Historical War Epic

Rating: 7/10 (5 December 2009)

Recap: The grave and ominous news reach the small detachment at Rorke's Drift that the main column of the British army has been annihilated by a vastly greater but technically inferior Zulu army. Now they learn that a small contingent of the Zulu army is heading for the missionary and temporary hospital at Rorke's Drift. But there is only about a hundred British soldiers stationed at the missionary and they desperately prepare for the coming attack.
Comments: Something very much looking like a historical account of the events of the real battle, even if some things surely has been dramatized and changed. However, what is most remarkably notable, and gives it away as a historical dramatization, is it that there is no real bad guys. There is none among the British soldiers that fall out or has their own intention. Not even between the junior but evenly ranked commanding officers at the station, where the outsider Chard takes over because of only having a few months superiority (one of the things that has been changed, as the difference were much greater). And most remarkably, not even the Zulu are portrayed as evil, bloodthirsty or even ignorant. Instead they are depicted as brave, intelligent, well organized and above all noble foes.
Instead it is a epic movie of bravery and doing one's duty. Of standing one's ground against overwhelming odds. And it does it very well. It is rather long at slightly over two hours long, but there is never a problem of feeling that the time doesn't pass. What it doesn't have, and what it lacks compared to the really great movies, is the real conflict between two evenly matched enemies. Sometimes this feels like two teams meeting for a sporting event, a soccer game, despite people dying in droves. But there is no real intensity.
Fun to see Michael Caine in his first starring role, and I have to admit that it took a few scenes before I recognized him, but it is always good to see how the stars once started out. However, the character that did the greatest impression is Color-Sergeant Bourne. His calm and way to express himself elevated the movie (even if this was also not entirely historically correct).
7/10