Unbeatable.

Rating: 10/10 (14 July 2008)

I don't hand out 'tens' very often, but few will question my choice here.
From the tremendously visceral theme music to the wonderful African back-drop; this work has it all.
It is the siege of Rorke's Drift. With a cast that still seems to embody the entire Zulu nation, and many of Britain's acting cream, we see this famous battle come to life in a way that could never be beaten even today. Special effects and CGI are no substitute for the real thing.
There's the quiet beginning with a bridge to be built. A sly little comedy of manners about army protocol is played out between Stanley Baker's Lt John Chard and Micheal Caine's Lt Gonville Bromhead. Then the bad news arrives.
From that point on there is a simple choice: cut and run, or make a stand.
The sense of impending doom is built-up to a point that is almost tangible. People are seen to be fleeing the dreaded though as yet unseen Zulu hordes as, to the disbelief of his fellow officer and most of the enlisted men, Stanley baker's Chard quietly sets about turning their group of mud-huts into a defensive garrison. It looks like military suicide.
In due course, a curious noise is heard like the approach of a distant train. It is the beating of thousands of clubs and spears against hide shields.
There are so many excellent acting turns in this movie that it would be pointless to list them all - at least as many as there were Victoria Crosses won. The battles are epic in scale at times, whilst being ferocious, bloody and intimate in hand-to-hand detail. No quarter is given by either side. The conflict and its drama is absolutely believable. It's bloody, ruthless and glorious. Yet at the same time, there is no excess, no gushing arteries or decapitated heads.
The story is told; frankly, for the most part honestly, with very little racial bias or imperialist gung-ho.
The colours and still wonderful. The camera work and editing absolutely first-rate. The pacing, tempo and duration just about perfect.
I have seen this movie many times and it is scarcely less gripping and engaging than the first sight. If there's any attempt at a re-make - perhaps in a more modern politically-correct context; it will surely fail.
This is a unique stand-alone war epic. I love it. I can find no fault. It gets the 10 stars it deserves.