Sentimentalism for the older Brits

Rating: 8/10 (20 April 2013)

The story of the defence of Rorke's Drift is Britain's equivalent of the story of the defence of the Alamo in Texas.
The 1960's saw the release of movies such as Zulu, Lawrence Of Arabia, Mutiny On The Bounty and Waterloo to satisfy British audiences of a new found sentimentalism for the days of Empire. It didn't last long as they were soon superseded by Carry On Up The Khyber and Monty Python spoofs to ridicule traditions of Empire.
Since then the British Empire has been largely relegated to the role of the bad guys in Hollywood funded movies; one of the few exceptions being Master And Commander which flopped at the US box office. Only James Bond has been found acceptable because he was relocated to the Cold War.
Zulu is masterpiece of British military virtues even though it fails to capture all of the historical events that took place that day. The notable exception is any Brummie accents since 46 of the soldiers were from the Birmingham district. No mention is given either of the bayoneting of injured Zulu warriors the day after the battle; revenge for the mutilation of British soldiers in the hospital. To its credit though, Zulu is one of the few war films where the enemy are shown as courageous combatants and regarded with great respect by the viewer.
You probably have to be British to admire this movie in its entirety. We Brits enjoy the humour more than the battle itself. Hooky and the Colour Sergeant are such symbolic opposites of British attitudes. The scenery is spectacular and the Zulu battle chants are awesome, as is the accompanying music.
Zulu is also a tribute to Stanley Baker who died in 1976. Though as Lt. Chard, Royal Engineers, he appears to be missing his best drinking friend beside him (Richard Burton), and has to rely upon young Michael Caine instead.
It's a great war movie but I'm still not convinced it's the best war movie ever made.