one of the best

Rating: 10/10 (29 November 2001)

This is one of the best films, in my view, and not just war films. It's full of wonderful actors. I particularly enjoyed Nigel Green, playing Colour Sergeant Bourne, and why his character, if he did exist, did not get a Victoria Cross is beyond me.
The film is full of memorable lines. My favorite is when Lt. Chard asks Owen what he thinks of the chanting Zulus, about to charge. Owen replies: "They've got a good bass section, mind, but they don't have a top tenor!" Owen then leads the South Wales Borderers into the famous scene where they sing "Men of Harlech" as the Zulus charge.
Also, particularly stirring, is the final scenes when Richard Burton narrates. He lists the men who won the Victoria Cross. There is a wonderful pregnant pause, the music swells, and he names the final recipient, the hero of Rorke's Drift, John Ross Michael Chard. Every Britisher must have swelled with pride at that particular moment.
An early commenter may have mentioned this, but this was Michael Caine's first major role.