by James Vigh

Created on: July 14, 2010   Last Updated: August 06, 2010

The movie "Zulu" is based on a true story about a garrison of British soldiers who, numbering less than 150 managed to fend off a force of around 4,000 Zulu warriors at an old mission station called Rorke's Drift.

It stars Stanley Baker (who also co-produced), Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, and Michael Caine in his first major cinematic role. It was directed by Cy Enfield (who also co-produced)

On the morning of January 22nd, 1879 over 1300 British and Colonial troops were slaughtered at Isandlwana in Zululand by a force of over 20,000 Zulus. This force was once a part of a larger army under Lord Chelmsford which had crossed the Buffalo River to bring the Zulu nation to heel. Before crossing the Buffalo, Chelmsford left a small rear guard of around 150 British soldiers along with a 100 man native contingent at a small mission station on the Natal side of the border.

The Buffalo River could only be easily forded at places called "drifts", meaning fords. One of these was Rorle's Drift.

Lieutenant John Chard (Baker) , an officer of Royal engineers was detailed to build a bridge at the Drift. The commander of the nearby mission station garrison is Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead (Caine). Their relationship starts off awkwardly.

A missionary (Hawkins) and his daughter (Jacobsson) arrive at the Drift. This is their mission. The Zulus are their parish.

Soon after, a mounted company of Natal Native Contingent arrive.  Besides bringing news of the disaster at Isandlwana, they had even more alarming news.

A Zulu force of between 4,000 to 5,000 warriors was bearing down on Rorke's Drift.

They would not be able to outrun the Zulus, so it was decided to fortify and defend the mission station. But they would have to do it without the help of the Natal Native Contingent - They rode off to defend there own farms.

They would also have to do it without the 100 man native contingent. The missionary frightens them off with tales (assisted by liquor) of death and destruction. They scatter to the 4 winds.

There was another problem. Bromhead was nominally in command of the station, but the new arrival Chard outranked him. Chard assumed command, but the tension between the two increased.

Under the engineer Chard's supervision, the mission was fortified. Then they awaited the arrival of the Zulus.

This movie is a cinematic masterpiece. There is a grandeur to the scenery that provides a magnificent scope to the events.

Michael Caine, acting in his very first major role, does very well in his role of Bromhead. If you look ahead to all of the other roles he has performed, this I believe is actually one of his best. If given the script, this man can act.

Actually both Caine and Baker play their roles as British officers in an understated way as opposed to succumbing to the temptation to overact.

The great Jack Hawkins isn't given much to play with in this film. He has to play the missionary as a drunk, and his lines reflect an unfortunate characterization of Christianity. Ulla Jacobsson isn't called upon to do much at all except to look horrified or to scream. Neither of them are in the film very long.

The battle scenes are staged very well, and the viewer gets  a sense of the horrors that the men defending the Drift are experiencing while attempting to stave off the seemingly overwhelming Zulu force.

The music is superlative.

I would rate this film 4 stars out of 5. To get a good sense of all of the events, I would also recommend that you see "Zulu Dawn" (starring Peter O'Toole and Burt Lancaster).

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