The shot switches to a view over his shoulder, and the pen is in his right hand. When a Zulu bursts into the tent, Pulleine drops the pen from his left hand to grab a revolver.

The 17th Lancers, who accompany Lord Chelmsford and his HQ very prominently, were actually sent to South Africa after the battle shown. Early in the Zulu war, the British forces in the area consisted of some local and native mounted units, plus some British infantry mounted for that particular campaign.

The Queen's Colour (flag) of the 1st Battalion, 24th Regiment is uncased and unfurled in the camp, and when Lt. Melvill tries to carry it to safety. In reality, the flag was kept in a black leather sheath, and Melville carried it away cased.

The bugler sounds the last post after talking to the Quartermaster. Back then, that was literally the signal that the last post had been checked and all the lookouts were awake. The bugler wasn't at a lookout post, so he shouldn't have sounded that signal.

In the film, the 17th Lancers uniforms have red plastrons (breasts) and gold trouser stripes. In real life, the uniforms had white plastrons and white stripes. The uniforms shown would be the 5th, 9th, or 12th Lancers, who weren't there at all.

As the column crosses the river, two native bearers carry an ammunition box, which should be quite heavy. They stumble in the current, dropping the box, which bounces to the surface and starts to float off. The box should have sunk.

In several shots, most notably when the Zulus first come into view of the camp, their shields are obviously painted wood instead of cowhide.

When Pte. Story loads his last round while he is under the wagon, the cartridge has a solid drawn case , not a coiled brass case. The battle was in January 1879, and solid drawn case cartridges entered service in the mid-1880s.

At one point, a journalist draws soldiers and a wagon. The drawing style, with its use of negative space to represent the shape of a soldier, and the style of strokes is entirely modern.

The crossing at Rorke's Drift was filmed at the actual location, but the column crosses from Zulu Land into Natal.

When C.S.M. Williams puts on his NCO's red sash, he puts it on from left shoulder to right hip. It should be right shoulder to left hip.

Burt Lancaster plays Col. Anthony Durnford with a strong Irish accent. Durnford came from an Anglo-Irish family from the Ascendancy and would have sounded like an upper class Englishman.

When Pte. Williams calls "Stand To" in the night camp when Lt.Col. Durnford arrives, and Williams aims his rifle into the darkness, the cocking indicator on the side of the breech body is perpendicular instead of slanted to the rear. The rifle is neither cocked nor ready to fire.