The Movie Industry Gets One Right!

Rating: 10/10 (17 May 2006)

This without a doubt is one of the finest historical combat films ever made by the film industries of the world. It's attention to detail is better than most, and just enough legend is put in to round out the story and not take it over.
I unfortunately never had the opportunity to see it first run on the big screen, only TV, first as black and white and then in color, but those images of outnumbered men in battle have stuck with me for the last 35 years.
In reading more about the actual battle over the years, I have always likened it to Custer's Last Stand, it's roughly the same time in history, except that it's set in Africa and the story turns out a bit different, and the reason it does is solely on the shoulder's of Lt. John Chard who lets the hordes come to him on his terms, rather than riding hell bent for leather into annihilation. There isn't a bad performance in this movie, not one poorly delivered line, though Jack Hawkins' drunk preacher gets on your nerves after a while, and all the good stuff associated with this film is there thanks to it's star and producer, Stanley Baker.
Though the violence doesn't seem as real as it did so long ago, and a little legend gets in the way of the truth, nowadays I watch this movie to see how very different ordinary men can join together under extreme pressure, rely upon each other, and accomplish seemingly impossible things. It's great history and a great movie!
Also, at my age, I have some regrets for roads not taken, things not done. One of the biggest regrets I have came from something that happened in the mid '70s. A shipment of almost 100 year old Martini Henry rifles came to the U.S., all were rifles the British government claimed were used specifically at Roark's Drift. $125 for each one. That was 30 years ago. I had gotten married the year before, and that seemed like an awful lot of money back then. It was the British equivalent of a Springfield or Sharps used at the Little Big Horn and would have made a wonderful wall hanger worth many times more today. Married, I couldn't come up with the money. Never got my Roark's Drift rifle or old Thunderbird convertible, and I never regretted divorcing her later!
Simply said, Stanley Baker's Zulu is probably the best thing he ever did, and it's been one of my personal favorites for the last 35 years.